TRIP #5, 2014--They Need Rain

But They Need the Rain
I thought today it would rain on our parade. Skies were even more overcast, and the thermometer read 55 degrees.  I don't begrudge the residents of New Hampshire and Maine... and probably Connecticut too... they need rain badly, but it cramps our style and Little Red still leaks on the passenger side.
Wild rose bushes must tolerate salt.  They grow everywhere in southern New Hampshire and Maine near the water.  I know that I've noticed it more because of the large, bright red rose hips on the plants, which I had never noticed before, but it's probably because we were never traveling through New England in October.  Now we are almost back to Massachusetts.  As Andy reminded me this morning, "Only a few hours from home."

Located on a prominent corner in Newburyport, the Veterans'
Cemetery honors those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Newburyport, Massachusetts is a classy town of old brick sidewalks and two- and three-story renovated red brick buildings with green shutters.  "And gasoline up to $3.999 a gallon," said Andy.  It was $3.289 two miles ago in new Hampshire.  We pulled off Route #1 to drive through downtown and look at the Newburyport Veterans' Cemetery with flags on every grave.
Most of the markers said World War II or Vietnam War.  We fixed a couple of leaning flags.  The mist was just hanging, but it still wasn't raining.  "The Weather Channel said the best chance for rain was tonight," said Andy.
We took Route #1A from Rowley leisurely back north to Newbury and then south again to Plum Island, enjoying the rural scenery, the marshes and the seacoast.  In the meantime, the drizzle started.  "It's coming right off the ocean," said Andy, when we saw flags pointing straight inland.

Even in the rain, Newbury Harbor Light
is an imposing tower.

By the time we reached Newbury Harbor Light, a cold mist had settled in, blowing right off the water.   Japanese black pine trees nearby gave us a little protection to jump out of Little Red and snap a lighthouse picture. This one, surrounded by a grassy park, had a bright green light.
A huge banner across the street in downtown Ipswich said, "Water ban. No outside water usage" by order of the Water Commission, but as soon as we drove into the town, the sky darkened and the sprinkles came down.  Huge drops fell harder by 11:00 a.m. through Essex to Gloucester on Route #133.  As we drove through Essex, I read that this town had constructed more two-masted schooners than any other place in the world.
"These are such quaint and nice little towns," said Andy, but we didn't see much beyond the immediate roadside.
We stopped at the Gloucester Welcome Center and chatted with the volunteers, had coffee at Dunkin' Donuts because we couldn't park on Main Street by the Caffé Sicilia or the Caffé Dolce, and finally parked under a locust tree on Pavilion Beach by Fishermen's Wives Memorial statue, hoping the rain would let up just a little.  Not far away on the other end of the beach was the famous bronze, Man at the Wheel.  The rain came down harder, but it was a good time to catch up on reading the local travel literature.  I learned all sorts of neat things about Gloucester.
Indians came here about 10,000 years ago from what is now Arizona and New Mexico.  They called themselves Agawam, meaning "fish curing place."
When French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed to America the second time, he landed at Cape Ann in 1606.  He called the harbor Le Beau Port.  In 1614, English captain John Smith named Gloucester Cape Tragabigzanda after a Turkish princess.  Later King Charles of England renamed it in honor of his mother Queen Anne.  By 1617, three-quarters of the Native American population in Massachusetts, who had welcomed these early explorers, were dead from common European diseases.
In 1623, a permanent settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established at Fisherman's Field--Stage Fort Park. Three years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth, the Dorchester Company of England left 14 men here before sailing to Bilbao, Spain, with a cargo of salt cod.  The men set up huts and fishing stages, the name given to the wooden platforms for drying cod fish.  The oldest defenses of Stage Fort were built in 1625.  Other settlers came for religious freedom since Plymouth remained staunchly Puritan.

Construction near Annisquam Harbor Light
prevents us from approaching.

Gloucester's fishing industry developed amidst Indian skirmishes, pirate attacks, shipwrecks and wars.  Massachusetts Bay Colony incorporated Gloucester as a town in 1642.  By 1660 shipbuilding had become the leading industry, and this little inlet called Half Moon Beach was the start of it all.  Salted fish became the principal export.
Early in the 19th century Rocky Neck, now the nation's oldest art colony, attracted painters like Winslow Homer.  The fishing industry made gains in the 1860's because the Union Army used fish as a staple, and by 1887, Gloucester reigned as the nation's busiest fishing port with 417 vessels.
A thriving granite industry developed as new vessels called stone sloops were designed and built to carry granite to the nation's busy eastern seacoast ports like Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
But by 1923, foreign competition had reduced the demand for fish from Cape Ann.
The industry made a comeback in 1935, when Gloucester resident Clarence Birdseye perfected a technique for freezing fresh fish.
Women and children replaced men in the fish processing plants during World War II.  In 1943, the Progressive Fish Company cut and packed a million pounds of fish in one day.


With mother and children looking out to
sea, this bronze statue, a Memorial to
the Fishermen's Wives, evokes emotion.

But uncontrolled fishing and foreign intrusion depleted the stocks of all species in the years that followed.  The 200-mile limit in 1976, and tight government restrictions in 2013, now protect the species by reducing foreign competition and limiting the catch and the days at sea.  But Gloucester's fishermen still survive.We checked into the Rockport Inn early.  The rain came down in steady sheets.
When rain let up a little at 3:00 p.m., we went out to search for Annisquam Harbor Lighthouse.  Erected in 1801 to mark the entrance to the Annisquam River at Wigwam Point, the wooden frame was replaced in 1897 by the existing 41-foot brick tower.  The quaint lighthouse is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard but is a real challenge to find.  Unmarked and with the gated parking lot fenced and locked, this light is buried in a residential area of one-way streets and private driveways.  I guess they don't want visitors.

At one end of the promenade the Fishermen's Memorial
honors those fishermen who never returned.

We headed back to Gloucester.  Many of the streets are barely wide enough for two cars to pass and old two-story frame houses line the walks in tight rows.  The Memorial to the Fishermen's Wives, a bronze dedicated in 2003, was highlighted on either side by pink petunias.
At the opposite end of the promenade, the Memorial to Fishermen read, "They that go down to the sea in ships 1623-1923."  Now the town is nearly 400 years old.


More than 5,000 names fill the
bronze plaques of those lost at sea.

Included were bronze plaques with the names of all those from Gloucester who died fishing from 1717 on.  "I'll bet  there were more than a thousand names," said Andy. When we checked, we learned that there were more than 5,000 names of those locals who were lost at sea.By 4:30 p.m. the rain was back.  We tried to find the Eastern Point Lighthouse, but the sign said, "Yacht Club. Residents Only,"  This time we didn't pursue the issue.
On a back street in downtown Gloucester, we had Portuguese dinner at Sebastian's: calzones and huge slabs of chicken pie. It seemed appropriate.