lizziebelle: (fox)
lizziebelle ([personal profile] lizziebelle) wrote2018-06-03 08:15 am

grand day out

When I first moved to Massachusetts, I lived in the town of Milton, which is a well-to-do town south of Boston. One of my favorite places to go was (and still is) Great Blue Hill, where there is an Audubon museum, a small zoo with rescue animals, and lots of trails in the woods. On the way to GBH, I passed this wonderful stone gatehouse, through which you could see the big stone house up on a hill. I fell in love with that gatehouse, and to this day I would love to live in it.

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The property is called the Eustis Estate, and is now part of Historic New England. Yesterday, admission was free, so I went with a couple of friends to explore it.

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It's a gorgeous house, stone on the outside and wonderful woodwork on the inside. Beautiful furniture, paintings, and stained glass everywhere. There's even a stuffed peacock on one of the fireplace mantels.

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The garden out back was just lovely, with lots of flowers, including the most beautiful poppies I think I've ever seen.

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I'd love to go back sometime and explore the grounds some more. There's an orchard, lots of big old trees, and paths to follow.

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We stopped at the Trailside Museum on the way back, where we got to see a bald eagle taking a bath.

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(ETA: click on the pic to see the video)

I also got to see, in person for the first time in my life, a pair of snowy owls. That was a thrill. The pictures didn't come out very well, because they were in a cage and the light was iffy.

It was a very fun excursion, to a place I've wanted to explore for more than thirty years. I didn't sense the ghost rumored to haunt the place, but they did have the top floor blocked off, so who knows?

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