Our Mini Boston Vaca

I have been dying to share our mini Boston vaca with you all but unfortunately most of my pictures were sitting on my brother's camera, which permanently resides in Boston.  But being the great little brother that he is, he finally sent them to me this weekend!!

Speaking of my brother Ryan, he is the reason why my family journeyed to the east coast.  Ryan just graduated from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.  He has been there four years and I have been dying to visit him and see Massachusetts ever since so it only made sense that I finally get there for his graduation.

He may kill me for putting up this photo.  It was really hard to get a good photo while they raced past and I definitely could not see the stage but it was a beautiful day and it was great just to be there and celebrate Ryan's accomplishment.

But I must admit that as much as I was there for Ryan's graduation I was also there for Boston and the cute, quaint coastal towns.

Speaking of cute and quaint.  We stayed in a cute, little beach house right on the beach in downtown Rockport.  You literally had to walk down a little alley right off the main street to get to our house down by the water.  It was so great to have the best of both worlds - shopping and the beach.

It's hard to see it but here is a view from the beach.  It is right next to that large, tall building which is their music hall.  The really neat thing about this beach is at high tide the water comes right up to the foundation of the house.  It was so peaceful at night to hear the waves lapping against the rocks.  

Here is a little frame of reference of Rockport to Boston.  It is about an hour drive into Boston from Rockport.  It was just minutes to Gloucester where my brother and his friends were renting another beach home and a few more  minutes to Manchester and Beverly some other beautiful, beach towns.

Do you want to know the coolest thing about Rockport?!  In my eyes at least.

It's where they filmed most of The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.  It is this tiny little fishing town and all the major movie sights were just feet away from our house.

I don't know about you but I love this movie.  I never get sick of it.  So indulge me while I share some of the famous sites from the movie.

Remember this hysterical scence?  When Sandra's character first arrives in "Sitka, AK" which is really Rockport retrofitted to be Sitka.

Well this famous scene took place here.

Rockport's Motif No. 1

Motif No. 1 is a very famous landmark in Rockport (well before it made it's national debut).  They even have a day set aside for the landmark - Motif No. 1 Day and it just so happened to be the very day we arrived.  This little festival is celebrated with a chalk drawing contest where everyone takes their best shot re-creating a picture of Motif No. 1 on the sidewalk in chalk.  I am so sad I did not take a picture of the sidewalks because they were covered in red sheds.  It was so neat as people of all ages and ranges of talent had fun with their red chalks.

Another scene takes place just feet away from the shed at the fudgery.  In this scene Sandra and Ryan go to town so Sandra can get a new cell phone.  Here they are walking down the street.

Here's my shot of this street.  There really aren't any cars because the roads are so small and the buildings are right off the road - no real sidewalks.  It gave it that real small town feel.  

I am so sad about this last one because I really wanted to share the amazing house that they shot the home scenes in.  It is located in Manchester, MA which is just down the beach a few miles.  We did drive by it one day but for some reason I cannot find the pictures I took of this house.  So sad.  It really looks the same though (from the outside).

Here is another picture of Rockport and Motif No. 1.  I couldn't replicate this one because I think it was taken from they bay looking in at the town.  Our house and the downtown is located to the right of the red shed (Motif No. 1).

Here is how they customized the Motif No. 1 to make it fit in Sitka, AK.  They really just added a Sitka sign and a large native fish picture.

And lastly, here is one last pretty picture of Motif No. 1 that I took.  I just love the feel of these fishing towns - the boats, the stone walls and old buildings.

Thanks for indulging my Proposal post.  Tomorrow I will share about the actual vaca because it was so fun.  And very beautiful and there were lots of great homes and architecture.

Thanks for stopping back by.  Sorry I have been so MIA.