Around Cape Ann by Boat

On August 27th, a perfect summer day, I went on a great adventure, circumnavigating Cape Ann in a boat! Sponsored by the Cape Ann Museum, this was a Harbor Tours cruise to see all six lighthouses that stand around Cape Ann. This turned out to be one of the best days of my whole summer, a fabulous experience.

I had to get up early to catch the 8:30 train from North Station (I have to allow an hour to get from Jamaica Plain to North Station on the Orange Line, so this was a very early departure for me. I’m not a morning person.) It all worked out, and I got to the dock in Gloucester in good time.

We set out on this little boat, King Eider, which was rather full with the group from the museum. There was no space to spare. I found a place in the bow and stayed there for the duration as I wanted to get an unobstructed view and take photos.

First we passed Rocky Neck, the old art colony, one of my favorite parts of Gloucester.  Just beyond there we saw the first lighthouse on Tenpound Island, a small rocky island in the harbor.

Then it was on to Eastern Point Light at the mouth of the harbor, with the breakwater extending out from the point. People were walking on the breakwater.

Tenpound Island Light

Eastern Point Light

We saw the Thomas E. Lannon sailing in the outer Harbor as we rounded Eastern Point.

My Salem Adventure

Ever since we returned from Maine in July, I’d been watching the weather reports for a cooler day to go up to Salem to see the exhibition Childe Hassam and the Isles of Shoals at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Childe Hassam 1859 – 1935, United States, Poppies, Isles of Shoals, 1891, Oil on canvas, overall: 50.2 x 61 cm (19 3/4 x 24 in.) framed: 73.5 x 83.8 x 6.7 cm (28 15/16 x 33 x 2 5/8 in.) Gift of Margaret and Raymond Horowitz 1997.135.1 Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

A week ahead of time I spotted my day on the 10-day forecast. Tuesday August 23rd was it, a beautiful crisp morning, the coolest in a long time. As planned, I woke up early and got myself down to Long Wharf in time to catch the 9:30 boat to Salem. I could have taken the train, a half hour trip from North Station; the museum is about three blocks from the station. What made this day into an adventure was that I had decided to take the boat to Salem, which I had never done before. One of the many great things about being retired is that I can do things on weekdays when they’re less crowded, and our boat was not crowded at all.

It was a sparkling morning on the water, and I was full of excitement. As we pulled out of Boston, I watched the skyline recede.

Rowe’s Wharf (center) and harbor

Leaving Boston behind

Excursion to Blithewold

I was longing to go on an outing, and at this time of year it would have to be to the water. Usually I go north, but last Saturday I decided to go south instead, to Bristol, Rhode Island and Blithewold, a beautiful summer house on Narragansett Bay. I had visited years ago and remembered liking the house very much. It was an easy drive from Boston, just over an hour, which included crossing two bridges in Rhode Island, one of them the long and lovely Mount Hope Bridge.

from upper left: the view from the sleeping porch off the master bedroom, the view from the terrace, fish pond in the garden, waterfront looking north toward the town of Bristol, waterfront looking south, steps leading from the North Porch to the garden

Blithewold was built in 1908, to replace the Van Wickle family’s 1896 house, which burned down. It is considered to be one of the most authentic and intact examples of the Country Place Era in the U.S.  It was a time when wealthy Americans, who had not inherited country manors, built their own.  The architects, Kilham and Hopkins of Boston, were influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement in England.

Refuge at the Boston Public Library

August is one of my least favorite months every year. The heat gets very tiresome by now; the humidity takes all the wind out of my sails.  We had that fabulous cool June, and then Peter and I  were fortunate to be in Maine during the worst heat waves in July, although even Maine was hotter than I would have liked some of the time. Now August is being difficult, and I just want summer to be over and crispness to return to the air. I want the freedom to move around outside and live my life without being dominated by the oppressive weather.

Today I decided to escape to the library in Copley Square. We have only two air conditioned rooms at home, and I get tired of being cooped up in there; I realized I could take advantage of the library’s air conditioning and spend the day there instead. Shortly after a small breakfast, I took the air conditioned bus to Copley Square and went right into the library, where it was cool and quiet still in the morning.  First stop was the café, for second breakfast, a cup of iced tea and a cheese Danish (Friday treat).  While sipping the tea very slowly, I read my current library book, Diana Athill’s Alive, Alive Oh!, reflections of a 97-year-old English writer on what seems important as she looks back on her life–my kind of book.  I looked through the Globe on my phone, wrote an email to a former colleague who is still working while I’m blissfully retired, and looked at photos on the 365 Project, which I’ve recently started, all while luxuriating in having the whole day ahead of me to spend in the library in whatever way I wished–a play day!

