Author: Pat D

We happened upon the Town of Ipswich Pavilion Beach recently. Our attention was drawn to it largely due to a group of young adults (I expect they were students) performing some kind of experiments or testing on the beach. They all drove vehicles to the beach, there was no bus nearby and they were gone before I could ask what they were doing. Then I noticed it was called Pavilion Beach. Did not realize there was another so close to our own Pavilion Beach. I like ours better, but you be your own judge.

Crane Beach is wondrous at any time of year, but it’s especially so when the horses come out for their beach walks. On this particular morning, there were at least a half dozen horse trailers in the lot!

Things that scare me include snakes. I am not alone in this, so when I saw one recently on my regular morning walk, I knew I had to change up my walk routine a little. Luckily it was the only kind of “good” snake……..dead. Stand down, you naturalists out there….I hear you….snakes serve a purpose….blah, blah, blah. Regardless, changing up my routine even a little put the view in a new light. I thought you might enjoy a virtual snake-free stroll. I understand it’s supposed to be kind of lousy weather so maybe this will brighten your day a bit as it did mine recently.

It was a lovely day recently so we ventured to Halibut Point State Park in search of fall colors and perhaps some wave action. Naturally, we weren’t the only ones with the same idea……but we didn’t expect to run into GMG contributor Manny Simoes and his visiting family!  Made the day’s venture even sweeter!

PS and BTW Happy Birthday to our son Ryan who was born in the middle of the infamous Perfect Storm!

We hadn’t been by Lily Pond in a while. It certainly shows fall colors well!

The costumes were scarily wonderful! Thanks to the Elks 892 for hosting this party for the children of the area. It was well organized, great entertainment and snacks were also provided for all participants. Thank you!

Susan Casey Lipsett representing at Leaning Tower of Pisa!

I happened to find myself at last Thursday’s Gloucester varsity field hockey game vs Marblehead with my camera in hand. And I couldn’t help but take some pictures of a well played game…..hats off to David Cox who usually provides the high school sports pictures (and much better than this effort). Home team (Gloucester) wins 3-0!

GMG received an email from Juni VanDyke, Art Program Director at the Rose Baker Senior Center which stated:

There’s a lot going on with our neighbors in Essex. The 37th annual clamfest will be held this Saturday Oct 26 11am to 4 pm at Shepard Memorial Park in Essex. This is always a great event. Raindate Sunday Oct 27.

We also noticed good news from Woodman’s!

The Great Marsh Brew Company is seeking employees:

The former White Elephant shop is now showing antiques by appointment with David Neligan, who also has another storefront nearby.

More good news here for antiquers: half price at Main Street Antiques:

The Drunken Pumpkin flower arranging event hosted by Audrey’s Flower Shop was a big success last night at the Mile Marker. Nearly 100 women ( apologies if there were any men in attendance… saw none) were presented with a bundle of flowers and a pumpkin base.

Heather gave instructions and advice before we dive in to create our own pumpkin floral displays.

Mike Marker staff did their best to provide food and drink. Thanks Kyle, well done! At my table, Jean ordered buffalo shrimp and a chowder/chip plate. We were joined by Melissa and Amber-Rose.

It was great fun . Thanks Heather and staff! Looking forward to the Boxwood Tree Design event at the Beaufort December 5.

We have heard how great breakfast is at the Atlantis Oceanfront Cafe so off we went. They were not wrong, it was wonderful. I had the frittata which featured asparagus, ricotta and mozzarella cheese. Jim had the Country Breakfast. Cafe closes for the season this Sunday October 27, so get yourself over there this week if you want to try it for yourself.

The first picture was taken October 7 and the second on the 20th, about two weeks apart. I love watching the colors develop on Buswell Pond as it prepares for winter.

Bonus content from this past weekend:

I stopped by O’Maley School on Sunday to take in some flag football. Boy, did that bring back memories from our own experiences several years ago! Four games means at least 8 teams along with the accompanying parents, coaches, officials and fans. It’s clear football is very popular around here. Special thanks and shout out to the coaches and officials for taking their valuable weekend time to work with these athletes.

Fall color and light add great beauty and dignity to the barns along the byway. (PS I think this one is for sale if you are interested!)

I took a long weekend in Bar Harbor for a foliage photography workshop in the Acadia National Park. As we were ferried around the area, I couldn’t help but notice how many similarities there seemed to be between Cape Ann and the Bar Harbor area. I think you will see that in the pictures that follow.

