Boston, MA

---

We finally arrived in Boston, our long anticipated destination, on Thursday afternoon, September 16.  We were in town to attend a specially organized cousins party hosted by Lynn’s cousin Tanya and her partner, Tom.  They were kind enough to time it to align with our travel schedule.  We were also very excited because Stephanie would be flying in from Philadelphia to join us.

This was the busiest harbor we’ve been in since New York Harbor.   We had to pay especially close attention as we entered it due to the many different channels intersecting the harbor and all the ferries going this way and that. We stayed at Constitution Marina located at the head of Boston Harbor and next to where the USS Constitution is docked.  Constitution Marina is actually located in Charlestown and we were docked right next to the bridge.  The folks at the marina were kind enough to give us a great slip to accommodate the open “house” we were planning for Saturday afternoon.  

That night Tanya joined us onboard Zendo and the three of us went out for an Italian dinner in the North End.  We checked out the amazing Italian bakeries where we would get the cannolis for Saturday night’s dessert.  Mike’s Pastry was literally filled with over 100 people waiting in line for Italian pastries.  Apparently those lines last until the place closes at 11 pm.

The next day we spent preparing the boat for the open (boat) house that we had invited the cousins to on Saturday afternoon before the big party.  We also took time to ride our bikes along a wonderful boardwalk that lines Boston Harbor.   Stephanie flew in that evening which of course, became the best part of the day!

On Saturday, we hosted the open house for Lynn’s  cousins, most of whom had driven from the Waterbury, CT area for the party.  We were happy to have our friend Michael Finch and his friend, Eddy join us too.  We wanted everyone to see how we’ve been living for the last five months!

 

Later that evening we headed over to the beautiful Back Bay home of Tanya and Tom. 

Besides being excited about the party, everyone was looking forward to seeing Tanya and Tom’s home which  had been featured in Boston Home due to the great design and renovation that Tanya had accomplished.  What a fantastic party it was!  The setting, the food, the company, the music,  the dancing -  the entire evening was a blast.  We are so lucky to have such a fun and fabulous family!

We slept in on Sunday morning  having gone to bed after 2 a.m.the night before.  Since we weren’t sure when we would see Stephanie next, we wanted to make the most of our last day together.  We passed on the opportunity to have brunch with the cousins in order to do a city tour of Boston.  Stephanie had never really seen the city (other than for a quick job interview) and Lynn and Jonny hadn’t been there in almost 30 years!  We stopped for a nice lunch and  therapeutic Bloody Marys before Stephanie caught her flight back to  Phili.

Next stop is Sandwich at the start of the Cape Cod Canal.

Salem, MA

---

We left Rockport after lunch on September 16 bound for Salem where we took a mooring ball in Salem Harbor.  The next day we took a launch into this historic town.  Ironically, everyone thinks of Salem and the witch hunts that took place there. We were reminded that the Salem witch trials constituted only a nine month period in their history.  There is a lot more to the town than that infamous period. 

Salem is very tourist oriented and we followed a red line that was painted throughout the historic district and saw some interesting sights.

In the visitor’s center, we watched a very interesting movie about the town’s history and that of Essex County in general.  Salem has a very rich history having been one of the largest international trading ports prior to and just after the Revolutionary War and before the emergence of other major ports such as Boston and New York.  Many of the handsome buildings throughout the town are from that period.   

Unfortunately we did not have time to visit the very impressive Peabody Essex Museum. It is part of a large and beautiful complex located on a red brick pedestrian walkway.  We did succumb to a tour of the House of Seven Gables which was quite interesting and added to our knowledge of the town’s history and the background leading to Nathanial Hawthorne writing of that famous book.  

Lynn discovered that her sister, Lisa, loves Salem so she had to be sure to find a suitable gift for her while there.  

After a surprisingly good lunch overlooking the water, we had to leave to make our way to our next stop – Boston!

Rockport, MA

---

On September 16 we had another picture perfect day cruising from Newburyport to Rockport and then on to Salem. We decided to take the long way way going around the outside of Cape Ann so we could see Rockport.  Rockport is situated at the tip of Cape Ann and is surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.  It is known for being a place where artists gravitate due to its amazing light, its location, and its rocky coastline and vistas.  The coast was lined with graceful New England homes and accented by a lighthouse acting as sentinel to the harbor. 

We entered the picturesque harbor and called the harbormaster for guidance on entering the harbor. 

