Author: Pat D

Over the past few weeks, I have been watching the progress Cheryl’s Signs has been making giving the World War II Memorial sign on the Boulevard a makeover. I asked if this was in preparation for Veterans Day, but she said it was part of a planned “refresh” for the signage. Progress was weather dependent so it took a few trips for her to complete the work. Nicely done! Thank you.

Happy birthday to our fearless captain Joey C! We are very grateful to call him a friend and he’s a loyal friend of our favorite city Gloucester. We love our GMG family but it wouldn’t be what it s without Joey’s leadership. Thank you Joey for adopting us into your GMG family. It’s been a wild ride and we look forward to future adventures. Happy happy birthday!

From our friends at Minglewood:

Best wishes. We will miss you! From Facebook:

As I write this, it’s still pretty nasty out there; repairs going on in several locations so take care. Cheers to our DPW!

It seems we are going to be having some nasty weather this week so I thought it might be a good time for some reminders of how beautiful fall has been. I have a feeling these pretty leaves will be gone once we get past this current weather pattern. FOB Bex Borden recently invited me to tour the grounds at Moraine Farm in Beverly. Bex is one of the volunteers there and spent part of her afternoon with me sharing the history and the beauty of the area. It was classic fall beauty and I thought you might enjoy. Thank you Bex! For further information, here’s the website Bex shared with me.

Whale watching season is coming up on its last weekend for 2021 but you still have a few chances to get out there before the end of this month. Cape Ann Whale Watch will be running trips this upcoming weekend and I highly recommend this as an activity for guests, a gift, or just because you like to spend time out on the water.

Family was visiting last weekend and this was high on their list of activities so we made the arrangements and off we went. What a day! Dross and her 2021 calf have been entertaining whale watchers regularly this season but the calf really put on a show for us. There were at least a half dozen breaches, flipper flapping, and even tail thwacking (I think that’s the official scientific term!) so close to the boat that we got wet. Mom Dross showed us some feeding activity to add to the wonder of the trip. It was fairly choppy so photography was challenging but here are some of the results. As a huge bonus, the eagle you see here resting on Ten Pound Island followed our boat out of the harbor, dove toward the water and got itself a fish before it flew off! I was so startled I didn’t get any good shots of that little miracle but it goes to show you never know what you will see out there but it’s all wonderful.

**PS: Just noticed that all three of our local whale watches are included in this article about the Best Whale Watching in Massachusetts!

**PPS It seems likely the weather this week may change the whale watching plans in town, so stay tuned if you plan to go.**

We decided to go to a new-to-us restaurant for my birthday celebration, so of course, we turned to the Serenitee group for ideas and decided to try 15 Walnut in South Hamilton. In case you STILL don’t have your Serenitee rewards set up, be aware that you are awarded a FREE entree AND dessert in your birthday month. Win Win.

Anyhow, we loved the atmosphere and menu at 15 Walnut. Our server, Mandee, recognized that one of us had a birthday when she logged our Serenitee number with her. And it’s her birthday this month too! Same for Anya, from Minglewood who was training at 15 Walnut. Happy birthday to you both and thanks for making our experience so warm and wonderful. There was brisk business while we were there, including families and small groups. There is still outdoor seating available but we usually prefer inside. The menu is varied and our food was very satisfying.

Jim ordered a Caesar side salad (perfectly sized) and a fried chicken BLT. I got the burger. We also treated ourselves to dessert: lemon sorbet and caramel cheesecake adorned with popcorn! Fun and inventive. We will plan to return there one day. It was a lovely meal and dining experience.

I have long been intrigued by the walkway at Cape Hedge Beach. This time, I was reminded of the song “Stairway to Heaven”. It appears there have been some busy pebble stone construction going on over there, always interesting to come across. What a glorious view!

Whenever I wear my heated vest, I get comments (especially from women) who are intrigued by the heating element of the vest. It’s battery powered, provides heat front and back and I wear it throughout the spring and fall. However, I’d been wishing I had such a jacket and now Ororo offers a heated fleece jacket! Admittedly, this was Facebook clickbait that worked faster than anything else I had been mildly tempted by. I have ordered my heated fleece jacket (complete with battery…double check that if you are ordering) and will keep you posted but I am certain I will be thrilled.

Here’s a link to shop. There are also heated socks available, just FYI. This is just a recommendation, I am not receiving any benefit from sharing this info with you. I just love my heated outerwear and thought you might too.

It was our first brisk fall morning and Good Harbor Beach was beautiful at high tide. It seemed to be greeting autumn ! Maybe some of you are not able to be in Gloucester this fall and will appreciate seeing Good Harbor again. I know that I never tire of it.

