What I Did On My Fall Foliage Vacation

I have been home from my New England adventures long enough to recover from jet lag, unpack the suitcases, and learn that what I thought was a fracture is a less serious -- but still mighty painful -- injury. It seems that Boston's famous cobblestones can be treacherous even on the warmest fall days.

It had been a fabulous day beginning with a drive from Woodstock, Vermont into Boston where I spent the afternoon at one of my favorite Boston landmarks -- the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. I enjoyed seeing the newly-renovated entrance to NEHGS. It gives the building a fresh look with mature plantings and well-designed walkways and benches, and looks like it's already become a favorite resting place for visitors.

After an hour or so doing look-ups in the stacks, I was happy to discover that the hard-working NEHGS staff was still on-site on Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend. I said hello to Brenton Simons, chatted with Tom Wilcox and Kelly McCoulf, and then enjoyed a tour of the archives floor with Tom Champoux and Alessandra Magno. I even had time for a visit with Judy Lucey to talk about donating to NEHGS and organizing home archives.

What could be better? Dinner with Mr. Curator and a walk back to our hotel would have been a perfect way to end the day; instead I took a nasty tumble on the sidewalk resulting in a trip to the Emergency Room. Cuts and bruises were minor, but the diagnosis of a likely fractured elbow left me in a splint and sling for the duration of our trip. Fortunately, our next stop was my-nephew-the-doctor and his family who made sure I was well cared for, and entertained by their lively two and three year olds.

We did get to all the great New England fall activities like apple picking, cider tasting, and pumpkin festivals, but avoided the local corn maze after hearing about the family who became lost in the Danvers maze and had to use their cell phones to call for help. Oh, and did I mention cemetery rambles? We got those in too.

Then it was more driving to rendezvous with my son and family in New York where we enjoyed more apples, pumpkins, and a few hours at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival. These things DO have genealogical connections... I'll be getting to those in future posts, but for now I'll be keeping things on the shorter side and letting my arm get back to normal.

Why Regional Genealogy Conferences are Worth Every Cent

If you want to talk to the experts about researching in New England, it makes sense to go to the experts on their home turf. NERGC proved once again that you can get a lot of bang-for-your-buck if you can attend a regional conference in the area you are researching.

Last Spring, the joint meeting of the Vermont and New Hampshire societies coincided with a family baptism in Hanover, and between events I was able to hear a top notch speaker and meet some new local contacts. This year, the 2011 New England Regional Genealogical Conference exceeded my expectations with three full days of excellent sessions focused on research in my target localities. You can't get much better than that.

Travel for these events can get expensive, so it helps to plan family visits, use airline miles, or share with a friend. I was watching for the NERGC schedule as soon as it became available, and glad to see that I could learn more about Vermont maps, Rhode Island town formation, finding elusive New England women, region migration patterns, and working with colonial land grants, all at one conference. Stay tuned for highlights in the days to come.

These topics just don't come up with the same frequency at West Coast events.

Of course, the intensive schedule means planning ahead and pacing as much as possible. By the last day, I was ready for a break and a few days of on site research and family time.

Vermonters said we were there for "mud season," and it was a bit grim. The trees have yet to leaf out, snow still covers north-facing slopes, and mud lies in the valleys. Good weather for Vermont cheddar soup, hot Green Mountain coffee, and something maple and sweet. I love New England. Must be something in the genes.