Cape Ann, Day 2

Saturday, June 17

So, way back in January we saw the movie Manchester-by-the-Sea. This morning we’re off to see the town. No particular agenda. The rain has stopped, but it’s still gray and cool. 

Besides checking out the harbor and Singing Beach, we picked up some groceries and stopped in an Ostrom Drugs type place where I bought a box of note cards (right), which will be shared - and discussed - with the older grandchildren when we’re home for the picnic next month. 😃

The Harbor (by the sea)

I resisted the urge to enter.

Singing Beach. Local residents have priority at all the beaches. Seniors are exempt from the beach fee, but visitors still need to park a half mile or so away. We didn't really want to spend any serious time here anyway, so Greg dropped me off and came back 10 minutes later. The beach is named for the sound the sand makes as you walk through it... but only when it's dry. Which it wasn't after all that rain last night. But it's still a very pretty spot. (There's also a Singing River in southern Mississippi - so named for the humming sound of the flowing water.)

Pristine to the north...

...a little more "used" to the south.

Next on our list was Gloucester, where the Andrea Gail set sail for Nova Scotia and succumbed to the “perfect storm” and lobster men still set out daily with their traps. We walked Main Street (with a stop at Virgilio’s Italian bakery - treats to be enjoyed later) and visited the Maritime Heritage Center where, in the basement, one gentleman had his personal collection of deep-sea diving gear and related items. The fellow is in his mid-80’s and started diving in 1949. One of the older helmets (not one he actively used) looked like a concrete block. He told us he had personally tested every helmet and the test for this one had been very short. (It leaked.) He also showed us a spike he’d recovered from the mud under a very old wreck. Tests showed it was copper w/ traces of both silver and gold and most likely forged by Paul Revere.

Bakeries are Greg's "candy shop."

Everything here is about the sea

The Ramblin' Rose is in better shape than most lobsta boats.

I just liked this house.

Tea Time on Main Street

City Hall, Gloucester

The Maritime Heritage Center had lots of interesting stuff, but we particularly enjoyed a fast-forward video of shipbuilding, from a solitary keel to a full hull & deck in less than 5 minutes. We also learned that a Gloucester gentleman was responsible for another major boon to ships. The photos below tell that story.

Manufactory... cool word.

Across the street from the Maritime Center there was a somewhat unusual statue on top of a small hill. We walked up to get a better view (and a decent picture) and learned a great deal about Fitz Henry Lane, a Gloucester artist known especially for his luministic style of painting. (Check him out on Wikipedia.) 

(You can't see the sandals here. 
(They look just like Birkenstocks.)

(one of Lane's paintings)

Luminism is an American landscape painting style of the 1850s – 1870s, characterized by effects of light in landscapes, through using aerial perspective, and concealing visible brushstrokes. Luminist landscapes emphasize tranquility, and often depict calm, reflective water and a soft, hazy sky.


BlogThoughts... There are 2 iconic statues in Gloucester, the Fisherman's Memorial and Fishermen's Wives Memorial, and we saw both in passing. I didn't get photos, but I really want to include them. From early colonial times to today, the sea is both a provider and a destroyer, and this city is all about the sea. (I've credited the photographers)

Fisherman's Memorial
(Annie Harris/nps.gov)

Fishermen's Wives (Morgan Pike)
...from behind b/c I think the
ocean is an essential element.