Boston Harbor Island Exploration

I came out to the Boston area for college and one of my first classes my first year was writing about place. During the class one of the places I was assigned to write about was George's Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands. Since that assignment I have wanted to visit the Harbor Islands, and I'm embarrassed to say it took me about 15 years before I actually did it.

It was a hot day in the city (from the islands we could see the heat rising off the city) so taking the ferry on the water and getting out to the islands was a beautiful way to spend a hot day.

With July 4th around the corner the ferry was running on a more limited schedule and being our first adventure out to the islands we opted for a simple trip and headed out to George's Island & then over to Spectacle and back to the city.

On the ferry out to George's we got to watch some of the tall ships coming in to the Harbor for Harborfest and the 200 year anniversary of the War of 1812. Going past castle Island got to see the cannons firing to announce the arrival of the ships.

Although there were other people with us on the ferry when we got to George's Island it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We started by exploring Fort Warren...

and ended out time on George's by enjoying some shade and the view. We discovered that there were picnic tables and grills, so we started with big plans for a return trip with a picnic, food to grill, a frisbee...

Then it was off to Spectacle Island. Both of these islands had little snack shacks done by Jasper White's Summer Shack but it wasn't really anything that sounded good to us and was kind of expensive so next time we'll bring more snacks with us.

There was a swimming beach and hula hoops you could use... instead we headed up to the vista points. 

We had a nice view of the tall ships docked in the Seaport on our way back to the city. 

And caught a lovely sunset on our walk home

The Harbor Islands were a lot of fun, easy to get to, great way to escape the city and get to go on a boat, inexpensive entertainment and you feel like you're out in nature. Now that I know how fun and easy it was I'm looking forward to going back and not waiting another 15 years before I do! 

yoga mat spray

Toyota was a big presence at Wanderlust VT this year. They had a tent with lots of activities, including getting a screen printed bag, making a granola mix, making your own yoga mat spray and a relaxing space to have a cup of tea.

I was intrigued by the fantastic screen printing contraption.

I have a ways to go to get this high tech and I'm sure there are many great contraptions but getting to watch this guy do the screen printing was a lot of fun and made me want to do more with screen printing! 

After the weekend of yoga it seemed like a good idea to lay out the mats and clean them all off with the mat spray I made.





Toyota all natural Yoga Mat Spray recipe

4 drops tea tree oil
4 drops essential oil (such as lavender or peppermint)
2 drops eucalyptus oil
3/4 oz witch hazel or vinegar
2 1/2 oz water

Wanderlust VT Sunday

Hello 8 am what joy do you have for me today? A class with Desiree Rumbaugh assisted by Mark St Pierre in the Dome. It was interesting to be on grass, nice and organic but a bit uneven and I'm sure I will have grass coming home with me. Another circle, the first morning and last morning both starting with a class from Desiree

followed by a class taught by Margaret Pitkin, we went to the first (on our first day) and last classes of her 3 class mythic flow goddess series. I had been hoping for a class in this beautiful wood room with a view of the gondolas going up the mountain. And it was the only class that I took in which we did handstand. It was a beautiful thing to be with my sister and our friend doing handstands

In the yoga class I take at the studio by my house we do handstands in almost every class, if not a handstand we do a headstand or arm balance... although I still can't get up into a handstand with out some help or do a headstand in the middle of the room I really like the rush of energy and feeling of accomplishment I get from being upside down

 before our last class we took one more ride up and down the mountain and then stopped to listen to The Barr Brothers

 

and we ended our yoga with another Margaret Pitkin class with music from Todd Boston back in the Saddlespan tent where our adventure began Thursday night watching the sunset. 

There is so much to be thankful for in this beautiful life, so many reasons to be joyful and celebrate...  I leave this weekend, this place, inspired, with a renewed strength and light and joy spilling out, if I don't send it out I won't get any back. I am grateful for what is and for what is not and for this reconnection.

 As we left and started on our way back to Boston we did make one last coffee stop Jamaica Coffee House 

Wanderlust VT Saturday

This morning we started with a meditation hike with Garth Stevenson.

We took the gondola up to the top of the mountain, hiked down the other side and Garth set up in the back and began to play. It was a beautiful way to begin the day, this sunny morning sitting among wildflowers, looking out at this beautiful view, listening to Garth play. 

