The map is smart phone ready with house pictures. If you want to print the map see two pictures below: (1) navigate to the map page URL and (2) click on the three dots menu bar on the upper right. Pull down and select “print”. PDF as of 12/3/2020 here
NEW photos in this post include: the second stretch of Essex Avenue from Richdale heading up to Farnham’s; Portuguese Hill neighborhood; don’t miss Happy Santa indigo up on Perkins; Harrison; and sweet charm of Hartz. Check the map for updates. Still to come: East Gloucester, Annnisquam, Lanesville, Magnolia.
What a gift our neighbors have shared for the community! There are so many festive houses in Gloucester it’s easy to plan multiple merry excursions.
For families and friends, eyespy challenges could switch nightly. Can you find a Santa? A peace sign? Snoopy?
How about a Bring the Cuddlies Christmas Light Tour- children can help their toy friends see out the car window. This one may be a given: Happy to share photos of your precious travelers :).
Pick a specific route by color lights or house style.
Bring art supplies to sketch a view.
Older homes make it fun to wonder about what it was like in the past. For families that like Old Timey winter scenes–imagine New England Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Winslow Homer, and Currier& Ives– pretend the car is a sleigh or horse and buggy. Find some dress up attire that looks vintage (or go all out and find some duds at Bananas). Add a hot water bottle for the feet. A towel or blanket can wrap around like a hand warmer muff. For fans of Louisa May Alcott, point to Braewood* on Essex Avenue (across from Pauline’s gifts) and Rocky Neck, where she stayed on Gloucester holidays. Picture a winter skating rink in front of the UU Church on Middle Street. *For more about the history of Braewood and Alcott in Gloucester, search “Braewood” in this prior post.
For the train and dinosaur train enthusiasts, all aboard! The express car might even time with the T or train.
Switch off date night driving so the passenger can enjoy a festive eggnog.
These are special outings just outside your door. Don’t miss them!
Illustration for Louisa May Alcott Jack and Jill, 1880 – distant town and harbor suggestion of Gloucester from a property like Braewood at the timehappy Santa indigo
More photos
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
“An Off Season Stroll Through Edward Hopper’s Vision of Gloucester” Boston Globe article by Diane Bair and Pamela Wright. Reporters enjoyed a wonderful Cape Ann Museum Walking Tour followed up by a visit to Cape Ann Brewery. Read the piece here
Annual tree at Kent Circle in Gloucester, Mass., also from Nova Scotia.
Follow the excellent thread to learn more about Canada’s annual remembrance and giving tree; its history concerns a disaster as catastrophic as the Johnstown Flood.
This tree from Nova Scotia is now in Boston Common.
There are many Nova Scotia ties in Gloucester, too. Canadians immigrants, especially ones born on the east coast, settled throughout Massachuestts. Canadian born fishermen worked and lived in Gloucester. More than 1200 Nova Scotians went down to the sea and are memorialized here.
Thanks to the Tarr family, Gloucester has an annual tree from Nova Scotia. Read more about this year’s journey to install the tree from Shelburne Falls at Kent Circle.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
When I was a girl, my family, like many other families, considered every nocturne drive a chance to look for Christmas lights. Of course we carried on this tradition with our own children. The magic of the season is so easy to find in neighborhoods throughout Gloucester and all of Cape Ann. Coasting past classic New England home styles decorated for the holidays– while driving along bends and dips in the roads by charming coves– is sheer visual delight. There is a surprise around every corner.
Plus the season’s early nightfall is most welcome for little ones’ bedtime enchantment. Throw on some comfy holiday attire and toss in a thermos of hot chocolate to make it an extra special treat for the youngest, and the young at heart, and the perfect outing for social distancing in this year of Covid. Repeat visits are encouraged because there’s so much to see and more added every day.
Last year readers asked for a map. Here are some of the homes spreading cheer NOW with their Christmas lights and holiday yard displays, and it’s not yet December 1, 2020! Is your favorite friendly seasonal character out there? Or favorite color lights twinkling bright? I’ll continue to update the map and photographs, including specific requests and location recommendations from GMG readers.
Holiday lights & cocoa drives Gloucester Mass as of November 30, 2020
FAQ HOW TO PRINT THE MAP- Two steps: First click the empty rectangle to be taken to the map page. Once at the URL for the map page, click the three dots for the pull down menu and select “print”.Here is the PDF option in the horizontal format as of Dec. 2.
