Hi, blog readers, it’s been a couple of days and we’ve been busy. I still haven’t solved my layout issues with the iPad, so, once again, my words will be followed by pictures instead of being intertwined with them.
Barnstable was a very pretty little town but kind of frustrating for us. The Coast Guard Museum was closed as was the working blacksmith’s (which we both keenly wanted to visit) but were stymied until after Memorial Day. (I am really coming to loathe that phrase!) On the upside, we found a book sale at the Sturgis Library and browsed the library for a bit. It is the oldest library building ion North America having been housed here since 1644. Needless to say, it’s been remodeled a few time since then but the essential building remains. The original library is now one room and you’re not allowed to bring anything into it - you have to check purses and backpacks to enter a room the size of a small kitchen. Still kind of cool. I could have spent a bunch on some old books but they would have weighed down my suitcase. I sometimes hate flying as it limits my purchasing power. Though that may actually be a good thing.
From Barnstable we headed down to Hyannis and the Inner Harbor. The Harbor tour boat had just left, so we ate a delicious lunch at Spanky's while watching a group gather itself for an off-shore fishing excursion. The folks going amused me as they pulled and tugged at their waterproofs and tried to adjust their fishing poles - all while snapping selfies and group shots and laughing. I love watching people having a good time! After lunch we walked part of the Kennedy Legacy Trail, Hyannis’ version of the Freedom trail. Then we headed back of the cape Highway to Yarmouth and laundry, which was calling our names with the lure of clean clothes.
I spent the evening working on unsnarling that 450 yard skein from hell and Barbara knitted. It’s a bit daunting living with someone who goes to bed at 9:30. Fortunately, we’re used to each other nad I stocked plenty of books and audio books on my iPad.
Yesterday, we dawdled at bit over breakfast because Barbara spotted a swan in the inlet visible from our windows. We each tried for a really clear shot, as you can see below, mine did not come out well and Barbara used her camera so I can’t access those images. If you look closely at the small white blob amongst the foliage, you see a blurred image of a mute swan. I have since discovered the Swans of Yarmouth are famous in the area and not at all rare. We saw several in during the day yesterday, never at a time when we had access to a camera, usually as we were driving past a bit of water. No surprise!
New Bedford was amazing. I got to sit in Herman Melville’s pew at the Seamen’s Bethel (a corrupted version of two Jewish words which means place of worship) and look at the ship’s prow made famous in the 1956 movie version of MOBY DICK. I learned that the prow was only alluded to in the novel but made so famous in that movie that the leaders of New Bedford gave in to propulsion demand and created one.When we walked over to the whaling Museum, we discovered this prow was fashioned in the image of the LAGODA, read on and find out about that ship.
The Whaling Museum offers art, weaponry, tools, maps, charts and dioramas on the history and influence of that business. The selfie shows me before the outline of the tail of an adult stern whale - the tail is 16 feet across!!! Then you look up and see the skeleton above you and you aren’t surprised. The picture of me and the heart model didn’t come out but the heart comes up to my shoulder! Another size reference is the 5’6” skeleton propped up against the sperm whale skeleton. The lower gallery of the museum contains a one-half size replica of the whaling bark LAGODA that you an walk into. I also learned sperm whale oil is red , it looks like blood. My shot of New Bedford harbor did not turn out well, too many buildings, but I adore the one of the seagull watching Barbara take a picture. And I want these yard ornament fish that wiggled in the wind like they we’re swimming.
The Sandwich Glass Museum was enthralling. Silica that Barbara and I painted on ourselves in Iceland as a skin cream is the basis of glass!! Look closely at the blown glass bank below for the coin slot in the center. The entrance glass flower art is by Billy Mayer, no relation. We were fascinated with the story of Hannah Rebecca Burgess
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