Hi, Bob! Hi, Benny! Welcome back to 'the World'. What have you two been up to lately?
Gina, thanks so much for inviting us back to your blog. We had a great time last time we were here, and I’m sure this time will be just as much fun.
For the fans of Gina’s blog that don’t know us or missed our last appearance, let me introduce ourselves. My name is Bob, and I travel around the New England area with my sidekick, Benny.
We love exploring and adventuring to not only well-known destinations, but also hidden, out-of-the-way places that may not be on everyone’s radar, and post our finds on our blog, www.yourtravelcap.com.
During our last visit, we talked about The Blackstone Gorge on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island line. Since then, we’ve had a few more adventures that we’d like to share with you. Of course, with the coronavirus spreading around currently, we haven’t been able to explore as much as we’d like, but towards the end of this post we’ll talk about what we’ve been doing to keep busy.
For those of you who aren’t acquainted with my bear friend, you should know that he likes to get into mischief, which usually causes my heart rate to spike. Last summer, when we were hiking up South Mount Sugarloaf in Western Mass, he told a state ranger to play a trick on me, and I fell for it! In the same area, he decided to try and drive a trolley by himself at the Shelburne Trolley Museum. Thankfully, he had no idea what he was doing, and the trolley wouldn’t even budge. I have to watch this bear left and right. If I take my eyes off of him for a moment, he gets into trouble. Although, I think he does this to get a rise out of me.
In spite of his mischievous streak, Benny was on his best behavior when Yankee Candle invited us to their headquarters in Deerfield, MA. He started getting a little carried away at first, sniffing all of the candles at the candle bar, but he quickly checked himself and calmed down. I told him if he behaved himself, he could have a candle with his face on it. As you can see from the picture below, he did indeed behave and got his candle.
But, enough about Western Massachusetts! What about Southcoast Mass, Cape Cod, and Little Rhody? Asking us if we went to these areas is like asking if a Rhode Islander knows what coffee milk is. The answer: probably.
This past fall, we really upped our hiking game, and found two great local places to enjoy nature. One is Destruction Brook in Dartmouth. This beautiful area is managed by the DNRT, the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust. Even though I grew up in the area, I had never heard of them or their properties, and honestly, shame on me! Of course, Benny being Benny meant that he was going to try to chase a bunch of turkeys, but the turkeys unexpectedly turned around and started chasing him. More recently, we explored a few more of their properties. Thankfully, Benny didn’t get into any trouble. I think this turkey incident and him being scared by a partridge at Simmons Pond in Little Compton taught him a lesson.
Winter brought shorter days and colder temperatures, and it was more difficult to go exploring. This was particularly tough on Benny, who doesn’t have much else to do during the day while I’m at work. He also had to put up with my laziness on the weekends when I just wasn’t motivated to venture out. Thankfully, he had a positive attitude about the whole thing and decided that he would use the extra time to hibernate. When he was awake, we worked on some different types of posts. One was a compilation of Five Free Things to do in Falmouth, a really fun post about candy and food: there was
New England Candy You Can’t Miss and a Rhode Island Food Quiz. We tried to change gears a little bit. We couldn’t go out as much, but we still wanted to write, so we had to get creative.
We were able, however, to visit the The Museum of Natural History in Providence. At only $2 a person, it’s a great place to bring the family! Benny was rather tame during the visit, except for the moment he screamed out, “Rhode Island rocks!” next to the cumberlandite. He also loved posing for a picture in the space shuttle Discovery’s tire. After the picture, he said, “I can’t move, I’m tire-d!” This bear...
Sadly, the coronavirus has put a damper on our explorations. While some state parks and hiking trails remain open, we’re trying our best to be safe and stay home as much as possible. We have been able to go to a few places, but Benny isn’t sure if we should post about our newer adventures just yet. He said he doesn’t want to encourage people to go out if they don’t have to. He suggests that if you need to get out to go for a walk or jog around your neighborhood, or find a very secluded spot. I’m proud of my little bear friend for his great strides in social responsibility.
Nevertheless, we’re still finding ways to be adventurous at home. Lately, Benny and I have been enhancing our cooking skills. He helped with making homemade meatballs, and then with pasta e fagioli (pasta fazool). He likes spices a bit too much though. He loves spreading the spices around like they’re sprinkles on ice cream.
Benny is also using the time to open a store. He noticed that we had a lot of board games in the basement that we weren’t using, so he asked if he could sell them and use the money for our post-corona ventures. I had to ask my wife first; if we had gotten rid of her Scooby-Doo Monopoly, Benny and I would have been sleeping in the backyard for a month. Good thing I did - that game was NOT for sale! Benny and I looked over the other games we have and put them in the store. So, if you’re bored and are looking for a board game (bored, board game...I crack myself up).
Benny invites you to check out his eBay store. He’s giving all subscribers to Gina’s Blog 10% off (all orders over $5). How about that? What a nice bear! Just make sure you click on this link to get his offer. Benny is really proud of himself for figuring out how to make special offers! He set this one up to be good until May 31.
He wasn’t sure if he’d be taken seriously if people knew it was a bear running the store so he had me put it in my name, but between you and me, Benny’s the real brains of this operation. He’s making me add more by the end of the month, so be sure to check back.
I hope you enjoyed reading about our newest adventures. Hopefully, we’ll be back at it again really soon. In the meantime, make sure you practice safe social distancing and wash your hands again and again and again until your paws get sore.
If you’re interested in our adventures, we’d love for you to join us! Just click on this link to sign up for our Your Travel Cap newsletters. We won’t spam you. In fact, we don’t write as often as we probably should. Shame on us. Thank you, Gina, for inviting us back on the blog! It’s been fun.
Thank you for visiting, Bob & Benny! It's been great! Readers, check back in early June for a fun visit with author Linda Weaver Clarke. There may even be a giveaway... See you soon!
Thank you for visiting, Bob & Benny! It's been great! Readers, check back in early June for a fun visit with author Linda Weaver Clarke. There may even be a giveaway... See you soon!
