Dateline August 7, 2017: Family and Golf

Our visit with Uncle Bill and Aunt Margaret

We departed Rhode Island and headed to Cape Cod to visit Janice’s Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bill. We took the scenic route along the coast across the bridge and stopped  to work on the blog for about an hour.  We arrived at Margaret and Bill’s about 2 p.m., good to see them. Margaret had a scare about 8 months ago but seems to be almost 100%, Uncle Bill who will be 90 on October 16 is still the same..cannot disclose Aunt Margarets age!. Their daughter in-law Karen Otis, married to Janice’s cousin Bob, was visiting so it was great to see her.  The last time was over 15 years ago when Bill and Margaret hosted a family reunion during the dedication of the Mercy Otis Warren statute in Barnstable along side her brother James Otis Jr.’s statue. Almost all of Janice’s relatives attended the reunion.  The fun at the event was meeting other Otis family members at the ceremony.

Janice’s “Otis” family had a big impact on the American Revolution:  A little history:

Mercy Otis Warren was probably the most influential writer of all the famous American Revolutionary War women. She was a woman who came from a prominent family that immersed themselves in political activism. She had a passion for learning, reading and later writing, although she received no formal education when she was young. Her poems, plays, writings and quotes are what she used to voice her opinions about the Revolutionary War.

• Warren had a longtime friendship with John Adams which eroded when she published unpopular opinions about him in her post revolutionary war book titled, “History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution”. He felt she was overstepping her boundaries as a woman by being so vocal about her political opinions. Mutual friends eventually stepped in to save the friendship.
• Mercy Otis Warren corresponded with many important historical figures in history including John Adams, Samuel and Abigail Adams, Hannah Winthrop, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and even Martha and George Washington.
• Most of her writings were originally published anonymously.
• Mercy Otis Warren is a descendant of a passenger on the Mayflower named Edward Doty.
• Many years after her death, Mercy Otis Warren was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002.

James Otis Jr. Mercy’s brother was responsible for the thoughts that went into the 4th amendment to the US Constitution on search and seisure.  Also, Otis favored extending to African Americans the basic natural freedoms of life, liberty, and property. He asserted that blacks had inalienable rights. The idea of racial equality also permeates Otis’s Rights of the British Colonies (1764), in which he states:

The colonists are by the law of nature free born, as indeed all men are, white or black.

— James Otis, Rights of the British Colonies, 1764^[11]

Margaret and Bill made dinner and we sat around catching up on our families. They have a family of turkeys that seem to hang around their house. Bill would like to terminate them since they eat the plants but Margaret will have nothing of it. We did joke that there was enough turkey to feed another reunion at Thanksgiving time!

The next day was a little rainy so we went walking with Aunt Margaret in between the drops, she walked about 3 miles during the day and was still going strong, Janice says she wants to grow up and be as energetic as Margaret.  In the evening they took us out for a lovely dinner at a local restaurant and more time to visit. Stopping and seeing them is always a treat!  We hope to continue to do this for many more summers.

A little golf

After spending the wonderful time on Cape Cod with Janice’s Aunt and Uncle we headed out early Sunday morning to drive north of Boston.  Getting off the Cape early was a good bet, because of little traffic.  We drove straight through Boston towards Gloucester, MA and on to Cape Ann where we found a lovely 9 hole course, The Cape Ann Golf Club in Essex.  We signed up for 18 holes and got paired to a local couple for the first nine holes.  The lady was the club champion so both she and Janice had a lot of fun.  The 4th hole has a view from the tee that goes out over to Gloucester.  It has even been featured in Golf Digest as one of the most picturesque holes in the United States.  The course had some nice challenges, especially with extremely long par 3’s with lengths of 180 to 220 yards.

After the first nine holes we were paired with another local couple and had a wonderful time.  You played the white tees for the front nine and the blue tees for the back.  Great course with wonderful people, we highly recommend it if ever in the area.

We had made reservations to stay at Salisbury Beach, on the ocean next to Newburyport.  It was a state park and extremely clean and beautiful.  The plan for Monday was to find a local golf course, so we picked Sagamore Golf Club in Sagamore, NH.  It was a great layout, also with long par 3’s.  The greens were faster than Cape Ann and we enjoyed a good round of golf.  As we were leaving they told us that Tuesday was a lady special rate, $25 including cart, so we made a reservation to return.

Back at Salisbury Park we enjoyed a cookout, watch a movie and got a good nights sleep.  We were paired with a couple the next morning from Brookline, NH, Dean and Melissa Rascoe.  The course was as enjoyable as the day before and had a great time with the Rascoe’s.  Janice helped Melissa a little with her game and they insisted on buying us a few beers after the round.  Dean laughed and said it was the cheapest lesson he had ever paid for!

With the day of golf over, our Cape Cod and Salisbury park adventures over we headed over to Janice’s sister house in Derry New Hampshire.

Connie, Lee and of course the snauser Bouncer

When we arrived and parked next door in the lot that Lee uses for his business of supplying cars he purchases at the local car auction and then later ships to Maine for a dealer he does the work for.  We set up the RV, by the time we were finished, Connie was home. It was Happy Hour (no matter the tiem!!), so we sat and talked about family and friends, Connie made a wonderful dinner of flank steak on the grill, Stan’s potatoes (Stan is Janice’s father who made these wonderful potatoes in foil with onions on the grill), a great evening.

The next few days Janice was practicing or playing a qualifier to play in the USGA Women’s Senior Golf Championship. The qualifier was at Haverhill Country Club in Haverhill Massachussetts. Janice was 1 stroke off of qualifying after shooting 6 over par on the last 2 holes for a 81, she “choked”, her words!

The plans for Friday was lunch and golf at Hidden Lake Golf Club, It was a perfect day for golf with a temp of 75 degrees.  We finished golf and headed home to put together a lobster dinner with fresh corn on the cob!  We took a day off from activity on Saturday and later had dinner on Saturday was out at a great prime rib place.  Connie and Lee wanted to introduce us to a small craft beer  brewery called Pip Dream.

Two former US Marines opened it about a year ago. They are as surprised as anyone how fast it has taken off. Outside is a picnic area and a few games. Dogs are allowed many bring the entire family.  It lives up to the name “Pipe Dream”!  Great beer and a lot of fun.

Make a Wish Foundation Annual Car Show

Sunday was a special day, There was a car show to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation at the Budweiser plant in Merrimack NH. The entire day was a lot of fun, what a day!

We rode over with Lee and Connie in Lee’s 1966 Biscayne, a show car that has won before at this event. We arrived and parked under a tree near the horse barns. We walked around looking at the cars all over the property, very beautiful.  The cars were sensational, many were just your average “dream car”!.

Later the barns opened and we were able to go in and see the Clydesdale horse. This is a training facility for Budweiser for their horses and where the east coast group is housed. We saw one being cleaned and a number walking in the fields, they are magnificent.

Later we went on a tour of the brewery, we thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the tasting afterwards. This brewery plant is the smallest of the Budweiser plants, making about 8 million 12 ounce bottles a day. There are 2 other production lines that do cans and kegs.  This brewery supplies bud and some Michelob  beer products mostly to the New England area. The numbers were staggering,

Lee did not win at the show but his car was one of the best (guess winning two years in a row, puts it in that class!)  Off we went back home, exhausted, what a day!

Our adventure with Janice’s sister and Lee was over but we will see them again on the way back from Newfoundland at the lake up near Sunapee, New Hampshire.