Day 2: Greater Boston Metropolitan Area!

After saying goodbye to Susie's family and friends, we started in the direction of Framingham, Massachusetts (which is part of the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area). Before we could exit New Hampshire, however, we came upon a tiny little hole-in-the-wall called Richmond. This had us bursting out laughing because we are from a place called Richmond (only ours is much, MUCH bigger!). We had to stop at the gas station in town just to say we've been in it! 

Richmond, NH was incorporated in 1752 and held its first town meeting on March 27, 1765. Located in the southwestern corner of New Hampshire, it borders Swanzey, NH; Troy, NH; Fitzwilliam, NH; Royalston, MA; Warwick, MA; and Winchester, NH. There is a beach, a fire station, a town hall, a gas station, a cemetery, a library, and houses. There is not much in the way of shopping! 

Once we were in Massachusetts, we stopped in Concord for lunch and a little shopping. It was here that we called a friend in the area, and since she was free, we decided to stop by her house for a quick visit! We haven't seen this friend in several years, so being able to meet up with her again was a real treat.

While the grown-ups talked, I met some of the girls who live here. This is Hazel Laura, who is actually named after my guardian:

Hazel introduced me to her good friend, Sonali:

After visiting with Hazel and Sonali for a bit, I was starting to get hungry. My new friends pointed me in the direction of the nearest ice cream parlor. After ordering a root beer float, I met Mia St. Clair, another local resident.

Mia was babysitting this darling little girl; isn't she sweet? 

Before I had to leave, I introduced myself to the ice cream parlor's owner, a girl named Mei Ling. She was just finishing up a batch of doughnuts, which I totally would've taken for the road had I not just finished a large root beer float!

After our brief visit, we continued on to Framingham, where we stopped for the night. Can you guess where I was headed next?

~Sophie

P. S. The friend we visited today runs a website called Just Magic Dolls. It's a great resource that compares American Girl dolls with other 18" (or similar) play dolls like Magic Attic Club, Just Pretend, etc. Please check it out, if you haven't already!

Day 1: Keene, NH with Susie & Claudia!

Salut mes amis,

Wondering where I've been? I've been on a New England road trip for the past couple of weeks, and boy, do I have a lot of photos to share with you!

The first stop I made was to revisit some friends I met a couple of years ago, in 2010. Remember when I visited Ashuelot Park with Annie, Sarah, and Elphaba? Well, I got to go again!

On August 6th, I met up with my friends Susie and Claudia in Keene, New Hampshire. After having lunch at Olive Garden and walking through Michaels together, we three decided to hang out in Ashuelot Park for a bit. We talked, posed for pictures, observed nature, and shared a bowl of Walpole Creamery ice cream.

Susie is on the left, I'm in the middle, and Claudia is on the right:

Here we are with Ashuelot River behind us; isn't it pretty? 

In addition to having photos taken of me, I brought out my own camera. I took pictures of the river, plant life, and numerous wildflowers that fell across our path.

Here is one picture that I took of the Ashuelot River dam. Can you see the man sitting on the opposite bank? I think he was giving us weird looks; I wonder why?

Keene is such a pretty city! If I was going to live in New Hampshire, I think I'd live here! It's not too big, yet not too small, and there are a lot of fun boutiques to shop in:

I think that is Queen Anne's Lace on the left, but there are a couple of different flowers that resemble it. It does look like lace, that's for sure. Do you see the bug nestled on it? I was quite proud of myself for being able to capture the bug while he was actually on the flower.

Aren't these flowers pretty? They look like some kind of wild daisy to me.

After we said goodbye to Claudia, Susie and I continued walking around downtown Keene for a little bit. She took me into an old mill that has been refurbished into a neat shopping center. One of the stores in the shopping center was a bookstore, which is where I was in the photo on the left.



I am posing next to a sign announcing Julia Child's birthday. Some of you may know that I'm a huge fan of the American chef best known for her cookbooks Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume I and Volume II. Mrs. Child, had she lived, would've turned 100 years old this year, and this bookstore had a nice birthday tribute display set up to recognize this fact.

