The Year in Review.

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that 2017 is already in the rear view mirror and that the new year is well underway. The last twelve months brought a lot of change to my life: a new job, a new home, and lots of new adventures. Time with family and friends has consumed much of the past month, leaving little time for new adventures along the open road ahead… so I thought it might be a good time to take stock of where I have been, before looking ahead to where I will be going.

The biggest news from this past year was certainly leaving the comfortable confines of New Jersey for a new job in Massachusetts, 300 miles from home. With that, however, came the opportunity for lots of exploration in my new home state. From the top of Mount Washington to the beaches of Cape Cod to the graves of Presidents and to the site of the first Thanksgiving, I had the time and opportunities to explore New England, and to see some of what it has to offer: culture, scenic vistas, and a deep and abiding appreciation of history.

Automotively, my 2012 Honda Accord continues to be my faithful adventure companion. The past year has seen me add approximately 22,000 miles to the odometer, with slightly more than 97,100 miles now logged on the car. Two repairs were needed this year: a new windshield, courtesy of a stone kicked up from beneath a tractor trailer, and some rust that was caused by road debris. Otherwise, the car continues to impress, requiring only routine maintenance such as oil changes and tire rotations.

Rather than writing any further, however, I thought it might be fun to review some of the places I have traveled this year:

Civil War era submarine on a plinth inside a museum.
We began our journeys with a visit to a Civil War-era submarine in New Jersey.
Barnegat Lighthouse. 2012 Honda Accord in the foreground.
Next stop, Barnegat Light.
2012 Honda Accord in front of the USS New Jersey.
A visit to the battleship USS New Jersey.
1 Patriot Place
Patriots Stadium and the Patriots Hall of Fame. (No word on if all footballs in the museum were inflated accurately)
Plymouth Rock
Plymouth Rock, in Plymouth, MA.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Battleship Cove
Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA.
Tyrannosaurs Rex skeleton in museum.
The Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and the site of the first complete dinosaur skeleton in Haddonfield, NJ.
2012 Honda Accord in front of the USS Nautilus.
The USS Nautilus, the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine.
Sofa and axe in the Lizzie Borden Museum.
The Lizzie Borden Museum in Fall River, MA…
Minuteman Statue at Concord Battlefield.
The battlefields of Lexington and Concord.
Fenway Park at night.
Fenway Park.
USS Salem
The USS Salem in Quincy, MA.
Dunes and beach.
One of several trips to Cape Cod.
Tombstone of President John Adams.
A visit to the home of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
Cape Cod Light.
Cape Cod Light.
Entrance to the John F Kennedy Presidential Library.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
Bow of a sailing ship.
Sailing near Gloucester, MA.
View of Boston from the Skyline Observatory.
The Skyline Observatory in Boston.
Bunker Hill Monument.
Bunker Hill Monument.
Philadelphia Art Museum.
The Philadelphia Art Museum.
Decapitator God in the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
The Harvard Museum of Natural History.
Longfellow House in Cambridge, MA.
The Longfellow House in Cambridge, MA.
Mt. Washington.
Mt. Washington.
Monument to the victims of the Salem Witch Trials.
Salem, MA.
Sailboat in Hyannis Harbor.
Hyannis, MA.
Plimoth Plantation
Plimoth Plantation.
Winterthur Museum.
Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

And despite a hectic past month, I still made time to travel a bit, and so despite there being no blog posts from these trips, the photos, at least, follow here:

View of Statue of Liberty.
A mid-December trip to New York City…
Interior of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Which included my first-ever visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Christmas Market at Bryant Park.
Including a visit to the Christmas Market at Bryant Park.
Longwood Gardens
A return visit to Longwood Gardens.
Lit trees at Longwood Gardens.
And Longwood Gardens was beautiful as ever.
Mall of America amusement park.
An impromptu trip to Minnesota happened at the end of December, which included a visit to the Mall of America. Ever see a roller coaster and log flume in the middle of a shopping mall before? No? Neither had I.
Como Conservatory
A visit to the Como Conservatory and Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota was a perfect place to visit when the temperatures were below -10 degrees for much of my visit.
Interior of Como Conservatory.
The temperatures might be arctic outside, but inside the conservatory it was absolutely beautiful.
2012 Honda Accord.
Though it all, the Accord keeps on rolling.

I hope you enjoyed this review of the past year. 2018 is off to a great start, with lots of new adventures waiting in the future. Thank you all for your continued reading of this blog, and I am eager to share my new journeys with yours I venture down the open road ahead.

‘Til next time.

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theopenroadahead

4 thoughts on “The Year in Review.”

  2. What a great variety of destinations and landmarks you hit in 2017. I hope for more of the same this coming year. I especially enjoyed that a lot of the spots you visited were historical in nature – I can get an education AND see some awesome road trip opportunities at the same time. Let’s get that Honda out to visit Arizona sometime soon.

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