Here are a few November ‘feast for the eyes’ golden scenes over the river, marsh, and creek and through the woods, grass and sands to wherever you call home.
First thing Thanksgiving morning was a slight drizzle, 11/26/2020
Scenic bounty: so easy giving thanks in one of the best Thanksgiving regions around. In my opinion there is never a time that isn’t the most beautiful time of the year.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
From the Boston Globe evening edition 1889, news of four weddings held on Thanksgiving Eve in Gloucester, Mass. John R. Pringle was a best man for one (and perhaps the reporter). One minister married two of the couples. Schooners were festooned with bunting. And five couples married, not four.
The marriage of George F. McDonald of the Western Union Telegraph staff and Miss Helen M. Procter, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Procter of Pond Street, occured Thanksgiving eve at the residence of Rev. W. R. Rider. The bride was becomingly dressed in a princess gown, blue nun’s veiling ecru, with silk trimmings. Miss Lottie Perry was the bridesmaid and J.R. Pringle, best man. After the ceremony the couple held a reception at the residence on Pond street, which was attended by many friends and relatives, a delegation coming from Avon. The wedding gifts were numerous.
Capt. Joseph Swan, one of Gloucester’s most popular and successful master mariners was united in marriage to Miss Edith Scott by Rev. G. W. Mansfield at the residence of the bride’s parents on Procter Street Thanskgiving eve. The schooners of the firm of Wilham H. Jordan in whose employ Capt. Swan has sailed, were gayly decorated with bunting in honor of the event. The couple departed for a trip to New York and other ports.
James Crawley of the custom house force and Miss Margaret Ryan, daughter of Capt. Joseph Ryan, were married by Rev. C.W. Regan at St. Anne’s parochial residence Thanksgiving eve. The schooners of Benjamin Low, from whose firm the bride’s father sails were decked in bunting in observance of the occasion. Mr. and Mrs. Crawley left for a trip to Albany, N.Y., and other large cities.
Edward E. Tobin and Miss Nellie A. Fanning were united in matrimony Thanksgiving eve by Rev. C. W. Regan. They left on the 5pm train for an extended tour.
Levi Norwood and Miss Ella Skillon were united in marriage by Rev. Rufus H. Hibbard at the residence of the bride’s mother, 26 Cleveland Street, Thanksgiving eve.
-(possibly Pringle)
“GLOUCESTER WEDDINGS.: FOUR COUPLES UNITED IN THE GREAT FISH CITY.” Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Nov 29 1889, p. 10. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2020 .
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Armand Sindoni (1929-2002) was a Massachusetts native. He resided and worked on Rocky Neck. For many years he was the artist in residence for the Gloucester Schooner Festival. This is a follow up post.
Earlier this week, I posted a GMG reader request wanting to know more about a specific Armand Sindoni work of art. I added one Sindoni portrait and asked readers to join in.
GMG reader Kathy reminded us about the Sindoni murals at Destino’s:
“Armand Sindoni painted the beautiful murals inside Destino’s. One of the vessels in the murals is the “Can Do”. It was lost during the blizzard of ‘78, going to the rescue of a huge freighter that was off of Beverly, that is also in the mural. The other vessel in Sindoni’s mural is the “Alligator”, a fishing vessel that was also lost during the blizzard.“
Kathy W.
Here are interior (and exterior) photographs I took 2017,2018 and 2020 highlighting some of the art and history details you’ll find there.
There is another work by Sindoni on display at Destino’s. Behind the counter is a portrait of Alex Destino, Sr.
Another GMG reader shared a Sindoni nocturne hanging in her home (courtesy photo)
Armand Sindoni painting private collection, courtesy photocourtesy snapshots sent to GMG – Armand Sindoni Gloucester Fishing Schooner “Elsie”1910
Thanks to all for taking the time to share your messages about Armand Sindoni.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Two wonderful feel good stories made news this week on the very same day.
