Author: Pat D

On Tuesday Sept 14 at 11 AM, a memorial dedication ceremony will be held at Calvary Cemetery to honor the life and service of Gloucesterman John Handran. In his short lifetime, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery in rescuing fellow Navy men after they were swept overboard in Portugal in 1876. He returned to Gloucester after his two terms of service and started a family. He was lost in the wreck of the Schooner Cleopatra in December 1885 leaving behind a wife and 3 very young children. He has never been recognized for his Medal of Honor and several years of work by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a plaque has been placed at his widow’s gravesite in Calvary Cemetery. Tuesday’s ceremony is intended to dedicate that plaque and honor his life. All are invited to attend. Several descendants of John Handran plan to be in attendance.

Cape Ann Veterans Service has been instrumental in planning this ceremony. As a member of the Handran family, I am grateful to Adam Curcuru and Vee Chipperini for their assistance and support. We encourage you to join us and remember this Gloucesterman’s incredible story.

How sweet to be a cloud. Floating in the blue! A.A. Milne seemed to have seen these beautiful skies recently.

Come on down to the Gloucester Harvest Music Festival at 65 Rogers St. today. Free admission! Food, drink, entertainment and friends. Can’t lose.

We recently had the chance to stop at Stones Pub on Main Street and check out the new interior changes. The changes include a new side room which is set up with comfortable lounge style seating and a new window open to the street. They also now have outdoor seating available though it wasn’t in use during our visit. We had a great lunch of grilled cheese with tomato and apple and the Southwest Burger. The friendly service remains though the interior is improved. If you haven’t been in a while, I suggest you put Stones in your rotation!

I hadn’t been down to the salt marsh at the Jones River landing recently so I took a ride on a pretty day. It’s very peaceful and pretty there. Lots of bird activity which reminds me that I had posted some cormorants a while ago and called the ducks. Peter of Rockport wrote to let me know cormorants are their own species and are not ducks. I appreciate knowing this, especially since we are not birders as you all now know! I could not resist taking the “JimBoat” picture for our GMG Jim.

We noticed a new sign in the window of the former Larsen’s Shoe Store confirming that Bravo is coming to Main Street in Gloucester! There were a couple of guys sitting out front as I stopped to take the pictures. They commented that they understood there would be ice cream there too and that a November 1 opening date is planned. I can be patient until November, I guess……

We came upon a lovely Rocky Neck garden which had attracted several monarchs. I have not seen so many monarchs together like this in quite a long time so it was a heartwarming surprise sight. Monarchs flitting back and forth between several tempting blooms as if they knew I had a camera:

We went to Cala’s on Beach Street in Manchester to celebrate Margarita Monday last week. Labor Day is the last official Margarita Monday of 2021 but there’s a fair chance more margaritas will appear in the blog posts before the snow flies! This time, I had the Jen-a-rita which will be on the Favorites List from here on out. Jim had street tacos and I had the bleu cheese burger. Each was tasty and may also become favorites. It was late afternoon on a Monday when we were there so it was a little quiet but the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. *The next day, Manchester changed their mask requirements which is a good reminder to check ahead whenever you are heading out these days. Things are changing fast.* BONUS TIP: Cala’s is in the Serenitee group, so you can accumulate points here too! Win Win!

We decided to watch the Parade of Sails from a vantage point at Stage Fort Park. Just as the schooners were starting to make their appearance, I noticed the Tree of Life adjacent to the sailboats from the GHS Sailing Club and I thought it looked like a mama duck and her ducklings out on the water. Lucky enough, a couple stopped by to chat and noted their daughter Emily was out in one of those sailing club boats. Cheers Emily and her parents! Thanks for stopping by to chat. What a great weekend!

These are just a few of the pictures I was able to get and more will be shared at Pat D’s Photos and Adventures Facebook page, so if you aren’t tired of schooner pictures yet, feel free to view more there.

We decided to give the Thomas E. Lannon a try for the fireworks sail this year and what a good decision that was! We saw the fantastic boat parade of lights from the water as well as a terrific fireworks show. I was enjoying the entire atmosphere too much to concentrate on camera settings, but I think these tell the story. If you get a chance for such an experience, take it! The Schooner Festival has made a memorable return this year! Kudos to Maritime Heritage Center and the City of Gloucester!

GMG Jim and I had the opportunity to volunteer at the docks for the Schooner Viewing and Deck Tours during the Maritime Heritage Day activities yesterday. It was a beautiful morning down at the harbor greeting guests coming to view Alert, Columbia and Frith dockside. In addition, there was a fair amount of schooner activity out on the water including the American Eagle, Ardelle, Sycamore and Fritha. The Roseway and Tree of Life were across the harbor at the Paint Factory Ocean Alliance. What fun we had watching the morning develop and meeting friends. Special thanks to all the GMG followers who stopped to introduce themselves and say hello. We love hearing from you. Shout out also to the hardworking Maritime Heritage Board members and staff. They did yeoman’s duty putting all this together and helping out! If you know one, say thanks. There’s more Schooner Festival activities to come today, the Big Day! The schedule is available here. See you out there!

Friday was a picture perfect start to the Labor Day weekend and festivities (Block Party and Schooner Festival especially) and no where more so than at Wingaersheek Beach under stunning blue skies. I was a little surprised it wasn’t busier when I got there, but then I remembered the pleasantly cooler air from earlier in the morning. Regardless, lots of people and gulls were thoroughly enjoying summer as it winds down. Enjoy the weekend!

It was a beautiful night on the harbor for the Schooner Challenge 2021. This friendly competition is an obstacle course to challenge the crews (including guests) in their skills. Here we see the Lewis H. Story, Redbird, Thomas E. Lannon, Ardelle and Tyrone. Gorgeous in the harbor with a calm sea and setting sun.

The skies seemed especially welcoming for the schooners, their crews and captains as Maritime Gloucester prepares for the Schooner Festival! As we prepared to livestream from Maritime Gloucester, I took a minute to take some shots of the view from the upstairs room. Details on the schedule available here.

From our friends at Cape Ann Veterans Services comes the news that the Vietnam Moving Wall is coming to Newbury today Sept 2 and will be available for viewing throughout the weekend.

From Vee Chipperini’s Facebook page:

The Vietnam Moving Wall is in Newbury, MA for the long weekend if anyone is interested in visiting. Opening ceremonies begin this evening as follows:

5pm- Ceremonial Escort from Amesbury to the Plum Island Airport

6pm- Opening ceremony, Speakers, and wreath laying

7pm FlyoverThe wall will be open to the public around the clock beginning today thru Monday.

Additional information available here.

We finally got ourselves to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge after a long hiatus and were treated to the antics of a couple of egrets hunting at high tide. I find it difficult to get decent shots of these pretty white birds especially in bright sunlight (so kudos to all of you that do this so very well!) but I am not too displeased with these and thought you might enjoy them too. More photos and details available at Pat D’s Photos and Adventures Facebook page if you are interested. Please feel free to give it a follow.

The Tree of Life has arrived and seems to be ready to start the Schooner Fest 2021 party! Welcome! We are looking forward to the weekend’s events and hope to see you all there. Further details available from Maritime Gloucester.