gardening and enjoying life in Salem, Massachusetts
Watching kids swim..
eating great dinners by the lake shore…
and enjoying the best cup of coffee ever!
Visiting some of my favorite gardens..
in the world.
do you see a resemblance to the Salem Garden? This is one of our inspiration spots.
Enjoying moments of complete peace and tranquility…
and watching the clouds and airplanes.
There’s no place like Camp Calumet!
Where have you been?
We visited lots of great museums, monuments and places of historical importance on our trip to Washington DC a few weeks ago. At the end of the day, after seeing all of those amazing places, it was all about the cupcakes for us! As I mentioned in yesterday’s post it was really, really hot. 108 degrees is hot! In spite of this, we still found some energy to check out the Georgetown Cupcake shop, home of the hit TLC show DC Cupcake. As we left the National Mall and drove a mile west the temperature went down eight degrees according to our car thermometer. Suddenly 100 degrees felt like air conditioning! We thought we could do anything! So we found a parking spot right on the Potomac River and took a hike up the hill to find the famous cupcake shop.
It looked just like it does on the TV show. The man in blue is a security guard and I suspect that he would have been very busy if it had been a little cooler.
My gang was ready to check things out!
Here’s a view of the inside… many, many boxes and many, many cupcakes! It seemed like a pretty tight space. We wondered if there was a larger kitchen/baking area to the right…
This young man was very patient with us. It took us awhile to order.
I think that’s because these were the choices. It was just a little bit difficult for anyone to make a decision.
Here’s what we came home with. Yes, there are six cupcakes for seven people. That’s because our oldest daughter is severely allergic to nuts so she had to pass on the cupcake. She’s a huge fan of the show and was okay with visiting and getting a t-shirt instead of a cupcake. She loves to bake and uses the recipes from their cookbook all the time.
We did make it back to the hotel eventually and had a cupcake feast (and a nap if needed)!
We were in Washington DC a few weeks ago and I treated myself to a walk in the US Botanic Garden. I would have taken my family with me for my walk but it was literally 108 degrees that day. They stayed in the cool air conditioned Smithsonian while I enjoyed the garden. Needless to say I had the whole thing to myself and it was glorious! I spent about 45 minutes relaxing and taking in every nook and cranny. One of the highlights was the Children’s Garden. It’s a beautiful child friendly oasis in the middle of all of the DC action.
The Children’s Garden is located just outside of the huge conservatory.
The plants are so varied. The shapes, colors, sizes and textures are really engaging.
The posted rules are simple and child friendly.
I saw pots of plants waiting for kids to put into the ground themselves.
Unfortunately I missed the photo, but I loved the concept!
There’s a fountain (pictured on the left) that children can play in and use to water plants. 
There’s a wonderful green-roofed playhouse!
Along with places to hide and run…
and to pretend and just “be”…
It was easy to get lost in the whimsy and fun.
I hope that next time my children are in the photos too!
They would have enjoyed this… it’s a great place for families to learn, relax and spend time together while enjoying Washington DC.
I could have stayed for hours!
Related articles
I love camping! This week I decided to pack the kids up and head down to Winter Island for a few days. Winter Island is a city park that is an island (connected by a causeway) right on the ocean. It has a few amenities like a very rustic bathhouse and a camp store but it’s really all about the beach, the water and a little bit of history.
We’ve been going to the beach there for twenty five years but had never family camped. I was amazed that I could be so “on vacation” this close to home.
Our campsite was wooded and spacious.
And the views are spectacular!
This is looking in toward Derby Wharf and the city.
The island was historically a fort and more recently a coast guard base.
Here’s a post about it’s history that was written by Salem blogger Beth Melillo a few weeks ago:
http://connectshore.com/2012/07/03/winter-island-a-personal-and-public-history/
There’s always something interesting to ponder.
Was this building used to store munitions or was it used for holding prisoners?
We really need to research that and figure it out.
Here’s the old sea plane hanger…
and a view from the back with one of the Salem Community Gardens sites in the foreground.
There’s the old barracks. I’d love to see this building restored and used again.
My kids have grown up playing at the playground.We used to go down for an hour before lunch and nap time when they were little.
There are flowers blooming all over the island.
One of the former caretakers loved to plant things and his handiwork is everywhere!
Casey’s gardens make me feel right at home.
The kids spent lots and lots of time exploring the tide pools…
Here’s a close up of some star fish that they found.
My little guy spends hours out there.
We did have to watch out for the critters that came out at night.
There were ground hogs and wharf rats. One night a skunk wandered right through our site as I was tucking the kids in.
We knew it was time to head home very early yesterday morning when Michael caught a raccoon pulling a bag of marshmallows through this hole that he (the raccoon) had chewed in our tent!
A little duct tape to repair the hole is nothing compared to wonderful family time and views like this!
Whether you spend a few hours or a few days, Winter Island is a perfect place to relax and get away!
First, I forgot my camera. I hate that. I spent the evening reaching for my camera, which I didn’t have with me.
Second, It was a lovely evening. We met our good friends at the Custom House, enjoyed wonderful music, kids activities and saw lots and lots of friends and neighbors. Michael was working but it’s one of his favorite events, so that was okay.
Third, my middle daughter and her friends actually met one of their favorite characters from the Hunger Games movie (who’s name I can’t remember, sorry!). The new Grown Ups movie is being filmed in the area, so there have been many celebrity sightings in town over the past month or so. Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and lots of younger actors who they know from tv… my kids have been enjoying this.
Fourth, about an hour before the fireworks were to start a dark cloud started to form just behind the wharf area. I took my youngest kids to play on the beach for a little while and watched it hoping that the cloud would move south or west or north.. It just sat there and slowly darkened. What ensued is best described in this Salem News Article:
http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1437858647/Mission-Accomplished
We did have the advantage of being able to duck into my husbands workplace to watch through a window during the lightening. It was nice to look around and see all five of my kids and several of their friends safely there.
As I said a few weeks ago, there’s nothing like the fourth of July in Salem!
Tomorrow, a garden update! Time to get out there and weed. It’s amazing how much things change in our garden in two weeks.
Thanks for stopping in!
Enjoy everything~
Michele
Changing photos to sepia is fun (and easy with I-Photo)
Here’s a photo I took at the Common last week:
Same photo, changed to Sepia. Isn’t this timeless? It looks like it could have been taken a hundred years ago.
Here’s another one, the cars kind of give it away. I should crop them out.
This was our Christmas Picture a few years ago. My kids have grown up so much since then. I wish we could slow that down a little bit.
and this one really is old… Isn’t she beautiful? I have her hanging over my fireplace. It’s a photo that we found in my Dad’s things. My sister and I think it could be our grandmother. Unfortunately we don’t have any known photos of her. If anyone recognizes this lady please let me know! I call her Rose.
We’ve been wondering for a few years now…
Anyway, Happy Monday! I’m off to prepare for our big family road trip later this week.
Enjoy Everything!
Michele
The Salem Garden 
