On to Cape Cod

Friday morning they got up, went down to the Captain's Table breakfast room and consumed another quality breakfast.  It was an overcast, windy morning and they chatted with the husband and wife caretaker team who manage the B&B while the owners are away.

After packing up, they drove to downtown Rockport, parked on the Main Street and successfully located the Rockport Performing Art Center which had been under construction when they visited two years previously.  It looks like it holds around 200 seats, and the stage overlocks the harbor.  They watched a violinist warming up and behind him was a clear glass wall and the impressive view of the harbor.  The theater is so cozy and well-designed that it looked like even in his sixties, LT could throw a baseball from the street over all the seats and into the ocean.  It must be marvelous to attend a concert there.

They pulled out of Rockport and headed south.  Along the way, they stopped at T. J. Maxx.  Since the weather had been so cold, both were in need of extra layers of clothing.  Eli picked up a purple top and LT got two extra T-shirts.  They they hit Trader Joe's, but were disappointed because in Massachusetts, only 3 TJ's are allowed to sell wine, and this store--in East Gloucester, technically--was not one of the lucky ones.

Continuing on their journey, they followed the signs for Boston.  When LT had visited the So Cal Auto Club before their departure, he had gotten tour books, state maps, etc.  But these maps did not include the long hook of Cape Cod.  So they had to rely on the highway signs and Eli's memory.  Basically, they gook 93 south, right through downtown Boston--the big dig--eventually hit the 3 and then the 6 which is the mid-cape highway.  Once they got to exit 11, they were able to use Danny Desmond's emailed directions and had no trouble.  When they stopped at exit 7 for some rest, Eli noticed a familiar-looking character walking up to them.  It was Richard Desmond, who was also going to the Chatham Desmond re-union.  So they shared jokes with him before continuing their journey.

Desmond Clan at Surfside Inn

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.

LT and Eli arrive in New England--Boston's Logan Airport and Rockport in the rain

They awakened at 4:00PM.  LT quickly went downstairs to brew coffee (set up the night before by Eli) and concoct a 4 egg cheese omelette.  At 5:15AM, faithful,devoted, alert, eldest daughter Hillary drove them the 8 miles to LAX.  With their American Airlines Gold Priority 1,000,000 mile pass, they danced through the security line and boarded Flight # 222 to Boston at 6:20AM.  Eli had purchased every magazine and literate newspaper available at Hudson's.  They sat in 15A& B.  Having survived the 9 hour flight from Rome to Charlotte, NC, and then the 4 hour flight from Charlotte to LAX, the relativelyl short 5 hour flight to Boston--Logan  seemed like a catnap. 

Once they deplaned in Boston, at 3:15 local time, they took the shuttle to Thrifty. Logan has expanded so much, that the shuttle took 15 minutes to drive them to the actual Thrifty car lot.  They were given a big Chevy.  Eli checked out the controls, LT picked a good PBS radio station and they took off for Rockport.

They found 1A, and patiently followed its meandering until it eventually hooked up with 128.  The entire drive took an hour and a half.  Along the way, they stopped for bottled water and pretzels for sustenance.  From then on it was relatively easy to find the Captain's Table at 69 Marmion Way in Rockport.  Eli had also purchased some white wine on the way,so as soon as they checked into their room, they screwed off the top, and toasted the Atlantic seacoast outside their windows.  The have a clear view of Thatcher Island, with its two lighthouses--both of which they and their children climbed on a previous tirp--from their second story window.  It was rainy, but the the atmosphere reminded them of Cabot Cove in the best "Murder, She Wrote" Angela Lansbury mysteries. 

Shortly after 6:00PM, they walked half an hour along the Old Garden Path and reached the town.  They saw all the beautiful vistas of the coast along the way as the path wound its way past expensive houses and beautifully flowered paths.  Once in town, they checked out the posted menus at 3-4 restaurants, were not impressed, and returned to "The Fish Shack" where they had eaten 3 times before.  It did not disappoint.  They ordred fried clams, a huge garden salad with Blue Cheese dressing, and 1 boiled lobster with fries.  It was all wonderful.  The clams were crisp and fresh and garnished with lemon and tartar sauce.  The salad had plenty of fresh lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and loads of Blue Cheese dressing, and the lobster behaved admirably as LT applied the pliers to its claws and tail.  All this washed down with a Crane Lake Chardonnay made for a perfect arrival dinner.