A day in Rockport and Gloucester--"Glosta"

LT and Eli got up around 7:00AM.  During the night,the wind had been howling outside.  In fact, it had actually blown open one of the windows in their enclosed "deck" and knocked over a lamp.  Nothing broke, but it shows the power of the wind.  At 8:00AM sharp, they descended the stairs and entered the breakfast room, where the "continental" breakfast included the following: homemade cranbury bread, hard-boiled eggs, orange juice, homemade granola, bananas, a cut glass bowl of blueberries and raspberries, Greek yogurt, and the best coffee either of them had consumed since their last vacation in Paris.  Coffee was offered with 1% milk or with 1/2 and 1/2.  They read the Gloucester Daily Times while enjoying breakfast.  Like their second floor room, the breakfast area is surrounded on three sides with large glass windows which allow visitors to enjoy views of the surging ocean--Straitsmouth Island, Thatcher Island and other distant shores.

Their large room has a big four-poster bed, oriental rug on the floor, wicker furniture, flat-screen TV, ocean-vistas on three sides, and a large bathroom.

Rick Zang had informed them that he would arrive--according to his GPS system--at 11:00 AM--so they made a ten minute drive to nearby Gloucester, parked near the ocean shore next to a bronze statue of a captain by a steering wheel that looks exactly like the Gorton label--in fact Gorton is headquartered in Gloucester--and walked uphill.  They toured the St. Peter's Fiesta rides and vendor displays--still under wraps in the morning rain--and then wandered up Main Street until they met Pleasant Street.  Eli had determined that the Cape Ann Museum would be worth visit.

Inside, they found numerous oil paintings of the Gloucester Harbor--Gloucester had been an artist colony in the late 19th and early 20th century.  The museum also housed an interesting Childe Hassam of a Gloucester church being re-shingled, and several Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper etchings.  On the second floor, LT discovered a statue of "Our Lady of Safe Voyage--a sheet metal statue of St Mary which had been on top of the local Catholic Church.  She holds her right hand up in blessing, and in her left hand, she cradles a ship--symbolizing the major trade and livelihood of Gloucester.  It turns out that T. S. Eliot, in the "Dry Salvages" section of the "Four Quartets" actually devotes three stanzas to this statue.  T. S. Eliot traced his New England ancesters to Gloucester.  The museum was filled with seafaring and sailing memorabilia--even the real 16 foot "dory"  that one Captain ______________ used to sail across the Atlantic from Gloucester to Liverpool in 66 days in 1876.  He took 90 days worth of food and 60 gallons of water with him.  Later in his life, he admited it was a "foolish" thing to do.

Back in Rockport, Rick Zang arrived at 11 and they sat in the "observation deck" and talked about favorite vintage TV shows, Math education, and family gossip.  When Ryan arrived near 1:00PM, they quickly drove down to the Fish Shack and had a great lunch of fried calamari, as well as scallops or haddock in Provencal sauce.  Unmoved by the food choices of his aunt and uncles, Ryan chose a "veggie burger."  When the meal was over, they walked up the bear skin neck point and checked out all the shops.  Eli surprised them each with a handmade "Tuck" chocolate, pecan, caramel "turtle" which was a perfect antidote to the cold wind and wet drizzle that evidently will be a constant weather element all weekend. 

AT 3:30PM, they drove back to the Captain's Table and made their farewells.  Rick and Ryan took off in their respective cars, and Eli and LT drove back to the Cape Ann Museum to see some of the rooms they had neglected in their visit earlier that morning.

On the way back from the Museum, Eli stopped at the Shaw's market on the Gloucester/Rockport border.  For $10 she got big salads, mussel salad, calamari salad, and coleslaw.  This served as a wonderful dinner.  By 7:00PM, they had finished this feast and adjourned to the downstairs breakfast and computer room where they inputted this entry.