A Lovely Garden on a Rainy Day

Today I walked a few blocks to the Loring Greenough House in Jamaica Plain to see the garden just after it had rained. They recently won a first prize in the Mayor’s Annual Garden Contest  in the category for organizations.*

It was a pleasure to stroll along the two long beds extending from the back door of the house and take pictures of the flowers with rain drops on them in the cool gray light. We’ve needed the rain so badly, although what we got wasn’t nearly enough. I worry about the farmers in Massachusetts in this drought, especially since I know some of them from the farmers markets where I’ve bought my produce for many years.

The Greenough House garden was looking green and lush, though, and most of the flowers were in the pink-lavender-purple range which is my favorite. I wish I knew the names of all the flowers, but alas… I don’t.

It’s nice that in recent years the Tuesday Club, which owns the house, has invited the public in to enjoy the grounds. There are chairs placed under the old apple trees, and it’s a delightful place to sit a spell and relax among the greenery and flowers right in the busy center of Jamaica Plain.

 * It must be mentioned that Andrew Hatcher, a board member, is the one who devotes countless hours to this garden, and I believe he has made it what it is. I heard him speak movingly about gardening at an event at the house last spring.

Bayside, Maine

We spent two mid-July weeks in Bayside, our ninth year renting a cottage in this 19th century Methodist campground, now cottage colony, on Penobscot Bay just south of Belfast.  This year, after six straight years in Cameo Cottage, we switched to Carmel Cottage in Auditorium Park,  which was originally the location of the auditorium where the worship services took place. The cottages in this area are named after the Maine towns whose church members shared them in the summer: South Thomaston, Unity, Union, Rockport…

Carmel Cottage was the fourth cottage from the water and had a lovely view of  the bay, although not as spectacular as the 180 degree view we had at Cameo.

Unity, Union, and Carmel Cottages

Carmel and South Thomaston Cottages

My favorite thing about Carmel Cottage was the porch, which had two classic New England rocking chairs at the corner where the most breezes could be caught. It was heavenly sitting and rocking and reading early in the morning or at sunset or any time of day. The porch was shady most of the day. Sometimes I listened to sacred music in my headphones as I rocked, which I guess was quite appropriate in this old Methodist campground.

I brought along a folding café table and two chairs so that we could have our meals on the porch.  I always bring a selection of blue-and-white dishes and some fine china and nice linens along to the cottages we rent, as they give me so much pleasure, and I wouldn’t enjoy eating on ordinary dishes. Breakfast in the fresh air at our little table was one of the best times of every day.

Several years ago I read a study of retirement from the Gerontology Department at U. Mass/Boston, and I remember that not everyone was happy about all aspects of being retired, but the one thing almost all retirees liked was a leisurely breakfast.  I have not had trouble with any aspect of retirement, unlike some of the people studied, but I agree that a leisurely breakfast is one of the nicest things. Every day is a gift, truly, and at breakfast the new day stretches out before me so luxuriously….  I refuse to hurry, after all those years of having to watch the clock and rush to get to work at 9:00. These days I seldom have to be anywhere at any particular time in the morning, and I can drink a pot of tea and talk with Peter about the day ahead or any other thing that comes to mind. In Bayside there was the fabulous cool morning air and the view of the water in addition to all the usual blessings.

We had many lunches on the porch too, on the days when we weren’t out and about.  The food tasted so good outside, and the iced tea was so refreshing. I do love black unsweetened iced tea when it’s hot.

I had a small tea most afternoons if I was home at the cottage. One day just before our time at the cottage was up, I finally got Peter to join me for tea and scones. Actually, he doesn’t drink tea, but he likes scones with cream and jam!

The little streets of Bayside are lined with sweet cottages, all with porches. My dream house would definitely have a front porch. I wish I had been lucky enough to have one of these cottages passed down in my family. Many of the people in Bayside have been coming for decades, if not for generations, to their beloved cottages.

