00 a.m. and then on to the next meet-up with Deb and Lisa at milepost 153 service area on the Garden State Parkway at 8:00 a.m. Everyone was on-time ... a great start! Deb's boyfriend, Den and his brother, were following in a pickup truck with a trailer because Den was picking up a sidecar in Sturbridge. We stopped at the last service area on the parkway for gas and some breakfast.It was a beautiful day for riding - sunny and not too hot - and no traffic considering it was July 4th. The ride was uneventful for Nancy and I but I'm sure Deb, Lisa and Den will be getting a nasty letter from the Parkway authority when they get home! Nancy and I have EZ Pass but the others did not. We arranged that we would go through EZ Pass and pull over if there was a safe place or we would continue slowly and they wou
ld catch up. The best made plans do go astray ... For some reason, Deb, Lisa & Den all followed us through the EZ Pass Express - go figure!! Den was concerned as to what would happen. We told him they probably took a picture of their license plates and, if so, they would all get a letter to pay the toll and a fine. Unfortunately, the trailer was not Den's - hopefully, he gives his friend a "heads up"!
ld catch up. The best made plans do go astray ... For some reason, Deb, Lisa & Den all followed us through the EZ Pass Express - go figure!! Den was concerned as to what would happen. We told him they probably took a picture of their license plates and, if so, they would all get a letter to pay the toll and a fine. Unfortunately, the trailer was not Den's - hopefully, he gives his friend a "heads up"!We had planned to spend the night in Sturbridge, MA. To our surprise, we had arrived at the hotel around 1:00 p.m. - much earlier then we planned. After checking-in and unloading the bikes, we headed to Piccadilly's for lunch ... the first of many seafood meals!
After a relaxing lunch, I left the ladies and went to St. Anne Shrine for 4:00 p.m. Mass. It was a beautiful shrine set on a hill. This made it a little difficult maneuvering the motorcycle around trying to park. Just as I found a safe place to park (after 3 tries), 3 tour buses arrived with lots and lots of senior citizens. Mass was held in an outdoor pavilion which gave the whole experience a very serene feeling. I did not realize how much there was to the shrine until after I got back to the hotel and was looking at the brochure. Now, I wished I had walked around the grounds more.
We had gotten advanced tickets for the Old Sturbridge Village fireworks. That evening we went to the village and walked around, ate junk food and watched the fireworks. Rather than go down to the meadows and watch the fireworks, we found a good viewing spot at the top of the hill. We watched them moving people from the hill bel
ow us but we thought we would still be able to watch from our "perch". A staff member did come and tell us the show would be blocked by some trees but we figured they would be shooting them high enough to go over the trees - wrong - they were going off behind the tree ... like they said they would! After about 15 minutes and being bitten by gnats, we decided to start walking back to the parking lot and see if we could see the fireworks from there. We were able to find a perfect spot between some trees with the moon in the middle and watch the fireworks. It was really neat. My camera has a shutter delay so the timing was off trying to get pictures of the fireworks - I always got the ending! We continued to the parking lot, along wit
h quite a few other people, so we could get a jump on the traffic leaving the village. Just as we got to the end of the driveway, the finale went off and we had a front row seat ... spectacular!
ow us but we thought we would still be able to watch from our "perch". A staff member did come and tell us the show would be blocked by some trees but we figured they would be shooting them high enough to go over the trees - wrong - they were going off behind the tree ... like they said they would! After about 15 minutes and being bitten by gnats, we decided to start walking back to the parking lot and see if we could see the fireworks from there. We were able to find a perfect spot between some trees with the moon in the middle and watch the fireworks. It was really neat. My camera has a shutter delay so the timing was off trying to get pictures of the fireworks - I always got the ending! We continued to the parking lot, along wit
h quite a few other people, so we could get a jump on the traffic leaving the village. Just as we got to the end of the driveway, the finale went off and we had a front row seat ... spectacular! What an enjoyable way to end a beautiful day and a great ride on the 4th of July. We got back to the hotel around 10:30 and called it a night!
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