Cape Cod August 2019

SarahBeth New England August 2019

Sunday August 4- C and I flew to Boston to take over on the SarahBeth after Floyd and Helga have been on board for a week or so.

After a short (relatively, for C) walk up the Charles River past the Science Museum, we came back to Constitution Marina. We had Anne and Wesley, Will and Jackie, and Daniel and Maria as dinner guests, and Drew cooked up some marvelous kind of flatbread and then a scallop dish for dinner. Will brought a peach pie which we had with Boston Cream pie filling on the side. It was a wonderful evening.

Monday August 5- Bright sun, started in the low 70s, ended in the mid 80s.

We walked over to an early morning Duck tour leaving from the Prudential Center. To get there we went through Beacon Hill, then the Common and the Garden, and Commonwealth Avenue. The tour was 80 minutes long with an hour on land and 20 minutes on the Charles River (named by Charles I when he was a prince). Our Conducktor was Wolfgang Duck, a guy who said he flunked out of culinary school, and our boat was Olga Ironsides.

Among the sites- the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Trinity Church (Tiffany windows but closed on Mondays), the Public Garden including the Duckling statue, the Cheers bar, the State House, Parker house hotel, home of Parker House rolls and the cream pie and where Ho Chi Minh and Malcolm X both worked (need to verify this), the site of the Boston Massacre, the graveyards for John Hancock, John Adams, Crispus Attucks and others. The duck took an old ramp near the skateboard park to enter the water.

Lots more to remember and add. Sam Adams, Beantown Pub.

Then we began walking back with a stop in the Public Library,

 lunch in the Newsfeed Cafe, a short visit to Old South Church from 1669

 (one if by land and two if by sea was at Old North Church, the steeple of which is all we saw, a swan boat ride,

 and then a long, long walk to Maria’s Pastry Shop in Little Italy via the Boston Common, the Irish famine memorial, Faneuil Hall, and Quincy Market.

Outside Faneuil Hall we saw Mayor Kevin White's statue. His claim to fame is that he signed Connie's birth certificate.

 When we got close to the marina we found a street sign detailing the Freedom Trail. We walked most of it and it sure seemed longer than 3 miles.

All in all an eight mile walking day but a really fun one.

Kevin, Cissy and Jackie for dinner- excellent snacks, dinner and dessert including macaroons from Maria’s.

Tuesday August 6- In transit from Boston to Provincetown on Cape Cod. Early morning fog, the cloudy and cool (60s).

We walked about 4 miles in Charlestown around Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill and then back through the Navy Yard, similar to a walk from 2016.

 We then headed for Provincetown with whale watching along the way. Because we were near one of the pro whale watching boats out of Cape Cod we learned that we were seeing Scylla, 38 years old, mother of 13 calves over that time, and her most recent calf.

When we got to P-town, we walked in the very crowded streets and shopped for a while. There was a steady strong wind and some rain.

In the harbor I think I saw a group of white winged scoters. The book says surf scoters are more common.

For dinner we had calamari caught right off the boat during the afternoon.

Wednesday August 7- It was clear, warm and humid when we got up. C and I went for a long walk away from town but we were going so early there wasn’t anyone up anyway. We walked out on the stone breakwater toward the barb of the Cape Cod hook. On the way back, when we were in town, we met a guy who worked for the the CC Mosquito Control service. He was going by all the drain covers and putting a packet of cornmeal with bacteria in it to kill the mosquito larvae and then squirting a bit of mineral oil in them to kill the pupae. He said he does this three times a season and was doing it now to get ready for Carnival in a couple of weeks.

Dennis did not want to get to Plymouth too early so we went whale watching again. This time we found a bull, mom, and calf HB and then another HB. One had an almost solid black tail fin underneath and the other had two white patches so we know they were different. Also saw a sunfish and possibly a fin whale (more of a dorsal fin than a hump).

When we came into Plymouth it was hot but we went for a walk to see the town and the Rock. The Park Service ranger did not tell much about the Pilgrims but more about the symbolism of the Rock. 

The Rock by the way is basically a glacial erratic dropped out as the glaciers receded 10,000 years ago. The Native Americans used it as a landmark since it was so rare. The real size when the Pilgrims landed was about 30 feet across. 1774 the Sons of Liberty from Boston came down and dug it out to move it. It broke while they were doing so. That to them symbolized the virtue in breaking away from England. During the 1800s a working dock sprang up around the Rock and there was actually a chisel and hammer on site for tourists to chip away a piece. Now the Rock has been moved back from the water’s edge and has an odd Greek revival temple like thing built around it. The base is under the little 6 foot piece visible.

