Author: Pat D

If you haven’t stopped down to Bluefin Blowout 2023, why not? It’s free entertainment, super interesting, plenty of parking PLUS you can say hello to the Good Morning Gloucester castaways! We are at Cape Ann Marina on Essex Ave and would love to have you join us. The end of Alzheimer’s starts with you!

UNOFFICIAL weigh-ins as of end of Day 1 (in order of arrival):

Bella Vita: 270 lbs

Reel Deal : 689 lbs.

Widowmaker: 507 lbs

T-Sea: 197 lbs

Lily: 574 lbs

IRIE: 594 lbs

Four C’s: 392 lbs.

Battle Wagon: 458 lbs

Emme: 216 lbs.

Mary B: 251 lbs.

Break Away: 502 lbs.

F/V Hollywood: 428 lbs

Landescaping: 293 lbs

Tuna Poundah: 614 lbs

This information is from my own notes and is NOT OFFICIAL. Also not official is the total poundage from 14 tunas: 5985!

There’s a lovely little collection of sheds and shacks full of character and history gathered on Lanes Cove. Each seems to want to tell its own story. They also seem to belong together there!

You may have seen the views from the bar area at the Salted Cod Arthouse on Rocky Neck Ave, but have you been upstairs for the view? It’s worth checking out. The food, drinks and artwork are enough but do yourself a favor and check out the upstairs too.

Perhaps you get more visitors in the summer than any other time of the year…..similar to our experience in the backyard of our Magnolia home. These were from one recent early evening. It’s why I keep my camera charged at all times.

While I was in Seward with the Slonina Photography Alaska Tour, we went on two full day boat tours of the Kenai Pennisula and were fortunate to come upon humpback whales each day. These groups of maybe 8 whales were displaying many familiar behaviors such as lunge feeding, pec slapping, tail lobbing, and breaching. The first day, we accidentally found ourselves VERY close to the lunge feeding. You get an idea how close from the video as well as the photos.

As spectacular as it was, I found I was missing the kind of teaching information provided by our local tours such as Cape Ann Whale Watch. Since I’ve been out several times with the Cape Ann Whale Watch crew, I have learned a great deal about whale behaviors. I am grateful for that because I was able to share that information with my fellow photographers who were less experienced with whale encounters. No fault of the Seward boat operators–our boat tours there were not designed to be research oriented though there was a helpful naturalist on board. I guess I didn’t know how fortunate we are to be able to take advantage of the educational opportunities from our very own Gloucester captains and crews. But I got some pretty wonderful whale photos and I hope you enjoy! Cape Ann Whale Watch is located on Main St in Gloucester.

I will be returning soon to Gloucester, but I have to admit lunching at a glacier is an experience Gloucester cannot provide and I will miss it. We took a boat tour from Seward to Aialik Glacier on the Kenai Fjords National Park. There are only 6 of us on this photography tour so it has been pure pleasure to enjoy the wonders of Alaska with this small group (thanks to Slonina Photography). We got to witness some calving, which is when chunks of ice break away from the glacier and fall into the water. From our distance, some of those ice chunks appeared to be smallish but the thunderous noise from the echo was chilling! Glacier ice kept our drinks chilled. If you ever have the chance, this is highly recommended.

I’ve been wanting to get to one of Castle Manor Inn’s (on Essex Ave) pop up dinners and early July presented itself as my opportunity. It was a WONDERFUL experience both in atmosphere and in menu quality. The staff are friendly and helpful; it was nice to see them pitching in and helping each other at different tables. They stopped by to check on our needs and just to chat a bit, which we enjoyed.

I had the Haddock Oscar and Jim ordered the pasta and meatballs. We were both very happy with our choices and, for each of us, there were additional options we would have happily gone with too. Additionally, Jim got a garden salad which could have been a meal unto itself. The bread basket contained a warmed variety of yummy breads. We were seated outside under the large tent and were very comfortable, though there are heaters awaiting the need to be fired up. Thank you Chef Dan and staff for a lovely evening! We will be back.

Some of our hardworking fishing vessels returning to the harbor on a recent afternoon. They include Amanda & Andy III, Jen & Christi, Dunlin, Meredith Jean, Nicole Jean and My Grace. Thanks to Susan and Leo for the prime viewing spot!

My visit to Alaska has been an amazing experience so far. We have spent about half our time in Homer Alaska on the Spit; a long narrow spit of land jutting out into Kachemak Bay. It’s a fishing town which advertises itself as the Halibut Capital Of The World. There are as many similarities as there are differences between Homer and Gloucester. Here are a few images and a filleting video you might enjoy.

