Yankee Homecoming

It was a toss-up today whether to go canoeing or go to Newburyport's Yankee Homecoming. The homecoming won out because there was predictions of thundestorms (which did come true) and canoeing and thunderstorms don't mix too well. We went to the Yankee Homecoming in Newburyport because our town of Salem is too lame to have their own. There is NO culture in Salem whatsoever. Not even a theater, no art galleries, nothing. We have to go to other towns to find something to do. Newburyport is about 1/2 hour away along the coast of Massachusetts. Once again we did not bring the camera......sorry! We got into town pretty easily and were smart enough to grab a parking spot on a side street the minute we started noticing that cars were lined up parked on the sides of the road. We walked a little bit towards downtown and came upon a park that had tons of things going on. There was a pow-wow in progress. Indian drums, dancing, Native Americans dressed up in their very beautiful and impressive native outfits. It was situated near a pond where they were playing games with canoes. Tents filled with Native American souviners lined the pond. Then we walked a little further and found the Artists' Area. Dozens of tents housing many, many painters. They were very traditional.....landscapes, seascapes, still lifes. None of them really stood out for me. There weren't any other craftsmen besides the painters. We headed for the waterfront. The area leading towards it known as Market Square had lots of food vendors. Further along we came to the waterfront and sat in the shade of a tree listening to a band while we turned our mouths and tongues blue with raspberry ices. Newburport has a gorgeous boardwalk along the waterfront. Lots of benches to sit and relax and gaze out at the water filled with boats. There's an antique barn at the end of the boardwalk so we went in and browsed for a while. It was a nice afternoon. Extremely hot and very muggy. It felt nice to get back to the car and blast the air connditioning. It was the first time we really needed the air conditioning, and the first time this summer I took a cold shower when I got home to clean the muggies off me.