Customer Testimonials  

 

Praise For Our Elderhostel Programs

Exploring Boston's North Shore

  • "Jim and Jean were the best we’ve had in many Elderhostels."
  • "Great Elderhostel!"
  • "Absolutely great field trips. The houses in Salem, the historical society in Cape Ann and Marblehead – just great. "
  • "Jean [Moss] and Jim [McAllister] were both fabulous. Jean couldn’t do enough to ensure participant satisfaction."
  • "Content was overall very well presented and organized. Jim McAllister and Jean Moss went out of their way to make this a wonderful program and they are to be complimented."
  • "The Best"
  • "An all around excellent program."

Art and Artists of Cape Ann

  • "Very well run tour. One of the best I have taken."
  • "He [Jim] did [an] outstanding job – enthusiastic, informed, showed us connections between artists and their work."
  • "The whole program for the week was perfect."
  • "After more than 25 Elderhostels, many of them noteworthy, this is the very best. Thank you Jean Moss and Jim McAllister for a most exceptional week."
  • "Our first Elderhostel was great! Well organized and fun. The group who came was fun to be with. Jim and Jean are outstanding people."
  • "We enjoyed the whole trip – lectures, outings, accommodations and food. We learned a lot and had a great time!"
  • "We learned much more than expected."
  • "This has been a most wonderful week. Great leadership and programs."
  • "Thanks loads for a great week in Rockport/Gloucester at the Elderhostel program. I really appreciated all of your efforts and for a "first" you guys were first class! The group was loads of fun too and this certainly was one of the best Elderhostel programs I have attended."

Behind Closed Doors: The Real Salem

  • "Fascinating. Leaders were so flexible, especially to changes in weather – Snow and cold and to help those of us who are not great walkers."
  • "Very good fascinating history. Learned a lot."
  • "Visiting Salem via an Elderhostel program was a great experience. I enjoyed spending time with you and getting to know you."
  • "Thank, again, for all your good arrangements, thoughtful assistance and fun company."

Gloucester, Essex & Ipswich

  • "Good choice of activities. Good variety."
  • "Total program was excellent."
  • "It was what I wanted, expected and more!"
  • "We want to thank you both for a most delightful and informative week at Cape Ann. We had visited the area half a dozen times in the past but never had any kind of organized study of the area. Your Elderhostel accomplished that in a most pleasant fashion."
  • "Thank you for a wonderful experience in the Cape Ann region. We thought you did a great job in showing us the fascinating breadth of the area and bringing it all into perspective. Your lecturers were great."
  • "Jean is an excellent Ipswich tour guide, well versed in the town’s history. ... Gives such vivid descriptions that one feels a part of the era. ... Heard and Whipple houses were so interesting and historic."

 

Poems & Songs by Elderhostelers

Elderhostel Song
by Lloyd and Judy Hellman
Gloucester, Essex and Ipswich Program
July 28 - August 2, 2002

Sung to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Our eyes have seen the glory of a place called Gloucester, Mass.
We admired every clapboard house
and every blade of grass.
We met a group of super folks
and boy do they have class!
The Elderhostel gang!

Glory, glory, Elderhostel!
We've toured the whole darn norther coastal.
Enjoyed it all-- or at least mostal
With the Elderhostel gang!

Sheila kept us all in line (clap clap!)
The bus is here, let's go!
And even though it's 99 our steps are never slow.
We cleaned our plates at every meal
And watched our waistlines grow
With the Elderhostel gang!

Glory, glory Elderhostel!
We've toured the whole darn northern coastal.
Enjoyed it all-- or at least mostal
With the Elderhostel gang!

We visited a boatyard and a few museum shops,
And don't forget the lecture where we learned of lamb's tongue stops.
Accommodations were just fine--
living by the docks.
With the Elderhostel gang!

Glory, glory Elderhostel!
We've toured the whole darn northern coastal.
Enjoyed it all-- or at least mostal
With the Elderhostel gang!



Written by Bonnie Briggs
from White River Junction, Vermont
Gloucester, MA - October 28, 2004

These Elderhostels, I've had a few
And I've enjoyed them too
But none can beat this Gloucester trip
Where there's so much to do

I watched them make a schooner boat
A thrill for me to see
I've always wondered what it took
To get a ship to sea.

I also learned of a brave sailor
Who sailed the ocean blue
And in spite of losing his fingers
He saved a man or two.

The haddock baked, the best I've had
Caught daily I've been told
Was served in generous portions
To our 24 hungry souls.

To Anne and Sheila, I will say
You really made my day
And I can say because of you
I've had a wonderful stay

AGAWAM
by Barbara Randall

We were thrust into the proud heritage of Agawam,
alighting from our yellow bus,
Eager to learn about sailing ships and fish, early homes, and Ipswich clams.
It became easy to leave the 21st century by crossing a threshold
or looking at the toppled stones of a final resting place.
We heard about salted fish, Fitz Hugh Lane, and the Perfect Storm.
We saw sails billowing against a blue cloudless sky,
a 17th century backdoor garden,
and a cracking Essex hull.
Returning to the Marina each afternoon,
especially by the giant step of Castle Hill,
assured our place in the modern world--
different now after our wistful look at the salty past of Agawam.

 

Have you participated in one of our programs? Want to send us a comment or a photo? Email Jean Moss.
 
Olde Ipswich Tours | 8 Herrick Drive | Ipswich, MA 01938 | tel. (978) 356-5163 | fax. (978) 356-0382 | Email Us