I started out this Independence Day morning fruit picking at
Cider Hill Farm in the town of Amesbury.
This place has chickens and ducks as well.
Today, I decided to go for strawberries and blueberries, the season for which has started early here. The strawberries were close to the ground and a little ruined because of the rains,
but there were still good ones to be found.
The blueberries have started to ripen, and I have now learnt that the good ones are usually big and totally purplish blue with little or no sign of redness.
As I had to get home early, I did not pick a lot, but still a substantial amount at the end of it.
I'm glad my friends liked the fruits of my labor.
My friend and I decided to walk around Newburyport for a bit while everyone else went out kayaking,
heading to
Michael's Harborside, a seafood place by the water in town for lunch.
My friend got the New England Lobster Roll
while I got the Crab Stuffed Flounder (Flakey flounder stuffed with a full portion of our famous crab cake, finishedwith lobster sherry sauce and a sprinkle of our classic crumbs).
Pretty good stuff, with a nice view of the water from the balcony.
We then headed to
Souffles, a cafe which also sells kitchen stuff, for a drink, with me getting the Raspberry Lime Rickey.
Our walking then took us to the
Oldies Marketplace, a giant barn full of antiques.
After finally leaving the place, we headed next door to visit the
Custom House Maritime Museum. Pictures I took here follow.
After leaving the museum, we headed back to the hotel, and after the others had come back from kayaking, we headed into Salisbury to go watch the fireworks at
Salisbury Beach. There was a performance stage set up in the center,
and we were lucky enough to be able to find a spot directly in front of the floating platform that would be setting off the fireworks.
My friend and I needed to use the restroom, and resorted to heading into
Surfside, a seafood restaurant on the beach.
We went to the balcony,
where we managed to get a seat by the railings, right in front of the fireworks boat.
We got a bowl of New England Clam Chowder
and the Jamaican Jerk Chicken Street Cart Tacos (shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, sriracha aioli, scallions),
which were not bad, although the fries were hard and not crispy, and as they took so long to arrive, it was already dark by the time we rejoined our group.
When it turned dark, we started seeing fireworks coming from other towns in the distance,
and there were some isolated ones fired off as well,
but it was only until after 10pm that we got to see the fireworks we were here for. Pretty good, especially because I was able to see where they were being fired from for the first time.
A perfect end to an Independence Day with friends. Thankfully the drive back to the hotel wasn't too congested.
