Six Weeks in New England - Apr/May 2010 - Part II

[I finally finished this blog, and divided it into three sections. Sections II and III should actually have been posted back in May.] For awhile I worked in Middleton, which is a short distance from Salem, and visited Salem a couple times. It wasn't much further to Gloucester ("gloster") and I visited that little fishing village several times. I loved Gloucester, the narrow streets, the sound of the seagulls, the quaint coastal architecture, with the widows' walks and high windows looking out to sea. I loved the movie "Perfect Storm", which was based on the book written about the town of Gloucester and its fishermen. I went by the Crow's Nest (the bar featured in the movie), saw several scenes used in the movie. I went by the memorial to the 10,000!!!! Gloucester fishermen lost at sea, including the five men featured in the movie. It made the town seem to have a heavy sadness hanging over it, to me. 'Course the cloudy weather on my first visit, helped contribute to that feeling, I'm sure. I discovered a local seafood place, The Causeway, and had some really good seafood there a couple times.


I drove up to the coast of Maine one day and saw Nubble Light (famous Maine lighthouse). One of my trips to Gloucester I drove around the beautiful Cape Ann area [photo below left]. I had a memorable walk on the beach at Manchester-by-the-Sea.

I spent a memorable evening, on Patriot's Day in Concord, at the North Bridge, site of the "shot heard round the world" that started the Revolutionary War.

There were beautiful ponds here and there (all over-full due to the flooding). Walden Pond was closed the whole time I was there, because of the flooding, but I was able to take a walk around a serene, silent pond in the Cape Ann area, that was as close as I could get to a similar experience.

I drove up to a Boston Pops concert, then, again, later, and spent a day in Boston. The road I came into town on, went right by the beautiful Charles River. I took the trolley tour that started at Boston Common, and saw some of the Freedom Trail sites. I enjoyed the lovely colors [tulips left] and the swan boats in the Public Gardens [below]. I walked up Beacon Street and saw the Unitarian Universalist national headquarters building. There were pink cherry blossoms everywhere.