By Riesling Conway

It was a day in Boston and we were taking a tour around Boston. The whole day we were going on and off the trolley. We went to a fair and got some delicious zeppolis! Bryson, Porter and my dad got a haircut. We went back on the trolley and hopped out near the Paul Revere house because the trolley can’t go on that road. We looked at Paul Revere’s then walked along to the trolley area. My dad, Bryson and I walked across a bridge heading toward the U.S.S. Constitution.  When we got there we had to go through security before entering the U.S.S. Constitution. Inside the U.S.S. Constitution there were canons and ropes and cannonballs. After that we went to a museum for the U.S.S. Constitution where I made rope with a rope maker.

scrubbing the decks like they did on the USS Constitution

We went to another museum for children. We laid on hammocks and holystoned (holystoning is when you use hand scrubbers to wash the decks.  See picture above.). Then my mom went off to shop and my dad took Bryson, Porter and I back to the boat. As we rode away on the trolley we passed fire trucks zooming off past us, probably trying to put out a fire. When we got to the harbor there were fire trucks and fire fighters by the dock. This is where the fire comes in. There had been a fire in the engine room of a speed boat. When the fire was put out we zoomed away in the dingy toward our boat. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Paul Revere came zooming away on his midday ride (a man dressed as a colonial man zoomed away in his dingy). When night came we went to an Italian restaurant where Porter lost his tooth. That is some history about Boston and a fire in a harbor.

I went on a 2 week sailing trip after the one week adventure to the British Virgin Islands. First, we sailed to Bryson and Cindy’s house in Wickford, Rhode Island. There was a big pool with a diving board. It was so fun running, jumping and diving into the pool on the diving board. Bryson, Porter and I played a lot of tag. There was a small little snack plate with crackers and little pizza squares. I really liked the pizza squares. I met Bryson and Cindy’s daughter, Carrie, and had lots of fun with her. We even planted a plum core to see if it would grow a plum tree! Yum! We ate dinner there and had steamers. I really enjoyed staying at Bryson and Cindy’s house!

Next, we went to Cuttyhunk Island. We took a long walk and visited a playground, a library, a small little school house with only 8 kids who went there! As we walked, we found a huge nail in the road. It was squished flat into the road. Cuttyhunk Island was a cool place to visit.

Then, we went to Martha’s Vineyard to see my Grandpa, my step Grandma, Mary, and two of my aunts, Colleen and Kathleen. We went to a really cool dinner place. It had a little wood swing attached to a tree. We went on Colleen and Kathleen’s backs for piggy back rides. We went inside for dinner. I got a Shirley Temple. It was the first time I had ever tried a Shirley Temple. I forget what I had for dinner but for dessert I had a small chocolate lava cake. After dinner the next day we all had a clam bake on the beach in Menemsha (still on Martha’s Vineyard). There was a lifeguard stand with a ladder you could climb up. I had lots of fun up there until the clam chowder was ready. I took some clam chowder and went back up the lifeguard stand until the lobster was ready. I had some lobster and clams and corn and sausage and onions! They were delicious! That was what happened at Martha’s Vineyard.

After that, we went to Block Island for Bryson’s birthday! We had cake on the boat. At Block Island we rode bikes all around the Island. We road 16 miles! We stopped at a few places as we rode. First we stopped at really cool beach. We parked our bikes at a bike rack. There was a boy having a lemonade stand. “I’ve never been so happy to see a lemonade stand,” said my Dad. We bought some lemonade. There were a lot of steps to get down to the beach. At the end of the steps there was a climbing rope to hold on to while you hike down toward the beach. Down at the beach were a lot of rocks. On the rocks were other rocks. Those rocks were piled up to make a tower. The bottom one might be big, and the next small and the next medium. So it didn’t line up perfectly or make a triangle. The rocks were beautiful. Closer to the water were more big rocks. Bryson and I would hop from rock to rock without touching the water. In between the rocks were water, and then more sand. Some of the rocks had snails stuck to the sides. It was NOT disgusting. They stuck to the sides and all you could see was the black, swirly shell. On the rocks there was sometimes slippery stuff that made it harder to walk on. Sometimes the waves splashed over the rocks and on to my feet. When it was time to leave the beach, we walked over to the climbing rope. We hiked up the rocks until we reached the steps. Then we walked up the steps to go to our bikes. Once we got to our bikes we hopped on and started riding. Our next stop was a lighthouse. We went inside and paid to go up to the top. There were a lot of stairs you had to walk up to get to the top. The top was amazing. There was glass and then a railing. If you looked outside through the glass you could see the tops of the trees. On the other side was more glass. If you looked through that glass you would see a huge light. It was amazing. We went back down and walked over to our bikes. Then we rode to a town and ate lunch at a restaurant. After lunch, we biked to another lighthouse. To get to this lighthouse we had to walk down a long beach. We didn’t get to go inside the lighthouse, but we looked at it instead. We had to run back because it was so late. We jumped on our bikes and rode to the place where we got our bikes. We had dinner and ice cream and then we went to the arcade. That is all the fun that we had at Block Island.