So the symbolism and message- for Native Americans, the beginning of the end via European disease and outright conquest; for the Pilgrims the beginning of the theocracy they were denied in England; for the sons of Liberty, freedom from the Brits.

The Pilgrims by the way had already landed on Cape Cod. When they reached Plymouth, they decided that it was the site because of the rock, a landmark visible from the water and because there is Town Brook about 100 yards away that provided fresh water.

Thursday August 8- C and I went for a delightful 4 mile walk this morning. The first part followed Town Brook in a park like setting until we reached an are where they are renovating the stream and the walk. We passed a reproduction grist mill with a fish ladder for the herring to use to spawn. The brook falls 80 feet in about a mile and a half and comes out of a huge lake known as Billington Sea. We got to the beginning of the lake thru Morton Park where one can swim, kayak, and paddle board. Coming back we walked along a busy street but it was still a great walk. Oh yes and to tie all the Pilgrim stuff together we saw 5 wild turkeys!!

The ride through Mass. Bay, the Cape Cod Canal, Buzzard’s Bay, and over to Falmouth was smooth and pleasant. The weather this week has been perfect- cooler than Va. and a steady but not too strong wind.

On arrival at Falmouth, where we are at the ocean end of the harbor, with a view of Martha’s Vineyard 7 miles away, right where a lot of people come to park and dip their toes in the water, and where we have a great view of the steady stream of boats from ferry size to pram sailing school size going in and out.

Connie and I went for a walk toward town and found a small Farmer’s Market. Drew got some fresh rockfish and fresh lobster for us.

Friday August 9- Today’s morning walk took us up along the ocean on Grand Ave. After we crossed the outlet for two salt ponds we came back a bit and found a rocky path along the western side of the larger of the two. It led into town near the bowling alley and Walmart and then back along the Falmouth Harbor Road we took yesterday. The houses here all seem to be grey shingles, with neat yards, beautiful gardens (hydrangeas do really well here), and all are tidy. Some have screen porches big enough for sleeping in the summer.

The event of the day was a tour over at Woods Hole, about 6 miles away. While waiting in the shade beside Eel Pond we talked to some local kids eating pizza. The area triples in population for 4 months a year. It doesn’t snow much but is pretty miserable in winter.

WHOI has about 1000 students pursuing Masters level and PhD level classes and research. The oceanography side is affiliated with MIT and the biological side is affiliated with Univ. of Chicago. We saw the outside of the Marine Biological Lab, the Bigelow building and a couple of others (they have ivy growing on them and look like Harvard or someplace similar). Then our guide Tom took us to the dock where we saw an old Alvin capsule, a Remus (no photos- the Russians want to know what we are doing with them, which is a remote controlled torpedo looking thing WHOI uses to track seals, turtles, and sharks among other things), and another more complicated unmanned sub used to chart the ocean floor. One of the researchers spent a minute telling us about it. We then crossed the tiny drawbridge in town and went to the WHOI Discovery Center to see some exhibits and the gift shop. There was a looping video showing a great white shark chewing on a Remus and then the Remus itself.

All in all it was a good tour but very superficial. I think Dad could schedule a more in depth tour through his friends at VIMS.

After the tour we walked around town a little and rode with a Lyft driver named Santa back to the boat. On the way when we were going thru a forested area with a lower density of houses I saw two more wild turkeys in a driveway.

For dinner we had a seafood medley- lobster bisque (I’ll never have it at Brio again) and softshell crab with chorizo sausage. Today, with lobster salad for lunch and a little ice cream for dessert, has to have been my highest cholesterol intake day of my life.

Saturday August 10- On to Martha’s Vineyard

This morning’s walk took us to Main Street Falmouth and back. We found a statue to honor Katherine Lee Bates of Falmouth, not the movie actress but the author of America The Beautiful.

After breakfast the SarahBeth went across to Vineyard Haven. In the narrow Falmouth Harbor we were docked bow up harbor. Dennis had about 10 feet to spare on either end as he eased the boat off the dock, maneuvered it across the opening and then straightened it out. A couple of the boat owners on either side looked a little nervous.

In MV we mostly lounged on the boat. I was pushing to finish my book and then got immediately into a new one. We did a short walk around town to see Vineyard Vines and the Black Dog. Toddy and some friends visited us on the boat for a while.

Sunday August 11- on to Nantucket for 90 minutes, a short visit with Ellie, and then home.

Oops- I forgot to include photos of a couple of our delicious meals: