After stops in Mystic CT, and Newport RI and enjoying the foggy coast of Long Island Sound, we turned north to Gloucester, MA. We tried to make the drive as scenic as possible, but it is a struggle when you are working your way around Boston. We continued to count Tesla’s and Dunkin (Donuts). Turns out Massachusetts has more Tesla’s than we had seen on the previous road trip days. But donut shops were still winning by a margin of about 10 to 1.
When you drive into Gloucester and see the town, the architecture, the docks, the boats and the water you sort of expect to see everybody walking around in yellow cagoule and hoods looking like the Gorton’s fisherman. It definitely has a New England fishing port vibe. We found our way to the Hotel at Cape Ann Marina and settled in.
First order of business was getting together with cousins Laurie and Ann-Marie. Laurie (who I had not seen in about 10 years) has lived in Gloucester for many years (20+) and Ann-Marie (who we last saw in 2002) had opted to visit from her home in New Jersey while we were there. We had a very nice dinner and in general caught up with the last several years activities and family news.
Laurie and Ann-Marie are part of the Uncle Andy/Aunt Dottie side of the Hagar clan. Uncle Andy was the oldest of the four boys and according to lore had to keep my dad in line who apparently was something of challenge.
After a few after dinner cordials in our room, the clan dispersed, and we decided to meet the next morning for the tour de Gloucester.
Based on recommendations, we found a great breakfast spot. A small place with inside seating for only about 20 people. With a name like Mom’s Kitchen, it had to be good. We had breakfast there … twice. Second time, our server seated us with her mom. What a hoot!
After a hearty and delicious breakfast, we were off to meet Laurie and Ann-Marie for the tour. After only getting lost once, we found Laurie’s place. What a great location and great layout with room for a vegetable garden.
It was still a little rainy but that did not deter us. We made several stops in East Gloucester which is apparently the high rent area of town. We then went on to Rockport which is north of Gloucester where it turns out that love of hot dogs is apparently a Hagar weakness. While in Rockport, a painting spoke to Joni, and it became a companion for the rest of the trip. It is now on the wall in our little dining area.
While in Rockport, we took the obligatory picture of the most photographed, painted, lithographed and decoupaged building in all of New England. It is pretty photogenic. I like the S&S Catalina 38 sailboat hiding just to the right of the building behind the blue hulled boat.
From Rockport we proceeded to the Paper House. Someone with significant time on their hands … maybe a retired geologist … built an entire house out of rolled up and folded newspaper including the furniture and as I recall the piano.
Next stop was Halibut Point State Park. This was a very interesting stop on Cape Ann. It was an active granite quarry on the coast with views worth photographing and even better, exciting geology. This is some of the oldest granite in the area, intruded as a magma during emplacement of exotic terranes during the breakup of the super continent Rodina… the one before Pangea. It was mined for almost 90 years. We also learned a bit about the origin and application of the word halibut. From middle English, hali or holy was because the fish was eaten on holidays and butt which means flat fish. At the park they described the reason that the park got its name had very little to do with fish. It seems that when the boats sailing south reached the tip of Cape Ann the Captain would call out “Haul-about” to reset the sails and navigate around the land mass and head toward Rockport Harbor. Thus, the name Haul-about Point was born. Over the years, the term, like so many in New England, was shortened and became Halibut.
From Haul-about point, Laurie and Ann-Marie took us to Maritime Gloucester where Laurie has been active for many years with the dory program and schooner activities. Very cool place. Based on being on a first name basis with most of the people we ran into, it seems that she has found a very worthwhile cause to support while having fun and getting some time on the water.
We enjoyed dinner at the restaurant at the hotel. Very tasty and good music. There was a blue moon (brightest and largest moon of the year) that evening, but it was not as clear as it could be, and our timing was not spot on. We did spend time staring at the moon from the dining porch which was quite scenic and relaxing.
The next morning, we headed north with some recommendations from the ladies on things to not miss in Acadia National Park area. More on that next blog posts.
Lots of photos in the show below. Some repeats from those above but it seemed that they fit in line with what I was writing about.