We were delighted when she directed us to tie up at the red shed – an image that we are all familiar with as it graces many paintings of this coast.  It is officially called Motif Number 1.  The current building  is actually a replica of a former fishing shack and is well known to students of art and art history as the most often-painted building in America.  The original  was built in 1840, but was destroyed in the Blizzard of 1978.  From the early 1800’s, Rockport attracted both artists and fisherman and the barn became a favorite subject for them because of its composition and the great lighting in the area. 

We tied up at this distinctly non-floating dock.  We were at the very edge of the building and dock and had to climb the ladder to get out of the boat. By the time we returned a few hours later the tide had risen and we could practically step right onto Zendo.

There is a moving tribute on the red shed.  A collection of bouys lines one side of the building.  They commemorate the fisherman that lost their lives off the coast of this historic fishing village.

The light and rocky landscape are stunning and it is immediately clear why Rockport attracts so many artists .  The town is funky and artsy yet it still retains its authenticity with plenty of working fishing boats complete with lobster traps, burly fisherman, etc.

The town is adjacent to the docks.  It is filled with artist galleries and gift shops housed in in rustic and historic buildings and festooned with colorful flowers.

We wandered into several galleries and saw some pieces that we really liked (though we are not in an acquisition mode these days).  Many of the galleries were “one man shows” with the artist present so there was an intimacy that made the experience more special.

We also enjoyed the larger Rockport Art Association.  It was founded in 1921 and is the oldest and most active art organization in the country.  It had a large collection representing a wide array of local artists.  The gallery space was beautiful with great skylights and a wonderful feel to it.   The building was as stunning as the art within it.

 

The town did not have as many good restaurant choices so we had an OK lunch overlooking the bay before leaving for Salem where we would stay overnight.  We were really glad that we bypassed the inside route and made the decision to go further out into the Atlantic to experience Rockport  if even for just a few hours.

As we headed out of the harbor, we passed more fishing boats coming in and  two more lighthouses providing guidance to this “end of the world” rocky outcrop.  

We then headed to our next port, Salem - which deserves its own web page. 

Newburyport, MA

---

We’ve been having an outstanding week of weather cruising the New England coast from Maine to Massachusetts.  On Tuesday, Sept. 15 we traveled from Kennebunkport, ME to Newburyport, MA.  The landscape has clearly changed from what we experienced in Maine.  Gone is the rugged coastline peppered with innumerable inlets.  In its place are wider expanses of coastline, fewer hills and more houses lining the shores (except for this outstanding lighthouse).

There are so many interesting places to  stop as we re-enter more populated areas of New England that it is hard to decide which beautiful, historic town to select.  We decided on Newburyport because one of the cruising books described it as the “shining diamond in the crown jewels of harbors that line the coast of Massachusetts”. 

We are trying to focus on anchorages and moorings as they are the lower cost options in the cruising world and we just plain enjoy them.  There are no safe anchorages in this area due to the raging currents that can run through the Merrimack River.  We learned that the town wharf in Newburyport had both moorings and docking facilities.  At first we were going to dock and then we opted for the mooring.   Lynn had difficulty grabbing the mooring ball and even Jonny couldn’t because the line was wrapped on it.  So we got another one that turned out to be in a better (more calm) location.  We  rowed our dinghy the short distance to the dinghy dock and went ashore to explore. 

Jonny was chagrined by the ridiculous and very unusual practice of this municipal dock to charge a mooring fee per calendar day instead of per overnight.  So our charge was $50 instead of the usual $25 mooring charge.  Of course, because it’s a mooring, there is no water or electricity included.  But, it’s obviously a lot less than paying for dockage. 

We walked around town visiting the historic customs house located on the waterfront where we met the director who had just been to the New London Customs House near where Jonny grew up.   She gave us lots of enthusiastic advice about which towns to visit in the area.

Because we didn’t bring our bikes ashore (harder to transport them in a dinghy), we did not see as much of the town as we usually like to.  But we did our best as we walked around the entire afternoon through the streets filled with well-preserved red brick buildings that house numerous and attractive shops and restaurants.   It is clearly a prosperous town catering to tourists but not at all tacky.

There was a funky warehouse type store near the waterfront that Lynn wanted to check out, but by the time we circled back to it, it was closed.  We don’t really have room on the boat for some of the “awesome stuff” that they had for sale!

We chose to eat dinner on board (trying to work through some of our provisions) and thought about taking the dinghy back into town to catch the new Woody Allen movie at a small movie theatre not far from the waterfront.  We haven’t been to the movies since before we left on this trip.  However, our onboard cocktail hour went long as we caught up with Stephanie and Jonny’s mom and dinner was delayed. So we skipped the movie and caught up on a couple of episodes of Mad Men – our guilty  pleasure these days!