Yesterday, Dan, Anne and I drove from NYC to Boston. There was lots of holiday traffic on the road. All of the thruway rest stop parking lots were full. Dan took the lead and anchor elements of this journey, and I had the easy middle half. Still, there was lots of stop and go traffic. We made a detour to Fall River, my mother’s ancestral homestead. It was already dusk there when we arrived, and we still had a way yet to go before reaching Maren and Dave for the night. So, we only stopped for a little bit, to snap a few pics and pay our respects. Except for the closed-in front porch that I don’t think is an improvement, the place looked pretty good, better than I remember it. The closing of the front seems to have been a fad, because most of the other houses were similarly fitted. On the way out of town, we passed Robinson Supply (bath), another family name, but probably no relation. Diving through Boston, via the Big Dig, we made good time and arrived in Malden well in time for dinner. In our guest room we found the pictured plaque-map that commemorates Dave and Maren’s first date. Urban Axe was the name of the bar where they first met. It featured games of axe throwing, set in an urban environment. Just coming from Fall River though, it seemed like another family connection.