Massachusetts

I hadn't finished the series of seven states before St. Patrick's Day intervened, so here's the last one of the series - Massachusetts.

As I may have mentioned before, I love the postcards that show an entire state.  In the case of this one, it shows not only towns but also the state bird, the Chicadee, and the state nickname, the Bay State.  On the back of this card is written the state motto:  "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty."  Appropriate motto for a state that figured so prominently in the American Revolution.

A visit to Boston, Massachusetts has to include time spent walking the "Freedom Trail", ending (or beginning, depending on your perspective) at the Bunker Hill Monument, seen in the postcard to the left.  American history really comes alive when you walk this trail, especially for somebody from California (me) which is pretty far removed from the original 13 colonies and all their incumbent history.

I used to travel frequently to Chelmsford, Massachusetts, about two hours north of Boston.  Usually, we flew in in the evening, drove to Chelmsford, got up early for meetings and drove back to catch the last flight back to San Francisco.  However, one time,  I drove my rental car to Rockport (home of the shoes), and stayed in the lovely inn to the leftjust for the night.  I was determined to see something of Massachusetts other than Boston and Chelmsford and the Interstate (93) that connected them, so I did.

The Mapparium at Christian Science Church in Boston

The Mapparium is a huge glowing globe of the earth that you walk through. Except I remembered it as being called the "mappetorium". Hmmm. This must have been the first time I visited Boston. I sent this postcard to myself, sort of like a mini-journal, noting why I was there (focus groups, although I can't remember the product), the weather (hot and muggy), and different things I did while I was there. I do remember that the focus groups were at night which was why I could wander around the city as a tourist during the day. I was determined to visit the Christian Science Church, called the Mother Church by Christian Scientists, as both my grandmothers were Christian Scientists and I attended Christian Science Sunday school as a kid. The Mapparium was a wonderful surprise.

As I've been going through my postcards, it's been interesting to see the different addresses at which I've received postcards (I no longer live at the one above), and the different people who have sent postcards to me.