We arrived early to the Blue Collar Lobster on Rogers St. to prepare for the Ladies Putting Championships and caught a few rare quiet moments on that dock. It was a cool, foggy morning that would soon turn sunny and humid. We had a great event thanks to the management and staff there: kudos! AND we had yummy drinks and lunch afterward. Win Win.

We decided to celebrate Margarita Monday by stopping at The Farm Bar and Grill on Western Ave in Essex. They offered the perfect choice: Farmarita! Many establishments are closed on Mondays so it can get tricky to find a new place for our Margarita Mondays, but this was an excellent decision. I had a burger and Jim ordered the steak and cheese egg rolls. It was a relaxing respite with friendly staff and customers. We’ll be back sooner than later!

The concert scheduled for tonight July 16 2023 at Stage Fort Park is postponed to Wednesday July 19 2023 as reported by the band 4EverFab on Facebook:

The sun setting over the marina being chased by the fog created some interesting light.

Although I cannot seem to stop taking the photos of egrets, I am often disappointed in the results. But we came upon this beauty near Goose Cove under “partly cloudy” skies so I think these do better justice to this gorgeous bird.

Once again, we decided to have a weekday dinner at the Azorean on Washington St. where we ALWAYS feel welcomed and enjoy a wonderful meal. Andrea was our server with a friendly smile and kind words. Jim had one of the specials, Fish Cataplana and I had one of my favorites Lemon Chicken. Look at that garlic! And I especially enjoy that you can taste the lemon in that entree. I have recently begun to appreciate the spicy margaritas and this one was called Hot Blooded. Chocolate Mousse and Carrot Cake for dessert adds up to another great meal in a comfortable atmosphere! Win-Win.

The closure of the Sumner Tunnel from July 5 2023 – Aug 31 2023 doesn’t affect us personally in our normal routines, but I did notice in the media coverage that there is now a ferry option when traveling to the North Shore. I was intrigued and thought you might be as well. All I need to know is available online at the MBTA Beginner’s Guide to the Ferry so I would strongly urge you to consult it to answer your questions.

The Ferry goes from Boston Long Wharf to Lynn Blossom Street Pier and a weekday schedule is shown here (from the guide). There is parking near the Blossom St. Pier to answer a question in advance. The trip takes about 40 minutes and I find it so intriguing we might just give it a try. Anyhow, something to keep in mind as you consider travel into or from Boston over the summer.

What the online Ferry Guide looks like:

We recently took a trip with Cape Ann Whale Watch and spent another great day out on the water. We did not have to go far, but the whales seemed to be deep feeding so time spent in camera range was very limited. It was delightful to see mom Pinball and calf together. If the naturalist Jessica was right, we got to watch a little bit of the calf being fed by mom Pinball. We also spotted a number of minke whales. Capt Johnny Karvelas stopped along the way back to show us a number of seals off the rocks. When we go toward Jeffrey’s Ledge (north) we also get the chance to view the twin lighthouses coming together in line and then apart again as you see here. So even if there isn’t an abundance of intriguing whale behaviors, it’s always a good trip. The other crew names I caught were Angie, Jesse, Dave, Ashley, Brynn and Zoe. I am sure I missed someone but all were, as usual, terrific. Highly recommended activity!

The Gloucester Rotary held its weekly meeting today picnicking at Stage Fort Park prior to breaking ground for their signature project at the playground. From the Rotary website:

The Gloucester Rotary’s signature project is supporting the Stage Fort Park Playground and Bandstand.  Since 2007, the group has gifted several major pieces of playground equipment to the City of Gloucester.  In addition, the group has raised funds to support major repairs and maintenance on the bandstand, including partnering with Precision Roofing Services of New England to replace the bandstand roof in 2021. 

A great turnout hosted by emcee Senator Bruce Tarr, who had several shovelfuls of “dirt” upended!

The early evening light was so very pretty a couple of days ago and I couldn’t stop taking photos. As I was admiring the schooners out in the water, a couple of people stopped to ask me about a bird they spotted in the tide pool. Was I a birder? No, but I like to take pictures and identify what is in them……was my response. Anyhow, my camera aimed toward this beauty. I believe it’s a night heron and it just added to the magic of the golden hour at dusk. Thank you to the strangers who pointed it out for me.

What a weekend!!! We loved every minute of the Rendezvous and the International Dory Races! One more epic weekend in the books for Gloucester! Woot Woot. We went on the Pride of Baltimore II for the Sunday morning Schooner Gam in the fog (what? fog this weekend interfering with an activity????) and it was simply fantastic. Thank you visiting schooners, Maritime Gloucester, International Dory Race Committee, Gloucester 400+ and the City of Gloucester for yet another amazing event. Hail to Michael DeKoster; we could hear his laugh clearly across the harbor even if we couldn’t see him very well.