Month: October 2010

Anyone have a moment to answer her questions in the comment below the post? TIA

Carol Londres Writes-

Hello,

I just got a subscription to the above site.  I am wondering if I can ask you a few questions about Gloucester.  My late husband Frank and I bought a condo at Mast Hill on Essex Avenue, 1999-2001.

Does Jerry Pelonzi’s Hearthside Restaurant still exist on Essex Avenue?

We brought in the Millennium New Years’ Eve at the Hearthside.

I also cannot find Periwinkles a charming restaurant which was like across the street and near another restaurant called something like Wood Side – but that was always too busy and we did not visit there.  Periwinkles was elegant and a favourite and I don’t understand why it is not listed.  It would appear there no longer is a Jan’s Place which was off of Essex Ave. and a drive down the road, perhaps towards 128 – but I forget the address, and Jan was married to a town policeman or fireman and we visited that restaurant often in our 2 years there.

Many visits before we moved to Gloucester we brought family and friends who visited us from Canada to The Seven Seas Restaurant and surely it is not closed?  So has it changed names?  It was a huge restaurant on the water too. 

There was a small white roadside [seasonal] restaurant on the right side of Essex Avenue, between where one entered the Mast Hill condominiums, and where you arrived at The Hearthside – with delicious clam dishes.  I do not recall the name of it, but I plan to see if it still exists. 

I also checked out the Yellow Pages in hopes of finding my hairdresser. I could not remember the name of my hairdresser’s salon and she was a lovely Portuguese woman named Fatima.  I shall find her in my own old phone book perhaps.  The salon I know the location of, but not the address and there were many stores nearby, and other smaller good restaurants were on Main Street and some on the street running by the fisheries…[Groton] near where the Hannah Boden was docked during winter, and I forget the name of that street, perhaps it was Atlantic Blvd. or Roger?  We lived there during The Perfect Storm movie time when it had its debut, with tourists causing havoc flocking to the town.  Of course we visited The Crow’s Nest ….and bought souvenirs.  I found it strange it also is not listed anywhere.  The mother of one of the fellows lost at sea [Bobby] bar tended there and when we first moved there she had just died from her illness.    

I am hoping to find a nice rental like an apartment, cottage, condo or house for a month, perhaps in early winter.  I am in the process of searching a few sites I belong to (Cyberrental and VRBO) and of course winter is still beautiful in Gloucester, but it would be nice to find a place with a fireplace.  Winter rentals seem to be a lot less than in summer months, and as I wish to visit Gloucester, Cape Ann and Rockport, I am hopeful I will find something that feels once again like home.  I am also hoping my rental will have computer capabilities and I’ve noticed many have telephones.  I very much want a view and access to the beaches, like Wingersheek and Good Harbour, which were long time favourite places for us and are still very important to me.

If you can shed any light on the above restaurant queries it would be very appreciated.  So many things are made easier these days by the computer, and searching or seeing locations is simple, but I thought I might like to ask someone like you about these missing pieces of my past and if you have any suggestions on contacts for rentals or any other Gloucester interests that you are much more in touch about, please do not hesitate to share with me. 

I am not at all sure Fatima still has her shop, but besides hopefully utilizing the services of a hair salon when I do visit, in the meantime I thought about the benefits of posting a Rental Wanted sign, tastefully done by way of a small notice in her establishment or some other location in the town. 

My husband and I dined occasionally at the Ocean Edge on Atlantic (I believe that is the name) and we were able to rent a room for his sister visiting from California, for an amazing $99. a night there, and now the price has more than tripled. So unfortunately that lodging is too high.

Thank you for your time and consideration in my queries about Gloucester past. 

I welcome hearing from you when you have time to try to reply to any of my questions.

Yours truly,

Carol Londres