The Story
It was the classic boy from the north shore meets girl from the south shore. Two years ago Lila and I met while I attended UMass Boston and she was going to UMass Dartmouth. She was a real south shore kind of girl. She would talk about the sights and sounds of the Cape, Plymouth Plantation, Edaville Railroad, Battleship Cove, and her lovely hometown in Scituate. I on the other hand was from Winchester and loved Rockport, Hammond Castle, Richardson’s Mini Golf and playing hockey at Hockeytown. It almost seemed like we came from two different worlds. Our only common ground seemed to be Boston, which we both knew well and enjoyed.
So as the story goes we fell in love and in so doing we decided to visit the other’s favorite places. I always had a pool growing up so there really wasn’t a need for my family to travel down to the Cape but the more I visited the area the more I really liked it. Plus, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are such wonderful resort areas with lots to do. Every chance we got we jumped in the car to explore new places. Then just several months ago we were watching Chronicle on Channel 5 when they asked the question of which area’s restaurants were better – the ones from the north or the south.
That certainly got us thinking about so many possibilities in the state which then turned us on to the thought of just going everywhere to find new and hidden fun things to do. It would be the ultimate quest and to our surprise no one had ever done it before. Now we can’t say absolutely no one. Maybe someone had visited many of the towns and cities of Massachusetts over a long lifetime. But, certainly no one has ever chronicled it like we intend to do.
We started doing a lot of research. Did you know there is a town that has less than 100 people? There is another town that is only about one square mile. There are towns that are buried under water. There are towns named Florida and Holland. There are so many lesser known facts about Massachusetts that we have discovered.
And so the journey begins. We will visit every town and city in Massachusetts over two weeks starting the first week of September. We will take a picture of us standing in front of each city sign or town hall. When you travel 4,000 to 5,000 miles there are bound to be other interesting and fun things along the way too. Many of the pleasures of our journey will be derived from within. It will be the anticipation of what one might find in the quest that makes the search so special. It is an inner voice that urges one on past the time to quit. It is an inward drive, a small personal motivation that really never ceases. To heed that inner voice, to listen to its direction, is to begin to achieve the understanding of what it is like to succeed in a quest. That small voice will expand your vision, extend your goals and electrify your vitality.
Helen Keller once said "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." We are excited about the search, about the history, the geography, the exercise, fresh air and adventure. With so many places to go we will be persistent because sometimes hidden treasures are carefully hidden. That's the tantalizing lure of them. That's their sweet mystery.
We invite you to share your thoughts as our journey progresses or later on as you may hear about our travels after it is over.
Thanks,
Ross Bergen & Lila Gardner
It was the classic boy from the north shore meets girl from the south shore. Two years ago Lila and I met while I attended UMass Boston and she was going to UMass Dartmouth. She was a real south shore kind of girl. She would talk about the sights and sounds of the Cape, Plymouth Plantation, Edaville Railroad, Battleship Cove, and her lovely hometown in Scituate. I on the other hand was from Winchester and loved Rockport, Hammond Castle, Richardson’s Mini Golf and playing hockey at Hockeytown. It almost seemed like we came from two different worlds. Our only common ground seemed to be Boston, which we both knew well and enjoyed.
So as the story goes we fell in love and in so doing we decided to visit the other’s favorite places. I always had a pool growing up so there really wasn’t a need for my family to travel down to the Cape but the more I visited the area the more I really liked it. Plus, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are such wonderful resort areas with lots to do. Every chance we got we jumped in the car to explore new places. Then just several months ago we were watching Chronicle on Channel 5 when they asked the question of which area’s restaurants were better – the ones from the north or the south.
That certainly got us thinking about so many possibilities in the state which then turned us on to the thought of just going everywhere to find new and hidden fun things to do. It would be the ultimate quest and to our surprise no one had ever done it before. Now we can’t say absolutely no one. Maybe someone had visited many of the towns and cities of Massachusetts over a long lifetime. But, certainly no one has ever chronicled it like we intend to do.
We started doing a lot of research. Did you know there is a town that has less than 100 people? There is another town that is only about one square mile. There are towns that are buried under water. There are towns named Florida and Holland. There are so many lesser known facts about Massachusetts that we have discovered.
And so the journey begins. We will visit every town and city in Massachusetts over two weeks starting the first week of September. We will take a picture of us standing in front of each city sign or town hall. When you travel 4,000 to 5,000 miles there are bound to be other interesting and fun things along the way too. Many of the pleasures of our journey will be derived from within. It will be the anticipation of what one might find in the quest that makes the search so special. It is an inner voice that urges one on past the time to quit. It is an inward drive, a small personal motivation that really never ceases. To heed that inner voice, to listen to its direction, is to begin to achieve the understanding of what it is like to succeed in a quest. That small voice will expand your vision, extend your goals and electrify your vitality.
Helen Keller once said "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." We are excited about the search, about the history, the geography, the exercise, fresh air and adventure. With so many places to go we will be persistent because sometimes hidden treasures are carefully hidden. That's the tantalizing lure of them. That's their sweet mystery.
We invite you to share your thoughts as our journey progresses or later on as you may hear about our travels after it is over.
Thanks,
Ross Bergen & Lila Gardner