Boston Harborwalk

It’s not often that I’m able to walk around the city in July, hating the heat as I do, but this year as late as July 2nd I was able to go downtown on a beautiful Saturday and enjoy walking around all afternoon on the Harborwalk.  The Harborwalk is a most amazing development in Boston in the last twenty years, which will link 39 miles of public pathways along the waterfront when it’s done, a Sapphire Necklace to go along with the Emerald Necklace of green parks we already have, thanks to Frederick Law Olmsted.   Already twenty-some miles are ready, and one can walk all along the waterfront downtown, up and down wharves, and across the channel to the Fan Pier, which affords some of the best views of Boston.

I started out at South Station and crossed over the channel. Here I’m looking back over at the old and new buildings. The Tea Party ship is in the foreground. This reminds me of how, when I’m in England and people ask where I’m from, when I say Boston, they immediately mention the Tea Party. Most people around here don’t think about it all that much.

I must say I like the Intercontinental Hotel building.

I walked along Fan Pier, where the view of Rowe’s Wharf is fabulous, although I don’t like the look of that big cruise boat, the Odyssey, that ties up there.

Since my Cape Ann excursion I had been longing to get back to the water, and going downtown to the Harborwalk was a fun and refreshing way to be by the water right in the city.

The fine weather held up through July 4th, which was great for all the visitors and the holiday festivities. The next day, July 5th, the humidity set in, and our fantastic stretch of summer weather was over. We were very lucky to have it as long as we did. We were leaving for Maine on July 9th, so we didn’t have too many hot days to get through.

 

Rockport: My Beloved Former Home, Part 2

While in Rockport in June, I made nostalgic visits to some significant places. I walked around Hale Street and looked at my first home in Rockport, a cottage in the garden of number 9. I was so happy in that tiny house in those early days in Rockport that I wrote a small piece called Rock and Sky: One Woman’s Life in Rockport and published it locally in 1978. It’s my story of coming to Rockport from New York to visit a friend and staying to make a whole new life for myself.  Oddly enough, a battered copy is currently available on Amazon for ten dollars!

Subsequent owners have changed the cottage almost beyond recognition. There used to be a shed roof rising toward the north, with a row of clerestory windows across the back wall. The steeple of the Unitarian Church across the street was framed in one window, and I could see the sky and the stars. That is all gone and the entire roof line altered. The outcropping of granite outside the front door is still there; that would be hard to change.

One morning I also stopped in to see my old church St. Mary’s Episcopal and had a nice chat with the office administrator about the people I used to know in the parish.  A few have died, but many of them are still there, thirty years later. St. Mary’s was rather influential in my life when Father Bamforth was rector. He retired shortly after I moved away from Rockport, and he and his wife Pat are living and flourishing in Maine.

These are a few of the windows in the church. It was nice to see them again.

When I first moved to Rockport, I was utterly enchanted with the charming old houses and the little lanes and the flowers everywhere.  Now I know a lot more about architectural history, and I’m used to Jamaica Plain, with its large stock of late 19th century houses by leading Boston architects, classic turn-of-the-century apartment buildings like the one I live in, and even beautiful triple deckers. I’ve been on house tours all around eastern Massachusetts and beyond, and I love to walk around Boston and admire the historic and also new architecture. Still I enjoy walking the village streets of Rockport and admiring the houses and gardens.

This is one of the sweetest cottages, right by the harbor. The trellised arbor with the pink roses melts my heart.

This house on High Street is classic New England–looks more like Cape Cod, the other cape.

This is the famous Hannah Jumper House on the harbor. I love the soft blue of those shutters, and the picket fence and roses are perfect.

On a quiet side lane on Bearskin Neck is this simple shingled cottage with beautiful blue trim,

and here is a grander house near Old Garden Beach, which was featured on a house tour a few years ago and was one of my favorites. The wraparound porch is dreamy, and the view is fantastic.

I saw this pretty garden nearby, on Norwood Avenue.

The whole village was in bloom. The Rockport Library has a rose garden along the side. The Art Association had peonies in front.  The most favored flower in shop window boxes along Main Street seemed to be pansies.

Of course every time I go back to Rockport, I wonder if I would be happy there again, if we were to find a house we could afford. Peter seems to prefer Maine, but Rockport has the advantage of being a train ride away from Boston and of course being a place that has been deeply home to me.