DOLLY PARTON story UP FIRST
Headlines on November 17, 2020 concerned the promising results from Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trials. Fans including researchers were enthusiastic about Dolly Parton being listed in the acknowledgements for helping to fund their work, “the Dolly Parton Covid-19 Research Fund”. Thanks to a long friendship with Dr. Naji Abumrad, she donated one million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help support Covid research.
plus don’t miss jAD aBUMRAD’S terrific PODCAST “DOLLY PARTON’S AMERICA”
His son, Jad Abumrad, creator of Radiolab, produced a chart topping podcast about Dolly: Dolly Parton’s America. Fans of Radiolab and Dolly learned about his father’s friendship with Dolly there. Before I read the name of the doctor friend I was hoping it might be him. Here’s an excerpt from the transcript with some of the marvelously rich and layered story telling about Dolly and his dad:
JAD: The memory that kept intruding was from almost exactly 20 years earlier. I’d gone to Lebanon with my dad for a wedding. This is when I was just getting into recording, so I had my recorder with me everywhere I went. And the day after the wedding, my dad had driven us up the mountains to show us the village where he was born and raised. A little village called Wadi Chahrour. It’s this little enclave where literally half the village has our last name. It’s high up in the mountains, actually the exact same elevation as the mountain where Dolly lives. The air sort of has that exact same kind of thinness to it. And when we finally got to see his house, it looked a lot like Dolly’s.
JAD: When I saw her house …
JAD: I told him about it later.
JAD: It reminded me instantly of your house in Wadi.
NAJI ABUMRAD: Yeah. It’s almost identical like Dolly. There was one bedroom. We were five kids and two parents, and so you put your floor mat and you sleep side to side. And when you wake up in the morning, you stack the floor mats in the corner.
JAD: Wow. So seven people in one room?
NAJI ABUMRAD: Seven people in one room.
JAD: Jesus. How did you even sleep?
NAJI ABUMRAD: You sleep. You learn.
JAD: God! Tell me who you are, just so I have your introduction.
NAJI ABUMRAD: What do you mean? I’m Naji Abumrad. I’m your father.
JAD: [laughs] And what do you do when you’re — when yeah, what do you do otherwise?
NAJI ABUMRAD: Right now, I’m a professor of surgery at Vanderbilt. And …
JAD: I didn’t expect to want to put an interview with my dad in an episode about a visit to Dolly’s Tennessee mountain home. But as I mentioned at the top of the series, I mean, I really couldn’t have even done this series without him.
JAD: Can I ask you a personal question?
DOLLY PARTON: I guess.
JAD: This is something — it’s something I’ve always been curious …
DOLLY PARTON: It’s not that personal.
JAD: No. It’s like, it’s more personal but — for both of us, I guess. I’ve never under — how did you meet my dad?
DOLLY PARTON: Well, your dad was — I had — first time I met him was years and years ago. I was having some health problems, and then I didn’t connect with him again ’til my friend Judy and I had a wreck …
[NEWS CLIP: Dolly Parton suffered a few minor injuries in a car crash in Nashville on Monday.]
DOLLY PARTON: … several years back.
[NEWS CLIP: Police say she was riding in an SUV that was hit by another vehicle.]
DOLLY PARTON: And so when they rushed me to the emergency room, he came to the emergency room. And then after that, we just kind of …
JAD: They became friends.
DOLLY PARTON: Friendship.
JAD: That’s cool.
DOLLY PARTON: He’s a good man.
JAD: I feel like I have to be completely transparent about this. Now I had always been really tickled and a little bit confused. Like, what could they possibly have in common? But then seeing how similar his house looked to hers, and then also thinking back to something she had told me in one of our conversations.
I don’t know how well you know him, but you can never know your parents like — like other people do.
DOLLY PARTON answers Jad, Dolly Parton’s America podcast, Neon Moss episode
JAD: To make a long story short, I decided to ask him some questions. And it turned out she was right. My dad and my mom left Lebanon same year that Dolly wrote My Tennessee Mountain Home. 1972.
…WELL, It’s a gorgeous listen. Go finish DOLLY PARTON’S AMERICA here
The SECOND HAPPY STORY involved baby Yoda.
Until now I had been immune to the charms of chia pets.I brought this Baby Yoda, “the child” in the beguiling floating pod from the Mandalorian Disney+ series, home from the 7-Eleven on Bass Ave.
Here are screenshots from the LIVE NASA video as the SpaceX new arrivals joined the Space Station 11/17/2020. Astronauts are all fist pumping and smiles at the “zero gravity indicator” baby Yoda in space.
Loved watching this feed (you can see the whole playback). I wonder if the crew already in residence had the time or inclination to watch any shows and if it was possible to see current content like the new Mandalorian season? In other words did those aboard get the cultural reference?
Two wonderful feel good stories made news this week on the very same day.