There were several picture books discussing Mrs. Child's life and even one told from the point-of-view of Minette, her cat! I had to get a picture by the books (in case I decide to buy them someday).

In the lobby of the shopping center was this old-fashioned buggy. Immediately Susie and I hopped aboard so that we could pretend we were two elegant Victorian ladies going to a ball. There was a sign on the seat of the buggy that prohibited people from climbing on it, but we pretended to ignore that. You can probably see the bit of white paper sticking out from around us as we tried to cover up the fact that we shouldn't be in the buggy. We were quite the daredevils, haha!

When we'd had our fill of the buggy, Susie took me to the infamous Parrish Shoes sign, as seen in the movie Jumanji (the movie was filmed in Keene). I'd seen the sign before, but my guardian hadn't. She's a huge fan of the movie and had to see the sign for herself! 

Susie and I continued walking around the shops in downtown Keene for a bit, before having dinner at the local Friendly's. After dinner, we said goodbye, and I went on my way back to Bellows Falls, Vermont, where I was staying for this leg of the journey.

It was so good to see Claudia and Susie again (as well as some of their other friends whom we didn't get pictures with due to inclement weather)! I already miss them! Perhaps I shall have to make a third trip up to Keene someday?

Have you ever taken a road trip to see friends who live faraway?

~Sophie

Autumn Fun/ Meeting Haley & Ruthie!

While I was in CT, Haley arrived!

Since we've been blog friends for a while now, I was so glad that we were finally able to meet in person. :)

On October 2nd, we spent the day watching some go-kart racing together. We also checked out this pretty beach:

Haley and I also got to meet Ruthie. Ruthie lives on Water St., where I visited earlier this summer. I didn't get to meet Ruthie then because she was out traveling herself - she even visited my school back in Virginia!

Ruthie arrived in time to accompany us on an apple-picking expedition on October 10th. Three traveling girls on an adventure together! How often does that happen? See the apple-picking album HERE.

On October 16th, Molly J., Ruthie, Haley, and I all got dressed up in Halloween costumes to attend the 20th annual Keene Pumpkin Festival in Keene, NH. Haley chose to dress as a 1950s girl in a cute kitty skirt while I opted to dress as a magician. Here we are in our costumes, and behind us, you can see the tall scaffold of lit jack-o-lanterns:

To see more pictures from the Pumpkin Fest, click HERE.

Also, the photo-story from the Star Valley Block Party that I attended is up over at Cherished Playtime! Check it out, if you have the time. Jess also has a web-show episode covering the event.

If you're up-to-date, I suspect you know that I've since moved on to a new host. I'll post about that soon. ;)

~Sophie

Exploring NH, VT, and MA with the Star Valley crew!

Salut, mes amis!

Guesting on The Jessica McConnell Show wasn't the only fun thing I've gotten to do while visiting New Hampshire's own Star Valley.

My visit began with a trip to Weston, VT to see a musical called Marvelous Wonderettes at the Weston Playhouse. My new friends Molly (of Water St.), Sarah, and Peggy accompanied me, which was great fun since we all love theatre!

On August 16th, Gwen and Alison took me to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. Isn't the basketball-shaped building pretty cool looking?

We all thought this large basketball shoe was pretty neat, too:

Speaking of large basketball shoes, here I am as compared to one of Shaq's. Haha, either I am small or Shaq's feet are ginormous (or maybe it's a little bit of both)!

On August 29th, the town of Star Valley hosted their first annual block party. I was so excited that my visit had coincided nicely with the event that I convinced Sarah to dress in coordinating outfits with me. Here we are perusing crafts made by Molly M., Emily, Susan, and Linda at camp:

The block party consisted of a talent show, live entertainment by Peggy on her guitar, delicious baked goods, and - the best part - friends galore! Following the party, a dance was held because we were just having too much fun to quit. ;)

On August 30th, Sarah and Linda took me on another sightseeing trip. Our first stop: Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, MA! It was here that I got to missing Laura a bit because she's actually been to Deerfield - even if that was about eight or nine years ago now.