Each area is popular with visitors; each features fishing/lobstering; each is surrounded on all sides by water. Nearly immediately, however, I could see that their personalities are very different even as they hold their own unique charms. The “working waterfront” that the instructor thought was picturesque enough for its own photo shoot didn’t hold a candle to the rugged Glosta docks. (One bonus was the distinct lack of fish smell at this particular working dock, although I confess to kind of missing it.) The ocean was slamming against the giant rocks, giving the other participants (land-bound in their hometowns) quite a thrill. I was thinking how I’d just had my own storm wave photo shoot which included Good Harbor…….eh, Maine…I’ve seen better.

BUT the foliage was just glorious: rich reds, blazing oranges, glowing yellow at every turn. What a visual treat! I would return. But I’m not eating their lobster…..

I stopped at the Boat House Grille in Essex at the end of a VERY long ride home from Maine on Monday. Note to self: avoid long road trips on a holiday weekend…..anyhow, the Boat House was a welcome sight so I stopped in. Oddly enough, it made the second night on a row I had dinner at a restaurant which labels the bathrooms Inboard and Outboard. Lucky for me and other clueless patrons, at least the Boat House was nice enough to add an M on the Outboard sign as well as a W on the Inboard sign. Not true of the Geddes Restaurant in Bar Harbor……enough said about that…..

Another genius move by the Boat House are the table lights to assist those of us over the age of 40 or so. Wonderful service was provided by Lisa and I was very satisfied with my sandwich and drink.

I heard from FOB David Collins recently in response to a post that featured pictures of Half Moon Beach. With his permission, I am sharing his recollections.

Your photos of Half Moon Beach struck a real nostalgic chord with me. I used to love to run up and down those steps from the beach to Tablet Rock back some 60-65 years ago (!) when Stage Fort Park was my “personal playground”. The steps look to have been made a good bit safer now but still have their charm. The life guard stand and the ramp were not there then, however. And, in fact, very few people seemed to go to that little beach during the week.

We used to live on Stage Fort Avenue and there were many days when I would ride my bike through the whole park – from the tennis courts to the playground to the fort to Half Moon Beach and Tablet Rock to Cressy’s Beach to The Cupboard and be just about the only person there. I’m glad to see the gem of a park is more fully utilized these days. 

I can remember when the little league field (now Boudreau Field) was added. That sure changed how we sledded down the hill behind it. One winter, I tried to sled down the embankment at Half Moon Beach. That was a disaster – too many plants sticking up under the snow. I think some of them were beach roses. Are they still there do you know?

The park came much more alive in the summer, of course, and especially so when the circus or the carnivals were there. And Cressy’s Beach often had a crowd on it during the summer days. I remember talking to the young man who painted the sea serpent there. I was about 10, so 1955? I think he referred to it as a quetzalcoatl. When I first started going there, Cressy’s Beach was mostly all sand. Then a storm or hurricane hit and it became almost all stones.

The building housing the Visitors Welcoming Center where you volunteered this summer was there back then along with a playground with swings (little box-like swings for very young kids were in an area separate from the rest of the swings) and there was a slide and see-saw and a spinner or spinning carousel. Here are a couple pictures of my sister and me enjoying them way back in 1948.

You can see the Welcome Center in the photos. I forget what we called it back then. I honestly don’t remember that ladder attached to the big kids’ swings in the top picture.

The park bandstand you featured in another GMG blog entry was not there back then but the ball field below it was.

The (Welcome) building seemed little used that I can remember except by us neighborhood kids who loved to run its porches (which are likely not as big as I remember them being). I think I can remember buying an ice cream in that building at one time, maybe before The Cupboard opened? But not often. And maybe some of the park maintenance equipment was stored under the building? Shel Sudbay, who I think was the park maintenance supervisor, lived next door to us and a lot of the  maintenance equipment was housed there in sheds right below my bedroom window.

Anyway, thanks for the pictures, Pat. What wonderful memories they brought back!!

You are very welcome, David! Thanks for reaching out. I am certain there are others who will enjoy these memories.

I will be sharing my thoughts, observations and pictures from my recent photo tour in Bar Harbor Maine, but, in the meantime (cue Twilight Zone theme music): Ghost Ship! Happy October to you all.