New England: Friday, 24th August 2001

Written by Stephen Baines

Friday, 24 August 2001

Well, it's rapidly coming up to the end of the first week here in New England. I have to confess I really am quite taken with the place. It was the last day of training for the week, and this included a tour of the factory, so I finally saw where our product comes from, and how it's put together (see photos for more info). It's one of the funniest things, but I can never fail to be fascinated by factories and machines that make things - the ingenuity required to make a machine that makes machines. There is something vaguely hypnotic about watching it. The day over, I came back to the hotel. After a little rest, I went up towards New Hampshire, but not quite, ending up (due to the horrendous traffic) in Methuen - about as far as you can go in Mas without actually being in New Hampshire, it seems. Unsurprisingly, this involved landing in a shopping area, which I had a look around. I also picked up a few magazines for reading over the weekend. There was a drugstore, which gave me the opportunity to go and get the headache tablets I got last time I was here that worked so well. I also spotted a DVD of Cirque du Soleil's Dralion, as it's sold out to see live. Having spent several hours up the road, I returned and ate. This time I had scrod, simply grilled, and tasty, but light enough after a largish lunch today. I relaxed, read, and made my plans for the weekend - definitely, it's Ogunquit tomorrow, giving me a chance to visit Maine, making my tour of New England almost complete. I've stayed in Massachusetts, visited New Hampshire and Rhode Island, and will be visiting Maine tomorrow - that really leaves Vermont and Conneticut to visit, and I have a week left. And now it's time for some shut-eye before a long fun day ahead. Hopefully.