The first involved baby Yoda.
Until now I had been immune to the charms of chia pets.I brought this Baby Yoda, “the child” in the beguiling floating pod from the Mandalorian Disney+ series, home from the 7-Eleven on Bass Ave.
Here are screenshots from the LIVE NASA video as the SpaceX new arrivals joined the Space Station 11/17/2020. Astronauts are all fist pumping and smiles at the “zero gravity indicator” baby Yoda in space.
Loved watching this feed (you can see the whole playback). I wonder if the crew already in residence had the time or inclination to watch any shows and if it was possible to see current content like the new Mandalorian season? In other words did those aboard get the cultural reference?
Other headlines on November 17, 2020 concerned the promising results from Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trials. Fans including researchers were enthusiastic about Dolly Parton being listed in the acknowledgements for helping to fund their work, “the Dolly Parton Covid-19 Research Fund”. Thanks to a long friendship with Dr. Naji Abumrad, she donated one million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help support Covid research.
plus don’t miss jAD aBUMRAD’S terrific PODCAST “DOLLY PARTON’S AMERICA”
His son, Jad Abumrad, creator of Radiolab, produced a chart topping podcast about Dolly: Dolly Parton’s America. Fans of Radiolab and Dolly learned about his father’s friendship with Dolly there. Before I read the name of the doctor friend I was hoping it might be him. Here’s an excerpt from the transcript with some of the marvelously rich and layered story telling about Dolly and his dad:
JAD: The memory that kept intruding was from almost exactly 20 years earlier. I’d gone to Lebanon with my dad for a wedding. This is when I was just getting into recording, so I had my recorder with me everywhere I went. And the day after the wedding, my dad had driven us up the mountains to show us the village where he was born and raised. A little village called Wadi Chahrour. It’s this little enclave where literally half the village has our last name. It’s high up in the mountains, actually the exact same elevation as the mountain where Dolly lives. The air sort of has that exact same kind of thinness to it. And when we finally got to see his house, it looked a lot like Dolly’s.
JAD: When I saw her house …
JAD: I told him about it later.
JAD: It reminded me instantly of your house in Wadi.
NAJI ABUMRAD: Yeah. It’s almost identical like Dolly. There was one bedroom. We were five kids and two parents, and so you put your floor mat and you sleep side to side. And when you wake up in the morning, you stack the floor mats in the corner.
JAD: Wow. So seven people in one room?
NAJI ABUMRAD: Seven people in one room.
JAD: Jesus. How did you even sleep?
NAJI ABUMRAD: You sleep. You learn.
JAD: God! Tell me who you are, just so I have your introduction.
NAJI ABUMRAD: What do you mean? I’m Naji Abumrad. I’m your father.
JAD: [laughs] And what do you do when you’re — when yeah, what do you do otherwise?
NAJI ABUMRAD: Right now, I’m a professor of surgery at Vanderbilt. And …
JAD: I didn’t expect to want to put an interview with my dad in an episode about a visit to Dolly’s Tennessee mountain home. But as I mentioned at the top of the series, I mean, I really couldn’t have even done this series without him.
JAD: Can I ask you a personal question?
DOLLY PARTON: I guess.
JAD: This is something — it’s something I’ve always been curious …
DOLLY PARTON: It’s not that personal.
JAD: No. It’s like, it’s more personal but — for both of us, I guess. I’ve never under — how did you meet my dad?
DOLLY PARTON: Well, your dad was — I had — first time I met him was years and years ago. I was having some health problems, and then I didn’t connect with him again ’til my friend Judy and I had a wreck …
[NEWS CLIP: Dolly Parton suffered a few minor injuries in a car crash in Nashville on Monday.]
DOLLY PARTON: … several years back.
[NEWS CLIP: Police say she was riding in an SUV that was hit by another vehicle.]
DOLLY PARTON: And so when they rushed me to the emergency room, he came to the emergency room. And then after that, we just kind of …
JAD: They became friends.
DOLLY PARTON: Friendship.
JAD: That’s cool.
DOLLY PARTON: He’s a good man.
JAD: I feel like I have to be completely transparent about this. Now I had always been really tickled and a little bit confused. Like, what could they possibly have in common? But then seeing how similar his house looked to hers, and then also thinking back to something she had told me in one of our conversations.
I don’t know how well you know him, but you can never know your parents like — like other people do.