Barnard Tavern wasn't open, though, so no drinks for us, haha! So, we just walked around a bit, admiring the gorgeous historical buildings - even passing the Wilson Printing Office that was featured in the Pleasant Company AG Club handbook (Felicity's section).

I was particularly amazed by the many signs of autumn that I saw on my walk around Deerfield. The leaves were already beginning to turn orange, yellow, and red, and quite a few had already fallen to the ground. I guess I'm too used to the onset of autumn in late October/November, but I could easily get used to this, too. Oh please, Laura, can we move to New England? S'il vous plaît?

Feeling as bold as Felicity, Linda, Sarah, and I walked atop a fence a bit before walking through a real working farm and then looking at some old gravestones in the burial ground. Spooky, no?

Next stop: the Deerfield Yankee Candle Flagship store! It's sort of become a tradition for traveling guests to visit this store, and I didn't want to break tradition. ;)

We checked out some of the ornately dressed nutcrackers, met a bear searching for a frontier girl named Kirsten (haha), listened to some carolers, and took in a wonderful concert put on by the Rolling Bones. I even tried to befriend a knight, but unfortunately, he wasn't at all interested in me or what I had to say. Oh well!

On September 5th, I borrowed a pioneer dress and visited The Fort at No. 4 in Charlestown, NH, a living history museum teaching what it was like to live in an English colony in 1740.

Here is a bird's eye view of the Fort:

Sam and Liz accompanied me on this sightseeing trip.

We played with some Colonial toys - ring toss, a pretty doll that Sam is holding, Jacob's Ladder - and then checked out the rest of the Fort. Liz and I tried to do some weaving, but quickly gave up on that, LOL! We watched some re-enactors firing off a cannon, wishing that we had ear plugs all the while. We checked out an Algonquin wigwam and saw some birchbark canoes. We also went to the Colonial schoolroom where I wrote, "Sophie was here!" on a slate. :)

Just a pretty photo of me as a frontier girl! (Don't get any ideas, Laura, this is just a one-day thing! I'm too modern to become a permanent time-traveler!)

To see the entire album, click HERE.

Ton amie,

Sophie

Fun with the Sisterhood of the Water St. girls!

Salut, mes amis! Wondering where I've been? These past few weeks I've been hanging out and just having a blast with the Sisterhood of the Water St. Girls in New Hampshire. I've also got to meet a few of the Star Valley girls, too, although I'll be officially visiting Star Valley soon enough.

Anyhow, I was quite tired when I arrived on July 23rd, so Jenn just let me sleep the day away. When I awoke, I was greeted by Elphie, and having already talked to her a bit online, I was ecstatic to finally meet her in person.

Soon enough, I met Mia, and we headed off on a road trip to the Natick AG Boutique & Bistro - quel amusement! Jenn and Missy were even kind enough to get me my own souvenir shirt. (Thank You!)

Mia and I (with Mischa and Emily of Star Valley) even had fun in the bathroom. Here we are meeting our "mirror friends" - kind of like Anne Shirley's dear window friend in Anne of Green Gables.
Bien sûr, looking at my mirror reflection made me miss my own dear twin, Juliette. I decided to go look for her in the store, but since she's still back in Paris and isn't looking to apply to school over here at this time, I knew any girls who looked like me in the store were just unrelated clones. But don't I wish that Juliette had been among them!

After leaving the mall, we stopped on the French King Bridge to admire the pretty view. Here I am with Water St.'s newest resident, Solana. Isn't she gorgeous?

On August 1st, Elphie and I decided to join Sarah and Annie of Star Valley on a visit to Ashuelot Park in Keene, NH. Here I am at the park's entrance:

We did a bit of hiking, posed with some pretty wildflowers, climbed a few trees, and found these really cool rocks to climb on. Park outings are the BEST because there are so many things you can do and so many things that stimulate the imagination. Like we found this grove of trees that looked almost magical in appearance! Elphie wanted to try some spells underneath them. Of course, I'd be all for that - except I'm not a witch. ;)

So, what's your favorite thing to do at the park on a summer day?

Ton amie,

Sophie