 

we got a look at Ziggy Marley's tour bus

Then it was back to the Saddlespan tent for another Desiree Rumbaugh class with live music from Todd Boston

And to close today's yoga circle, my last class for the day was the first restorative type of class I've ever taken and my only class this year taught by Elena Brower which had live music from Garth Stevenson

And then the rain came again and we were done with all our classes for the day so we decided to do a little exploring and headed to Manchester. 

Where we found a very swanky hotel and the Honora Winery so we made a stop in to this neat old bank building turned tasting room.

 

which of course made us hungry so we tried the tacos at Cilantro

Manchester is the home of Orvis and many outlets, it reminded me of Freeport Maine, but we opted to skip those and headed back to the mountain. 

It was another beautiful sunset - we cooked dinner in our room and were eating out on our patio as the sun sank down, the sky turned such incredible colors that we left our food to go watch the sunset

we caught the very end of Shakti Sunfire's hooping with Todd Boston playing. She is incredible, I can't get a hula hoop to stay around my waist much lest attempt anything with a flaming hoop... maybe next year I'll try a hooping class

then we caught part of Gypsy Layne cabaret & burlesque troupe which was a lot of fun 

and we ended the night by watching some of Ziggy Marley's set

Wanderlust VT Friday

It all comes back

You get back what you put out

Life loops around in these circles and cycles. Maybe it was my subconscious or just some beautiful synchronicity that my first class this year was taught by the same teacher who I took my first class with last year, Desiree Rumbaugh... She shares so much laughter and joy it made it a lot easier to get to class at 8 this morning because I was looking forward to her teaching.

and the first class was held in a space that was sponsored by a yoga studio in Boston, Back Bay Yoga

after class we decided on a quick trip up the mountain in the gondola 

the tour bus by the white tent is Ani DiFranco's... 

our final class of the day was another one with Desiree Rumbaugh in this mostly open tent that we saw the sunset from last night. Party way through the class a storm rolled in, we all smoked forward under the tent... then staff at Stratton evacuated us due to lightening scares and hurried us inside a building where we watched the storm roll past in a matter of minutes and then returned to finish the class. 

I was thrilled that Ani DiFranco was one of the musical performances this year. 

I love Ani. 

She is this incredible little powerhouse folkster. All of her albums have their own sound and good strong messages. When applying to colleges I was able to use the 'common application' for many and chose an essay question that was to analyze a piece of art. I analyzed and Ani song (Talk to Me Now) and got in to all the colleges I sent that essay to... so it was an incredible way to end this first beautiful day by going to see her. And was a wonderful set that spanned many years of her work. 

HUGE INSPIRATION 

On the walk back to our room we saw the Dome, one of the places for classes, and it was changing all these beautiful colors so we stopped in for a few moments of meditation in this unique space, some time for reflection and collection of thoughts before bed and welcoming the coming day

Wanderlust or Bust

As we headed off to a weekend of yoga and music I was reminded that the journey is just as important as the destination (sometimes even more important). And just as delicious as our journey included snack stops! Our snack theme seemed to be maple! 

My sister and I picked up coffee and scones near by house then met a friend at the airport from a morning flight and we headed straight from the airport to Parker's Maple Barn in New Hampshire. Might as well try to get food in every state today! So, Mass & New Hampshire down we continued on to Vermont.


Every time I am in Brattleboro I end up at Mocha Joe's. If you get a maple latte they put real maple syrup in it... so of course we stopped in for iced lattes.

On our way out of town we saw a sign for Saxtons River Distillery and free tastings... so we made a quick stop there. The Sapling Vermont Maple Liqueur is delicious! 

There is something special about Vermont. The landscape is beautiful, the people are friendly... it is probably the only state that with out hesitation if someone is cooking something on the side of the road I know I want to eat it. So when I saw the sign for Pizza Hippo on the side of the road I didn't hesitate to pull off. Under a little tent in a field with the house and gardens in the background was a grill and a girl ready to makes us a salad, pizza, lemonade and set us up at a picnic table. We tried the pizza of the day which had a curry sauce, vegetables and no cheese. It was great! 

A few stops for provisions since we were staying in a condo... 

We made a stop at a Dutton's Berry Farm farm stand & caught the very end of the Townshend Farmers Market  where we got pickles and local sausage. 

And we made it to Stratton Mountain it in time to catch the sunset.

 
view through the Saddlespan tent

We made it! This beautiful space in this beautiful state, ready to to be open, inspired, educated... and share joy for this beautiful weekend of yoga and music.