Tag: Long Beach

Surfers after the storm

Posted on by Catherine

Ides of March and this time of day nearly a rainbow in every spray

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The “Calm” Before the Storm

Posted on by Nichole S.

While the snow came later than expected, a full-blown winter storm was definitely in the air. We took a little tour of Rockport from Old Garden Beach, to Bearskin Neck, to Long Beach, and down Eden Road just before the storm blew in.  As we were driving home, the snow began to come down fast and furious.

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Storm: so it’s like this now

Posted on by Catherine
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After 4pm Gloucester
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Before 6:30am or so
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After – 4pm or so (low tide)
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Before- 6:30am or so looking to Long Beach 

Prepped and ready: Rotary Club of Gloucester polar plunge fundraiser today! So many come they park at Good Harbor before heading to Long Beach

Posted on by Catherine

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#endpolionow

TODAY! 10AM-2PM

The Rotary Club of Gloucester hosts the 7th annual regional fundraiser to eradicate polio. Brave and generous dippers will park at Good Harbor, shuttle past Uncle Tony (Precision Roofing Services of New England) to Cape Ann Motor Inn and Long Beach waters. Hundreds of supporters will be on hand to watch as many fearless participants dive in for a purpose– including more than 20 Gloucester High School Interact club members and the new Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce President, Sarah Young, Director of Development for Schooner Adventure. It’s a colorful crazy sight and an inspiring cause. To donate and learn more visit the Rotary Club of Gloucester: Freezin’ for a Reason: The Rotary Club of Gloucester Hosts a Polar Plunge to Make Polio History

Donations are tripled by the Gates Foundation.

Fall ocean evening sky – Agnes Martin

Posted on by Catherine

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The next stop of the Agnes Martin retrospective will be the Guggenheim Museum, NYC, opening this week Oct 7- January 11, 2017. It’s the same show that was organized by and exhibited at Tate Modern, and just coming from Los Angeles- LACMA.

 

LITTLE RAINBOW OVER CAPE HEDGE

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

The beginnings of a rainbow appeared in the sky above Cape Hedge and Long Beach early this morning. Nothing spectacular, but it was pretty while it lasted, until the next batch of thunderstorms began to roll in. Thanking Mother Nature for the much needed rain! rainbow-cape-hedge-long-beach-cape-ann-copyright-kim-smith

tired seal at Long Beach this afternoon and sandpipers all day

Posted on by Catherine

Everyone is staying far away from the seal and it blends in with the sand from a distance.

This morning there were scores of busy shore birds. (And more bounding dogs off leash.)

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Post storm Hermine 2016: see the sea of seaweed and mosses on Long Beach

Posted on by Catherine
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photo: a few seaweed examples I teased out from the pile

During the last days of summer, the sands at Long Beach shift to form a ledge that we affectionately call the ‘August shelf’. The slant is a challenge walking or running and a ramp or jumping platform if the tide is right.  Children engage in all manner of parapet building and collapsing. The ocean remains warm and the waves can seem bigger. These marks –annual gifts from nature– gently nudge us to fall. This year, as a result of tropical storm Hermine, there is a bonus shelf of seaweed brought in by majestic tumultuous waves. Don’t miss a fantastic chance to inspect species common to Gloucester, Cape Ann and the East Coast. Seagulls and clothing pop against a uniform blanket of red.  From a distance, the deep color of the seaweed seems the natural inspiration  for the architectural details of Cape Ann Motor Inn.

Look closely as there are so many species intertwined and clumped together teeming with texture and color! Be inspired to create: the Cape Ann Museum includes volumes of pressed seaweeds and mosses. Learn more: Isabel Natti did the algae plant drawings for The Sea is All About Us, a pioneer book on local marine life and shores by Sara Fraser Robbins and Clarice Yentsch. Visit Maritime Gloucester to learn about life at the shore. Garden: a friend collects some seaweed for her beds. Eat: I haven’t tried making my own seaweed salad but I have eyed Irish moss pudding recipes. Pudding anyone?

Irish Moss pudding:  1 cup (dead, rinsed, cleaned, possibly soaked) moss with a quart of milk in a double boiler for 15 – 30 minutes, strain out the moss. Add sugar to taste, and optional flavoring (citrus, coffee, vanilla, green tea, whatever you like). Pour into mold and refrigerate or blend a health drink. The consistency is thicker relative to time.

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Are you up for the 13-2 Gloucester beaches challenge? 13 beaches. 2 jumps. 1 city. Go!

Posted on by Catherine

A mid-week vacation day is the easiest. Oh, and you’ll need your resident beach sticker. We prepped our car with a picnic blanket for the seat, extra towels, and ice waters. Start early and grab a big  “lobsterjack”  breakfast because you’ll need the fuel. End late.

Let’s establish some base rules here.

First off, you need to spend at least 15 minutes at each beach. (You can tweak this a little if you want.) Next, you need to dive under. We suggest a ritual for each beach, e.g. ‘The Five and Dive’. Finally, you have to stop for ice cream and candy. Remember, you can do these beaches (or others in Gloucester) and jumps in any order. Be flexible for unexpected delays like staying at one beach for hours, or a friend asking you to drop off a sub (*cough* Joey *cough*). Most importantly, you have to do at least 13 beaches and 2 jumps in one day. Mind the tides. Be grateful we have so many choices.

