Last week's escapades

Hey there, long time no post!

Well, these last weeks were eventful! So much so that I both forgot to and failed to post anything about it. So to make up for that, I'm going to place plenty of pictures for you, and then explain them afterwards. Sound good?

The Fruitland Museum, Harvard, MA. On of the many stops we had on our travels across Mass. This one was thrown into the mix, rather last second, as a suggestion from one of Tasha's co-workers. I'm glad we went, because there were some pretty cool people to talk to there, and some artifacts from all across America in there; some colonial, some shaker, and some Native. I will say that we didn't stay too long, but we did really enjoy ourselves there on our trip.

Memorial plaque in Gloucester/Rockport, MA. This was interesting enough for a picture, due to the fact that this was our final day (we were photo happy),  and that the rock itself is in a large park area, which at that time was crawling with people due to a farmer's market going on there. We didn't take pictures of the market because there was something much more interesting to us at that time--tidal pools. We probably stood over a couple of pools with shrimp and hermit crabs for a half hour or more, enjoying watching how their communities functioned, and watching some of them trade up for bigger shells. It sounds boring, but it was actually really cool to watch them go about their lives without them really noticing us or caring--It is really funny in context though, when you think of a couple of mountain dwellers going to the beach, what do they want to see? The shops? The beach? Nope. Give us a pool of sea critters, and we're good to go.

Though in truth, we did go and look at the shops in Rockport, and it was pretty cool too. Not as cool as the critters, but still cool. This shot is from the back docks and harbor in Rockport, where we sat for a couple of hours and watched fingerling fish, gulls, some kids learning to sail--which was great--and the tide rolling in. We had spent the morning this day walking around from shop to shop, enjoying our time and taking in the sites. I can't believe some of the roads that they have between the shops here, though. They're as wide as they were when they still rode horse and shay back in the late 1600's, but now, instead of horse and shay, there's a pair of delivery trucks backing down the road, and a bus trying to sneak by. Simply mind boggling. And a little nerve wracking

I feel that this little gargoyle or goblin
needed his own footnote here.
Seen everywhere, the gargoyle was
(as far as we know) a statue used
to scare off  evil spirits. This was
partly because of the frightening
visage of a gargoyle, and partly
because the stony beast was a
representation of the frightening
beast, Goji (also called Gargouille)
that was defeated by a Roman
Saint, St. Romanus. The beast
Goji was so terrifying, that evil
spirits didn't dare draw near.
After he was slain, the people
in churches started to make
statues and carvings of Goji,
to use as warding figures against
evil spirits. Seems quite backwards
to me, though. In either case, this

figure seems closer to a goblin then
a gargoyle, and a pretty dour looking
one at that.

These images (so scattered in placement) are of the outside of the main event. We first wanted to stop here, at Hammond castle, in Gloucester, and as you can see, we made it. With plenty of time to spare, and photo hungry.  We tried to limit ourselves to pictures of the outside of the building only, because as a tour guide to a history museum myself, I know what kind of a pain it can be when all you can hear behind you is "click, click". Plus it means that I'm giving a lecture to someone who isn't paying full attention to their tour.
A museum in and of itself, Mr. Hammond, the former owner of the building, had this castle built to house his inventions, his collections, and his family. He was eccentric, a little rude at times, and absolutely brilliant. Radiant heat through the walls, from water pipes under the stone and plaster, a glass room that he could change the humidity of and make it rain or mist inside, and his very own whisper room. If not for seeing the house of a brilliant man, it's at least worth seeing his collection of Medieval arts--ceilings from chapels, balconies from theaters, tapestries from other castles, and anything else that he felt like buying for himself.

Then to rest and relaxation. This image was of the inn that we stayed at. There was much excitement seeing as there was a back porch and all. Yes, though travel is fun, there comes a time where you just need to sit down on the back porch, kick back your feet, and watch the birds.


 I hope you guys enjoyed your time last week! I know that I did.


~Andrew