31 - 1/10/2011 - In My Footsteps Trip

Initial Impressions

Christopher Setterlund

31 – 1/10/2011 – In My Footsteps Trip

1.  This trip was up to the North Shore towns of Newbury, Newburyport, and Plum Island; $30 in gas, total of 290 driving miles.

2.  Plum Island is a lot like driving on the Outer Cape and National Seashore.  It was unbelievable cold and windy, good thing I brought gloves and then left them in the car, over and over.

3.  There was a monument dedicated to a local firefighter at Plum Island Point, at first I thought it was a grave since the monument looks like a gravestone.  Was wondering why they would let someone get buried at the beach, a nice contrast to the playground next to it.  Of course it’s not true.

4.  Arrived at Plum Island in time to see the house at 27 Annapolis Way get demolished.  Erosion made it close to falling over the cliff and onto the beach.  Even the house next door is in danger too, hope these people had some sort of insurance in case of erosion.

5.  Got to see lots of news folk there at the house razing.  Jack Harper from Channel 5 walked through my video, thanks a lot.  NECN, Boston Globe, Channel 7 and FOX had helicopters circling overhead.  Got interviewed by Channel 7 but they didn’t use it, good thing too, I had my Ring Bros. hat on instead of my Patriots one.  I did see myself in a video on Boston.com twice though so it wasn’t a total loss.

6.  Almost used my entire camera battery filming the house being smashed, waited and waited for them to finally knock the chimney down and it took out a satellite dish too which was cool.

7.  Was excited to find out that my camera can charge using the USB port in my dash, the Mobile Command Center comes through yet again, saved me from buying a spare battery, $40!

8.  Saw a pair of the oddest lighthouses possible.  Front Range Light in Newburyport looks like a lighthouse shaped shed, I could have totally seen someone pulling a lawn mower out of it.  Rear Range Light is out on the Main Street, nowhere near the water, made of brick and you can dine at the top of it.

9.  Still trying to find out the origin of the Mill stores near those lighthouses.  They are like mini-malls with ‘Mill No.’ 1-5 on top.  They must have been old mills but they look so cool.  Went up onto the roof of one, legally don’t worry, and got a great view of Plum Island River.

10.  Steve got to witness the insanity of my trips now, I need a ‘This Vehicle Makes Frequent Stops’ sign on the back of my car.  I can’t help it, I see the historic sign on a house and I pull off the road, it’s instinct now.  Other cars don’t like it though, I have learned that.

11.  Love it when so many spots I want to shoot are in the same area.  Found this out when shooting City Hall in Newburyport and noticed a few familiar addresses.  I must have looked like Daffy Duck running all over snapping away, it saves time to run but makes you look suspicious.

12.  Got to say I really enjoy having Steve Drozell along when he can make it.  Knowing the photography skill he has makes me up my own game and results in better quality photos by me.

13.  Anytime you slip while trying to take a photo it’s never good, it’s worse when folks beep at you since you know they saw you almost go down, I still got my shot and stayed dry so I can take the embarrassment.

14.  After passing it 3 times finally had to get a photo of this teal blue house with a ribbon on the door.  While behind a stopped school bus, handed the camera to Steve who got the shot, what a cool looking house.

15.  There are a bunch of these ‘mile stones’ scattered around Newbury, they date back to the early 1700’s.  Some really cool artifacts but the search for them is tough, got lost a bit.  Found 1 covered in snow so I whipped out my gym towel and brushed it off which drew some looks from kids leaving school but hey, I cam this far, I want a clear shot, y’know?

16.  The ‘Witches Stone’ looks like something off of a cave wall in ancient Greece.  A really creepy looking design and the stone is in front of someone’s house.  I wonder how many people pass that by everyday and have never seen it?

17.  Went back to Gloucester for the 5^th time.  Steve had not seen Annisquam Light and I would never refuse a chance to go back to my #1 favorite town.

18.  Got a chance to shoot video of the Man at the Wheel at sunset, the photos were awesome too.  It would have been perfect except for how cold it was.

19.  Damn GPS was good all day until trying to find a gas station.  It led us to a Tedeschi which it said had fuel, nope, stupid lying British nanny.  I almost would rather it speak in Spanish from now on.

20.  Got a nice slice of life experience thanks to toll roads, forgetting to change my GPS settings meant we skipped off of Rt. 1 near the Tobin Bridge and did a lot of back roads at rush hour.  The joy of sketchy city streets, perfect end to a great day! 

The videos shot are here --> Gloucester, Mass.

                                                             27 Annapolis Way, Plum Island being torn down.

Quote of the Day:  “C’mon, give it a nudge, just touch it, it will go over.” Me on video begging the construction guys to knock the chimney over at 27 Annapolis Way before my battery died. 