The Beaches- partial list

alphabetical order

Annisquam lighthouse.  Coffin’s beach.  Good Harbor beach.  Long beach. Magnolia beach. Niles beach. Pavilion beach (by Beach Court). Pavilion beach bonus (by the cut). Plum Cove beach. Rocky Neck Oakes Cove beach. Stage Fort Park (1) – Cressy’s beach ( our alt. title ‘sea serpent’ big beach). Stage Fort Park (2) – Half Moon beach. Wheeler’s Point. Wingaersheek beach.

The Jumps- partial list

Annisquam bridge. Magnolia Pier.

*We do this challenge at least once each summer. Yesterday we started off with breakfast at Willow’s Rest and continued from there. Our timing was random especially as we spent hours at Wingaersheek. The second meal to get us through the day came from the sandwich counter at Annie’s by Wingaersheek. Yes, they have a sandwich counter.

Gloucester Beaches sandwich directory

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Call ahead for the best subs of summer. Gloucester beaches sandwich directory.

Posted on by Catherine

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Hungry? Pack light. You’ll pass great sandwich shops, locally owned and operated, en route to Gloucester’s magnificent beaches. Jeff’s Variety can set you up for a good lunch to go wherever you’re headed including Good Harbor Beach, Long Beach, or the back shore. Jeff says that there are many repeat customers that come back each and every season–for years–on their way to Good Harbor Beach. IF you have a big group, you can order trays with finger sandwiches. Sandwich platters featuring Virgilio’s rolls need at least two days notice to prepare. They’re open Sundays. What else? “Yes!” the answer to my question if they have plenty of call ahead requests from cars caught in traffic. Passengers calling only, please!

Scroll down the post for a one-stop, sub-shopping Gloucester directory with phone numbers and links. I could add in our favorite choices from each place.

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GLOUCESTER BEACHES SANDWICH DIRECTORY

*the great 2013 Good Morning Gloucester Italian sub winners

on the way to Gloucester’s GOOD HARBOR BEACH

on the way to Gloucester/ Rockport LONG BEACH

on the way downtown headed in any direction to Gloucester beaches: Pavilion, Cressy, Half Moon, Niles, Good Harbor

  • Cafe Sicilia (978) 283-7345 sandwiches and pizza slices
  • Cave (978) 283-0896 for baguette/cheese French picnic style fare
  • Cupboard (978) 281-1908
  • *Destino’s Subs 
  • Cape Ann Farmer’s Market (Thursdays) fresh produce & baguette/cheese French picnic style fare
  • *Jeff’s Variety (978) 281-5800
  • Leonardo’s  (978) 281-7882
  • Last Stop (978) 281-2616
  • Mike’s  (978) 282-0777
  • Morning Glory (978) 281-1851
  • Poseidons (978) 290-4313
  • *Sclafanis (978) 283-6622
  • *Virgilios (978) 283-5295
  • Yellow Sub Shop (978) 281-2217

on the way to Gloucester’s NILES BEACH

  • Last Stop (978) 281-2616
  • Sailor Stan’s to go (978) 281-4470

on the way to Gloucester’s PLUM COVE BEACH / ANNISQUAM/ LANESVILLE 

  • Captain Hooks (978) 282-4665
  • Plum Cove Grind (978) 281-3377
  • Willow Rest  sub and/or the farmer’s market fresh produce, cheese, specialty prepared meals picnic option (978)283-2417

on the way to Gloucester’s WINGAERSHEEK BEACH

  • main concession stand at Gloucester’s Wingaersheek beach (978) 281-9785
  • Annie’s Variety  (978) 283-2887
  • Marshall’s Farm Stand (picnic route rather than sandwich counter)  (978) 283-2168 (pints of fruit, munchies, loaf artisan bread, mozzarella specialty cheeses)

I haven’t forgotten Magnolia–just missing Magnolia’s House of Pizza. ON Mondays there’s Cape Ann Farmer’s market for Magnolia. “M” for Mondays, “M” for Magnolia.

Happy Dog Running Glistening Long Beach

Posted on by Catherine

Rockport to Gloucester and back again, speeding along for a shore close-up at the very end. We couldn’t resist filming the speedy little guy. Did the dog know? Hoping this Monday minute whisks you away to a fabulous shore.

 

Any soundtrack can work. I was tempted to write ‘Ryan’s dog’… The west coast of Ireland vistas in the movie Ryan’s Daughter flicked in my mind. The 1970 movie was directed by David Lean, cinematography by Freddie Young, and score by Maurice Jarre.

Ryan's daughter

March Nor’easter, Long Beach, 1958 From Fred Bodin

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

March Nor’easter, Long Beach, 1958

A massive storm barreled up the East Coast from March 18th to 21st,1958, impacting the East Coast from North Carolina to Maine. It was a Category 2 storm, which means it was “significant.” In addition to high winds, waves, and surge, it also brought snow. On Cape Ann, the concrete boardwalk on Long Beach was destroyed, and houses were damaged. These photos are courtesy of Eloise Como Brown.

Fredrik D. Bodin
Bodin Historic Photo
82 Main Street

Pilot Whale Washes Up On Long Beach Rockport Photos

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hey, Joe.  Poser lobsterman here.  Thought you might be interested in these pictures I took this morning – a pilot whale washed up on long beach.
Thanks,
Ben

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You may remember Ben from his brief stint as a lobsterman aboard Tommy Burns’ Arethusa and the Cartoon That Was Mad AboutHis Experience-

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