Blog de Puree » travel

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg and the Nipmuc Indians

paul — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:13:40 +0000

In central Massachusetts, on the southern end of Worcester County, east of the town of Webster, lies Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.

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A couple of Internet sources explain that the lake’s name is Nipmuc (Algonquian) for “You fish on your side; I fish on my side; nobody fishes in the middle.” I suspect that the Native American name of the lake stems from fishing disputes among local Nipmuc Indian villages and how they resolved border and fishing disputes. (It’s a shame politicians these days can’t come up with such a logical solution. We stand to learn a lot from our Native American cultures.)

Today, the lake is commonly known as Lake Webster, but honestly, that’s no fun at all. If you go to the lake, there’s a large sign with the lake’s Nipmuc name on it and it claims to be the home of the Nipmuc Indians, although the tribe covered a large area in the New England region.

Some info about the Nipmuc Indians

“Nipmuc Indians are the original people of central New England, and are among the “Eastern Woodlands” or Algonquian Indians of the Eastern United States. Before the arrival of European settlers in the 1600s, the Nipmuc (or “Fresh Water People”) lived in numerous band encampments, or ‘villages’, near bodies of fresh water in a territory (called ‘Nipnet’) which extended from the present day Vermont and New Hampshire borders, through Worcester County in Massachusetts, into northern Rhode Island, and into northeastern Connecticut as far south as Plainfield” – Nipmuc Indian Association of Connecticut

Who can say that lake’s name five times really fast?

Virgin Galactic may have America’s first spaceport in New Mexico

paul — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:04:26 +0000

In an almost scifi start to the new year, SpaceFellowship.com writes New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced “Virgin Galactic has signed a 20 year lease agreement with the State of New Mexico. Virgin Galactic’s world headquarters will be established in New Mexico and its operations will be located at New Mexico’s Spaceport America, the nation’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport.”

Governor Richardson believes that the agreement, which came a few days after the FAA “issued a launch license to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority,” will make New Mexico the home of commercial space travel.

The signing of the agreement coincides with the start of Virgin Galactic’s test program of the WhiteKnightTwo launch vehicle in the Mojave Desert.

This is pretty cool news on many levels and I’m excited to see a commercial space program get off the ground. Virgin Galactic is one step closer to bringing space travel to the common citizen.

Protected: M’s first wedding

paul — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:58:43 +0000

Grahamgetaways.com opens its doors

paul — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:07:46 +0000

One of my college buddies, John Graham, has started an online travel website called Grahamgetaways.com. The website is a Referring Travel Agent site for YTB Travel Network, but operates just like other Internet travel sites such as Expedia or Travelocity.

However, if you peruse Grahamgetaways.com, you’ll find that many of the prices are better than the major operations because of the unique relationship his portal has with YTB. The site offers deals on flights, hotels, vacation packages, cruises, ordering flowers, as well as tickets to sporting events, concerts and more.

In college, John was often the go-to guy when you it was time to organize the gang for weekend getaways, spring breaks and one-day trips. Without the Internet being mainstream in those days, it was scary how quickly he could put a trip together with obscenely fantastic rates. As many of us were on tight budgets, John was a handy guy to know.

So, if you’re looking to book something in the near future, give his site a visit and see what kind of deals you can find. Courtesy of John.

Protected: M meets his Great-Grandparents

randye — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:30:09 +0000

Protected: M’s first big trip

paul — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:03:58 +0000

A warm winter’s day in Freeport, Maine

paul — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:15:03 +0000

It’s been unusually warm this winter. From a global perspective it’s not out of the ordinary because earthly weather patterns are in an el Niño cycle. It being a nice day, we thought we’d head up to L.L. Bean on Saturday and air ourselves out a bit while enjoying some shopping without huge mobs of pedestrians.

As we suspected, the holiday crush was over and a certain calm lay on Freeport, like a big sigh of relief. Coupled with the warm weather, people moved about without any sense of urgency and were quite amiable. You didn’t have to fight your way through stores. And then there were the post-holiday sales.

Before starting our shopping experience, we took a quick lunch at Morrison’s Chowder House–famous for its clam, lobster and haddock chowders. We enjoyed a cup of lobster stew and a fresh tuna roll. If you’re looking for a quick delicious bite that won’t break the bank in downtown Freeport, this is a great place.

My main mission was to see if L.L. Bean was stocking a particular Stetson-like hat, called the Outdoorsman hat, that had a wider than average brim for spending long hours outdoors. With big landscaping and outdoor recreational plans each spring and summer, I felt it would be most useful and I might even have a chance at looking 19th century chic. I’ve been coveting this hat for over two years since I first saw it, but didn’t purchase it. It hasn’t been available online, and a couple replies from e-mail inquiries to L.L. Bean’s customer service led me to believe the hat was discontinued.

But to my delightful surprise, they had the hat in stock and it wasn’t discontinued. The gamble to make the drive paid off. Oh, happy day! I quickly made the purchase.

Randye had a stellar day too. She came away with a couple pairs of much-needed new pants.

I’d have to say that Freeport is a pleasant day trip when there are no crowds, it’s the off-season and you actually find what you’ve been looking for.

Sippin’ in Salem

paul — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 00:51:41 +0000

Randye and I couldn’t have asked for better weather this past weekend. On Saturday, I was weeding a heinous strip of crab grass in our woodchips when our friend Mike called. “Hey,” he said, “I’m heading up to Salem to meet some friends to hang out at a local bar and today is the Maritime Festival. Care to hang out and check out an old ship or two?”

Well, duh. Old boats and booze in witch city? No brainer. So Randye and I showered up and headed off to the action. When we arrived, we met up with Mike and some of his friends at a local hang out called the Lobster Shanty.

From there, we headed to the old Salem piers and boarded the sloop Providence, its most recent claim to fame being filmed in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest. The ship, a 110 foot replica of a Revolutionary War sloop that was originally christened Katy, and was the first command of John Paul Jones.

The sloop was favored by pirates for its speed, shallow draft and ability to pack plenty of cannon for its size. In the movie, the Providence played the part of a merchant ship that was attacked by the Krackon. When the Katy was first commissioned, she too was a merchant and later became a privateer and U.S. warship.

After Randye and Mike witnessed my 30 minute peppering of the crew with a million questions, we made a roundabout way to a dinner of Indian cuisine. Then it was time to hit up a few of the local watering holes.

Also of interest, was one of Mike’s friends who joined us and is a practicing witch. Very nice, and very patient–yes, I peppered her with a thousand questions as well–she gave us a unique perspective of Salem through a witch’s eyes.

The perfect pit stop

paul — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:11:14 +0000

On the advice of Randye’s parents, we stopped at the Blue Colony Diner in Newtown, Conn. The diner is located approximately half-way between her folks’ house in New Jersey and our house. Randye loved it because it had a huge menu of breakfast, lunch, dinner and other diner morsels that we don’t find at the local diners by us that seem to be lacking on many fronts. It also had a lot of windows, was airy and pleasant. I enjoyed it because it had that great art deco feel to it, reminding me of countless great meals in the New York area.

Randye enjoyed an egg salad sandwich with bacon and a side order of gravy-covered cheese fries–and a diet pepsi. As for myself, I downed a chicken salad club sandwich with fries and a ginger ale.

If you find yourself traveling on I-84 in Connecticut, get off at exit 10 and have a bite at the Blue Colony Diner.