Song of the Day:  Poundcake – Van Halen (buy mp3 here)

Photos of the Day:

Front Range Light

Rear Range Light

The house at 27 Annapolis Way being torn down.

The Witches Stone

The Man at the Wheel following the moon.

17 - In My Footsteps Trip - 9-8-2010

Initial Impressions

Christopher Setterlund

17 – In My Footsteps Trip

September 8, 2010

1.       I visited the North Shore for the 3^rd time today.  Hit Beverly, Peabody, Marblehead, and Swampscott.  I will never get tired of that place.

2.      Was worried most of the way up since it was raining, but in the end it was good since it washed my dirty car.

3.      Need to ask 5 Hour Energy to become a sponsor of my travels.  I now depend on it for my increasingly long drives.

4.      Today I ended up going about 240 miles, $20 of gas.

5.      Got to photograph the Witch House in Salem on my way up, from the car of course, but since I didn’t see it before I can now add it to my collection.

6.      Beverly was actually an easy town to shoot since most of the historic homes were on Cabot Street.  This was good since the rain caused traffic which caused my drive up to take longer, boo.

7.      I bet everyone has bitten the inside of their mouths before, right?  I like chewing gum but honestly I did it twice in the same spot today and it was pretty intense pain.  Maybe I am going cannibal subconsciously.

8.      Lynch Park in Beverly is amazing.  There is an unreal rose garden which I filmed.  There are tons of beech trees too and some statue of a guy with a falcon which probably means something.

9.      Made sure not to stand on the cliff wall at Hospital Point Light this time, did it before, quite dangerous, 50 foot fall.  I told a lady there I did travel writing and she watched me take my shots, hanging over fences and stuff.  Too bad she was old or maybe she could have been my groupie.

10.  At the Smith-Felton Historic Site in Peabody some guy started yelling that I was on private property even though there were signs for parking and such.  He asked who I was with and I said ‘nobody.’  He waited for me to leave but I was nice about it since he might read my writing someday, but honestly he was a jackass.

11.  Brooksby Farm in Peabody was great.  A real working farm with animals.  I got to watch a snoring pig which was funny.  There was also a rogue chicken who escaped his pen, he was trying to get back in through the chain link while the others laughed and talked trash.  I ratted him out to the farmers and they said that chicken always escapes.

12.  I got back together with an old love today, Chick-fil-A.  Haven’t had it in 5 years since I lived in Florida.  That was part of my reason to go to Peabody.  Too bad it was in the Northshore Mall.  Had to go wander the mall to the food court but it was worth it.  Plus I am going to email the president of Chick-fil-A and ask him to put one in the Cape Cod Mall since the same folks own the Northshore Mall.

13.  Saw a sign for Bill & Bob’s Famous Roast Beef in Peabody.  I swear we had one here years ago.  What is Peabody like the U.N. of fast food?  They also have a Sonic so I am not far off.

14.  It was like Dazed and Confused heading out to Marblehead Light as wave after wave of high school girls ran past my car.  I get older but they stay the same age. 

15.  At Fort Sewall in Marblehead I was able to take a photo through the lens of binoculars.  I got a sick shot of a lighthouse out on an island.  I became more interested in doing that than checking out the fort, but that was cool too.

16.  By the way, who in the hell goes sunbathing at a fort?  Also, why sunbathe when it’s cloudy?  And lastly, why sunbathe if you are hideous?  Nobody’s gonna look, you’ll just be tan and hideous.  Hit the gym first then worry about your tan.

17.  I still say Abbot Hall in Marblehead looks a bit like the Penn Warehouse at the beginning of The Office.  Maybe it’s the shape of the tower, or maybe I just want it to look like it so bad that I am insane.

18.  Why build a cool castle if you won’t allow people inside?  I guess just to be jerks.  Thanks jerks who built the cool castle near Crocker Park but won’t let me trespass.  Hell with your privacy!

19.  Marblehead Light is awesome, it’s a skeleton.  Oh and someone spray painted a heart on it.  I am torn, on one hand it’s graffiti, but on the other hand it’s a heart and not some dumbass gang symbols. 

20.  Oh yeah and Marblehead is sort of like a corn maze with no corn.  Way too many one way streets, and narrow ones at that.  Who the hell designed that town?

21.  Swampscott is a nice place but did not have too much in the way of important sites.  It would be nice for a beach day but not for my articles.

22.  It was cool to find a random house I had seen on my Google Maps though, no significance, just a really cool design. 

23.  Did not buy a cooler to bring home some Sonic from Peabody.  Thought about it but why not save that for another trip.

24.  Oh and I sent all sorts of Facebook updates to my page, or so I thought.  Nothing like sending witty quips to nobody, waste of texting $, boo again.