After that we went to Greenport and Shelter Island. It was rainy that day. We went to a cool carousel. There were lots of different animals that you sit in. A man came around and made sure our buckles were fastened. Then he turned on the carousel. The point of the carousel is to get as many rings as you can. There is a post that has a slot for rings. You have to stick out your hand when your turn comes and grab the ring. Once you grab the ring, a new one comes out for the next person. There is a place to put your rings once you have grabbed them. Once the ride is over you return all your rings. The carousel is so fun! For dinner my Dad and I went to the yacht club. My Dad and I had Mussels. I had a Shirley Temple to drink. I brought some mussels home for my Mom. Shelter Island was super fun to visit!

After that we went to Newport to visit our friends Liam, Calan, Lana and Dave. Bryson, Porter, Liam, Calan and their babysitter and I had a sleepover at their house. The parents slept on the boat. The babysitter brought “Rango” to watch. We watched “Rango”. “Rango” was a really good movie! After that we went to bed. The next day we went on a boat ride to Wickford again with Liam, Calan, Lana, and Big Bryson’s nephew and his girlfriend.

In Wickford, Bryson and a bunch of his friends did a boat race with real miniature radio-controlled boats. Bryson’s Mom showed me a bunch of beautiful paintings she made. They were all beautiful. That was a fun place to visit!

That is the end of my two week sailing trip! Remember to look at Bryson and Porter’s blogs on the KID’S BLOG area and Erica and Chris’s blog on the home page. Also try the activity below:

What did I have to drink at the Shelter Island Yacht Club?

a. Chocolate Milk             b. Shirley Temple

c. Lemonade                     d.  Apple Juice

by Riesling Andersen Conway

In February 2011, we went on a week-long sailing trip in February with our good friends Bryson and Cindy.  My favorite part was when we went snorkeling.  We saw so many interesting things in the water, like coral, interesting fish, and seaweed.  From on the boat, it looked like there were sharks in the water, because there were big, black blobs made from the coral.

We went to a place called the Baths and it was really fun.  There were big boulders that were in mid air because they were holding on to each other.  You could go inside the rocks into a little cave and then the water trails in and you can sit on little piles of sand and try to avoid the water.  We went to a place where you go to hold on to a rope and go up a steep hill of rock.  Once we got up to the top, there was a man selling towels and t-shirts.  Then we had lunch and I at conch fritters.  Then we hiked back down to the beach and I ate a cactus berry on the trail.  I had a massive stomach ache the rest of the day.  Then Bryson Hall squished a berry and told me what was inside it and I wished I had not eaten it because it did not look very good.

On Jost Van Dyke, we hiked up a mountain and on our way we saw a little rock and in it was a little baby goat.  Big Bryson picked it up and showed it to all of us.  Then he thought he saw the mother of the goat and gave it to her.  I think she was very pleased.  We hiked more and we got to the Bubbles, which was a big water pool.  There were rocks in the middle of the pool of water.  Splashes came a lot and sometimes they were really big splashes.  They made foam, which is why they call it The Bubbles.

Our week long sailing trip was a fun and interesting thing to do.  I enjoyed it very much.  When I got home, I could not wait to go on our next sailing trip.

Check back for more posts on our 2 week sailing adventure this summer and how we bought a boat.