DOLLY PARTON answers Jad, Dolly Parton’s America podcast, Neon Moss episode
JAD: To make a long story short, I decided to ask him some questions. And it turned out she was right. My dad and my mom left Lebanon same year that Dolly wrote My Tennessee Mountain Home. 1972.
So looking forward to sharing photos of winter lights for some merry drives and cocoa nights this holiday season! Were you planning to go big on lights or take a break this year? Hopefully this post may convince some readers on the decorated home & yard fence to GO FOR IT! Please treat the community to some creativity and smiles. The city and neighboring towns of Cape Ann have some special holiday light plans in the works thanks to Discover Gloucester’s First Annual Winter Lights Display on Cape Ann. Check out all the businesses and organizations readying light displays and local shopping!
What I wrote in 2019 still holds true in 2020: “If you’re wondering about holiday lights near you, in addition to the city’s beautiful seasonal trees and sparkle downtown, rewarding drives through Gloucester neighborhoods abound.”
These local homes were shining bright and it’s only the week before Thanksgiving. GRAB SOME HOT CHOCOLATE AND GO! The drives are festive, free, and social distancing safe for all. Perfect for 2020.
I’ll add more photographs of merry lights and displays as days go by and maybe a map if there are enough. Which houses and streets will be most lit up in 2020? Which ones not to miss?
‘Tis the Season. Gloucester’s Annual Lobster Trap Tree
2018
Gloucester’s Lobster Trap Tree adorned with hundreds of “ornaments”- buoys hand-painted by local children– is no doubt the sweetest and charming tree around.
I thought this Scotland effort was a pretty kindred spirit. Like Gloucester, the smaller* town of Newburgh, Fife, loves celebrating art by local children for their Annual Christmas Lights Display. A public appeal for funding this year surpassed its goal.
*Gloucester population 30,000 | Newburgh population 2100
Our village Christmas lights are designed by the local primary kids and they are the single best thing about the festive season. pic.twitter.com/kDhfLk3Dcb
Due to Covid-19 precautions, Cape Ann Art Haven buoy painting started early this year.
“It’s buoy painting time! We are instituting reservations for buoy painting. We will be open Saturdays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. starting November 7th. For health and safety reasons, we will have a maximum of 10 people at any one time. Masks will be required as well as social distancing. Please sign up on our Events page or click the reservation button below and come paint!”
So looking forward to sharing photos of winter lights for some merry drives and cocoa nights this holiday season! Were you planning to go big on lights or take a break this year? Hopefully this post may convince some readers on the decorated home & yard fence to GO FOR IT! Please treat the community to some creativity and smiles. The city and neighboring towns of Cape Ann have some special holiday light plans in the works: First Annual Winter Lights Display on Cape Ann. Check out the businesses and organizations readying light displays!
What I wrote in 2019 still holds true in 2020: “If you’re wondering about holiday lights near you, in addition to the city’s beautiful seasonal trees and sparkle downtown, rewarding drives through Gloucester neighborhoods abound.”
These local homes were shining bright and it’s only the week before Thanksgiving. GRAB SOME HOT CHOCOLATE AND GO! The drives are festive, free, and social distancing safe for all. Perfect for 2020.
I’ll add more photographs of merry lights and displays as days go by and maybe a map if there are enough. Which houses and streets will be most lit up in 2020? Which ones not to miss?
‘Tis the Season. Gloucester’s Annual Lobster Trap Tree
2018
Gloucester’s Lobster Trap Tree adorned with hundreds of “ornaments”- buoys hand-painted by local children– is no doubt the sweetest and charming tree around.
I thought this Scotland effort was a pretty kindred spirit. Like Gloucester, the smaller* town of Newburgh, Fife, loves celebrating art by local children for their Annual Christmas Lights Display. A public appeal for funding this year surpassed its goal.
*Gloucester population 30,000 | Newburgh population 2100
Our village Christmas lights are designed by the local primary kids and they are the single best thing about the festive season. pic.twitter.com/kDhfLk3Dcb
Due to Covid-19 precautions, Cape Ann Art Haven buoy painting started early this year.
“It’s buoy painting time! We are instituting reservations for buoy painting. We will be open Saturdays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. starting November 7th. For health and safety reasons, we will have a maximum of 10 people at any one time. Masks will be required as well as social distancing. Please sign up on our Events page or click the reservation button below and come paint!”
Good Morning Gloucester 