25.  Found out I have multi-color lights in my car on the way home by accident.  It was like having a dance club in my car tonight.

26.  Might have to cut my trips from 4 towns to 3, just too much work, too little light, and way too many articles.

Quote of the Day: “Hey that’s private property.” –jackass at Smith-Felton Site in Peabody

                             “Yeah?  Then why are there signs for parking here?” –me

The guy just pouted and watched me get in my car.

Song of the Day: Misunderstanding – Genesis (because it played while I was temporarily lost in Marblehead…must be some misunderstanding, must be some kind of mistake, classic)

Photo of the Day:  The Rose Garden at Lynch Park in Beverly

Getting Acquainted

I got this idea from a little blog I did after a recent trip to the North Shore in Massachusetts.  I do another blog entitled In My Footsteps which features my travel writing.  Those blogs are to the point, they give history of places I visit as well as interesting places to visit.  I realized that a lot of weird and funny things happen during the course of my trips and I wanted to share them as a simple, journal-like blog.  That is where the idea for Initial Impressions came from.  In daily life we all see and experience things that are funny, or sad, or confusing, we just normally don't write them down.  I am going to do that.  It will not only include things I see, it will also be thoughts on deeper topics as well.  I want to connect with as many people as I can through this, I know everyone will be able to relate to at least one thing I post in each blog.  Enough explaining what this will be about, what I am going to do is repost my first blog that dealt with my North Shore trip last week, that might give you a better idea as to what Initial Impressions will be all about.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  Thanks for reading!

Initial Impressions - The Pilot Blog - May 20, 2010

1. I am absolutely in love with Nahant, Mass. Very small semi-island, my fav spot of the day.
2. In going off the beaten path at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus I happened upon a young male deer, mating season, he was not thrilled to see me. Got photos and video before he snorted at me and ran off.
3. Kelly's Roast Beef is every bit as good as the hype, roast beef sand. and fries while sitting at Revere Beach, and that was my first stop.
4. My Nina was born in a house on Revere Beach, it's a three-mile stretch, kind of hard to pinpoint the exact location.
5. Saw a guy at Revere Beach with so much white hair on his back it was like he had a white glow to him, or shoulder pads, not cool, I'm eating here sir.
6. Added more color to my left arm by driving 250miles, $20 in gas, love the new car.(2009 Ford Focus)
7. Just because you miss rush hour does not mean that traffic in and around Boston is not a nightmare.
8. On the way up on Rt. 3 some douche New Yorker was on his phone and swerving all over the place, sort of hoped he'd just crash to protect everyone else.
9. CVS in Saugus looks exactly the same as CVS everywhere else.
10. I still have bitter memories of working at Target in Vegas and got a cold chill when I passed one in Saugus.
11. Mosquitos and other terrible bugs are out, they suck, that's all.
12. Why weren't High Rock Tower and Stone Tower in Lynn opened yet? Yeah, it's only a week before Memorial Day, no nobody goes out before then, right?
13. Have you ever heard of Dunkin' Donuts Cafe? That's what it was called on Nahant. Even their Dunkin' Donuts is freakin' cool.
14. A family of squirrels were living in a wooden wheel well at the Saugus Iron Works Museum, is that a safe place? What kind of parents are these squirrels?
15. Taking timed photos of yourself is hard, damn camera tipped over several times as I tried to shoot myself in front of High Rock Tower in Lynn.
16. Even the thugs in Nahant were classy, just sayin' is all.
17. Revere Beach was a three-mile stretch of hot girls or hideous ones, no in between.
18. Got to see a guy sucking booze out of a paper bag today, hey man you're just adding to the stereotype.
19. My car's SYNC system literally reshuffles my IPod's songs after each one, I passed some songs ten times in my trip, variety is key you idiot car.
20. I think at times my GPS is trying to get me killed. What British lady voice? Did you want to go out with me and I turned you down? I own you, do as you're told!
21. Saw the same little girl on a scooter three times on Nahant and waved to her every time.
22. Even on a tiny semi-island there is a golf course, what else would middle-aged white guys do? Maybe go to the freakin' beach?
23. At Lynn Woods two ladies were walking their dogs, a boxer and some little brown dog, and the dogs started fighting, their leashes got tangled, it was a mess, the ladies were yelling, which is why I had to wait until I was far enough away to laugh.
24. Took 200 photos and 3 videos and my camera's battery was still more than 1/2 full.
25. Am burned and tired but fresh and clean, watched The Hangover while eating D'Angelos. Perfect end to a nearly perfect day. Hope y'all enjoyed my recap, photos and articles to come later.

Song of the Day:  Brand New Day by Sting 

Photo of the Day: Nahant Beach