A Weekend of Fun

The holiday weekend was a busy one for the Ellett family. We visited museums and enjoyed celebrating the Fourth of July holiday with friends and family.

For Maura and me the weekend started on Friday. We went to the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Admission was free for the day as the institution was participating in Free Fun Fridays presented by the Highland Street Foundation. Each Friday in July and August different Massachusetts museums and cultural institutions will be offering free admission. Find out more about the program and check out the calendar for the rest of the summer at www.highlandstreet.org.

Maura and I left early for our trip to Sandwich. We arrived at around 10:00 when the property opened for the day and spent about four hours exploring the gardens and poking through the museums. We both enjoyed the day. The gardens were beautiful and peaceful despite the crowds. The labyrinth and the maze garden were favorite spots for Maura and me. I’d like to return to the gardens in the spring when the rhododendrons are blooming. The Heritage Gardens bost one of the largest collections of rhododendrons in the United States. The Hidden Hollow children’s discovery garden was an interesting concept that would be fun for younger kids. It integrated musical instruments and water features with many opportunities to learn about nature. It was very crowded and I thought Maura was a bit old for it. The art museum was another favorite spot, especially the carousel exhibit, which includes a working carousel as well as fine examples of carved carousel horses and menagerie figures. The car museum didn’t particularly thrill Maura but other children might love the old cars.

On Saturday we made another museum trip, this time with the whole family. We went to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the Chihuly exhibition and explore some of the new Arts of the Americas wing. Everyone enjoyed the glass artistry of the Chihuly installations. The brilliant colors and the shear imagination of the forms kept everyone entertained. Maura was a little bored in the new wing, which she had seen before but I had not. We did all enjoy the “Behind the Scenes” interactive exhibits that explored collecting and conservation for the museum.

Sunday evening we went to the Town of Weymouth’s Fourth of July celebration at Lane beach. We had planned to picnic but waited to go until after dinner to go because the weather was threatening thunder storms. The storms never materialized and the weather improved as the evening progressed. We were joined by Maura’s maternal grandfather and his long-time girlfriend. We enjoyed the family time, and Maura enjoyed playing with some of her friends that we met at the beach. The New Band played live for entertainment before the fireworks started and the fireworks were worth waiting for. I’ve seen better, but not this year.

We spent the Fourth of July relaxing. We attended a barbecue at our friends' the Longs and had a very pleasant afternoon of food and conversation. It was a great way to finish what had been an enjoyable but busy long weekend.

The MFA, Sunday September 7th, 2008

Maura started first grade on Wednesday so our season of frequent outings is over. We’ll be limited to weekends and infrequent holidays until Winter Break begins in December. Maura loves school so she’s happy to be back. I will enjoy the quiet and the lack of interruptions when I’m working but I will miss her. Of course, she’ll only be gone weekdays from 9:00 to 3:00.


We still have weekends, of course. Weekends are even better for outings because the whole family can come along. Jennifer—my wife, Maura’s mom—has a regular Monday through Friday job. This weekend we chose to head to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, aka the MFA. Since it was the first weekend of the month and we are Bank of America customers we took advantage of the Bank of America Free Museum Weekend and get in free of charge.


As always when we go into Boston, we took the T, though we drove to the closest T-station to save time. There are few busses on Sunday. There is a conveniently located Green Line stop right in front of the museum.


Once in the Museum we headed for the Egyptian galleries. Maura likes Egyptian art and is fascinated by hieroglyphics. We moved on from there into the Classical Galleries which interested Maura less though she did really enjoy the mosaic floor. She’s working on a mosaic at home, a tile by number affair with stick on tiles. She also enjoyed hearing my story about helping to excavate a mosaic in Greece when I studied archeology in college.


After a quick pit stop we headed across the museum to see some of the collection of American Art that Jennifer likes, including the museum’s large collection of John Singleton Copley’s works. We took a rest and had a snack in the museum's courtyard garden, then finished with a trip to the museum’s collection of musical instruments. Maura was curious about the instruments and drove her mother crazy asking what each one was called.