A Vintage Car Climb event was held recently at the Crane Estate featuring pre-WWII vehicles in timed races. This sounded very interesting so we secured tickets and attended on a gorgeous fall afternoon. It was a celebration of the “roaring twenties” and “jazz” era complete with costumed staff, appropriated music accompanying the vintage vehicles. You really felt drawn back to a long lost era with the roar of the engines, lively music, dancing and costumed participants.

The event was very well organized with lots of volunteer help for the sold out crowd. Our friends at Lyon-Waugh Auto Group sponsored the event and we even got to say hello to FOB Cidalia ! The vintage vehicles were spotlessly maintained and it was so much fun to watch them race by, complete with the sounds and smells of pre-WWII automobiles!

Cake Ann has relocated to the 7 Seas Wharf in the former Gloucester House on Rogers Street. We stopped in and were impressed with the setup. There is much more room available with indoor and outdoor seating. There is a ribbon cutting scheduled for today Wed Oct 20 at 3 PM if you are interested. Check it out! Best wishes to our friends at Cake Ann.

I had ordered Adventureman Jamie MacDonald’s new book Running America as soon as it was released last spring but it hasn’t been available in the United States until this week. I had been looking forward to it but it was still a nice surprise to find it on my doorstep a few days ago. Of course, I immediately turned to the chapter regarding his time here in Gloucester in March 2019. And that brought up memories of that wonderful day on the boulevard. Congratulations Jamie! We still love you here across the pond in your sister city.Jamie thanks Good Morning Gloucester, Nichole Schrafft, Ray Johnson, Sheree Zizik, Mayor Romeo Theken, Cape Ann Motor Inn Loran Caputo and Brad Pierce, AND the Crow’s Nest crew!!! Obviously there were so many others instrumental in the success of this event for him and for the fund raising efforts on behalf of children’s hospitals and I am sorry I cannot name them all either but I hope you know we appreciate you all.

Who do you think your godfather is? I couldn’t help change up the title of a popular TV series when I heard that a Sicilian Diocese (Catania) put a 3 year ban on godparents due to the loss of spiritual significance of the role. Also at play apparently are concerns surrounding underworld influence. Here’s a link to some further information.

This makes a person go Hmmmmm…….! Did you know your godfather well? Were your godparents active in your life? Are you a godparent? What is the role of godparents today? Has this new ban played a role in your life today?

We are not Italian but my godfather was named George and I did not know him well. He was not active in my life except I do remember him visiting us once when I was young. I think he was a college chum of my father’s. He played no spiritual role in my life, but I would wish that children had other adults in their lives that they could turn to as needed. Quote from the movie “The Godfather”: “Italians have a little joke, that the world is so hard a man must have two fathers to look after him, that’s why they have godfathers.”

I’ll kind of miss scenes like this one if such a ban becomes effective closer to home:

I stumbled on the opportunity offered by The Trustees to cruise around Essex Bay in a pontoon boat at dusk and it sounded so intriguing that I signed right up! It is advertised as a sunset cruise, but the trip ends just a tad before that. Regardless, the trip is taken in the soft, beautiful light of late afternoon and I would high recommend it. Capt. Ted led the tour with a great deal of interesting tidbits about the wildlife and history of the immediate area, especially Choate Island (where the Daniel Day-Lewis version of “The Crucible” was filmed some years ago). you are instructed to meet in the parking lot for Crane Beach and then are shuttled across the road to the dock. There were 10 passenger, the captain and his mate which filled the pontoon to capacity. If you are interested, you should be aware that there is only one trip remaining this season for Oct 27. It was a lovely little ride and respite on a gorgeous fall afternoon so even if you can’t make it this season, let’s hope these trips are available next year as well.

Our drives along the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway usually take us north toward Rowley, but this time we decided to go in the opposite direction toward Beverly in search of barns along the byway. And we found this MAGNIFICENT example in Manchester. If barns were royalty, I think this might be a monarch. Very majestic while functional. It is lovely to look at.

This barn is so magnificent that I am going to alter my normal barn-post rules to include the Proctor Barn on Choate (Hog) Island as a “Barn Along the Waterway”. It’s very large and majestic especially when seen in the warm light of late afternoon from the water.

We had not been to Meadowbrook Farm in South Hamilton in a while and the pretty sight of all the pumpkins drew us in there a few days ago. There are pumpkins of all sizes available. We watched a young boy picking his own out under the guidance of his mom……classic! Of course, he could barely pick up the one he choose!

There are also meats, vegetables, fruits, breads, jams and all kinds of other treats available. I got our first gallon of cider! We had been leaf peeping and this was the perfect end to that ride.

I was hoping for some spectacular fall color the other day and we didn’t exactly get that yet, but we did enjoy the beauty and the quiet at Lily Pond. It was a little bit gray that day with the sun only peeking out here and there. We were surprised to see a train riding the rails though! Bonus shots. Always a good thing when you are seeking daily content!