After an eventful start - we got on the road on May 5 and landed, not at Plymouth Rock, but in Salisbury, MA. The beach is nearby, and the weather today is conducive to a beach visit, cool but not cold.

We're here for a week, and hoping for enough good weather to allow us to see the local sights.

We spent Saturday, our first full day in MA, with Shannon and Dennis, at their home, catching up on what has happened in the past 15 years, and we got through almost all of it!

This has been, and continues to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of this trip - the chance to catch up with old friends and visit family along the way.

After a seafood lunch on Sunday, at a typical New England seafood restaurant, we took a walk on the beach. Neither of us can remember the last time we actually saw the Atlantic Ocean, it's probably been 15 or 20 years! The smell of the salty air reminded us of home.

Monday the 8th took us through several small New England towns to Salem - the Witch City.

In all of the historical locations we've visited, Salem is unique. The history of Salem is more like the history of persecution and intolerance which the early settlers were trying to escape when they came to this continent.

On Tuesday we joined Dennis & Shannon for a Boston Lyric Opera's production of "Thais" (by Jules Massenet) at the Shubert Theatre in downtown Boston. I loved the production, and the soprano, Kelly Kaduce, was fantastic as was the violin soloist who played the "Meditation!"

We've been getting quite a bit of rain which has put a crimp in our touring plans; hopefully it will be better here on the return trip so we can see some of Boston!