Rockport, My Beloved Former Home

 

Just after the summer  solstice I set out for Cape Ann for a three-day visit to my beloved former home. From 1975 to 1985 I lived in Rockport, when I was in my late twenties and early thirties, and those were the most formative years of my life. As a reader and writer of memoirs and other life story writing, I am interested in those pivotal moments in a person’s life when a particular decision or action changes everything that comes after. For me, going to Rockport in July 1975 (41 years ago!) was a such a momentous turning point that I divide my whole life into the time before I went to Rockport and the time after. Rockport as a place is still the deepest home I have known. I love my home in Boston very much, and I love Boston, but I don’t feel quite the deep connection to the land and sea I had in Rockport.  All these years later, I am in a sense still living on the deep reserves of peace I stored up in those years.

It’s only forty-five miles from Boston to Rockport, but when I cross the bridge to Cape Ann, I feel every time that I am in a different sort of place, a more enchanted place. Returning there reminds me powerfully how much I love to be by the sea. That first night I walked around town until sunset. One can walk everywhere in Rockport; that was something I always loved.  It’s also a completely safe place, utterly peaceful and benign. There was a gentle sunset on June 22nd, and I followed along the shore line to see it.

The next morning there was brilliant sun as I walked out to the Headlands, always one of my favorite places in town, really a sacred place for me and a place where I go to touch stone. You go down this little wooded path

and come out on the rocky cliffs above the harbor

and suddenly the view opens out dramatically and you can see up and down the coast. Bearskin Neck and the breakwater lie below, encircling the harbor, and Pigeon Cove extends to the north in the background.

It’s a great place to watch boats come in.

To the left is the harbor and the village behind it.

In the opposite direction is the sea, the open sea that rolls all the way to the horizon and then on to Spain.

When I was young, I would spend whole afternoons up on the Headlands. I would climb down the cliff to a special place overlooking the mouth of the harbor, where there was an overhang that provided a bit of shade. Nearby was a depression in the rocks that formed a sort of cradle that you could lie in, under the huge sky, and be held by the rocks. For years when I returned to Rockport I would go back to that place. Now I won’t be able to go there again. At sixty-five, I wouldn’t take a chance of turning an ankle or falling on the climb down.

I sat on the top of the Headlands for a long time. It’s nearly always quiet there; not many of the visitors know about the Headlands or else they can’t be bothered to walk up (too busy with the shops on Bearskin Neck!). The few others who were there on that weekday morning were in contemplative mood as I was or walked quietly around on the rocks. Being on a cliff above the sea is my favorite position in the world for joy and exultation. Some of my greatest experiences have been on cliffs in England, in Dorset and north Devon and Yorkshire. Here in Massachusetts the Headlands are  the high point.

I continued along the coast to Old Garden Beach to the south of the village. The water sparkled and the sea air refreshed body and soul on this splendid morning.

 

June Tea Times

June, my birthday month and usually the summer month with the nicest weather, is one of my two favorite times of year, the other being Christmas. My life seems to revolve between the two solstices. I love to celebrate with nice afternoon teas in June, using my prettiest rose china.

Early in June I was thinking of the Queen’s ninetieth birthday celebrations going on in England, and I used my Coronation tea cup with one of my favorite plates.  I bought two of those Limoges plates with the green border and the rose garlands at the local thrift shop for a few dollars when I first lived in Jamaica Plain, long ago now.  I had this tea on a tray on my chaise longue, which is how I have my afternoon tea now that I’m retired.

On another day, when it was hotter, I used a blue setting. I think the turquoise tea cup and saucer and the footed stand are exquisite.

Peter won’t join me at tea time, but we have a special Sunday breakfast that is like a tea, and he loves scones and jam and cream at that time.

I adore these romantic plates which I found years ago in an antique shop in Cape May, the only time I ever went to Cape May. They come with a set of berry bowls. I always use these plates in June, the time of roses and luscious local strawberries.

Besides my home teas, I had several enjoyable tearoom experiences this past month. On the way to Cape Ann for a little vacation, I stopped off in Salem, which seems to be becoming a bit of a tea center, in keeping with its history I suppose. Jolie Tea has moved from Hamilton to an excellent location in Salem, opposite the side of the Hawthorne Hotel. Interestingly, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne lived in this building when she was a little girl.

In Hamilton Jolie Tea sold tea and tea wares and books, but was not able to serve tea. In Salem it has become more of a café/tea room, with croissants, macarons, madeleines, and light lunches on offer as well as two set teas, La Petite Tea and High Tea (by reservation). Of course there are dozens, if not hundreds, of teas to be brewed in the shop or bought by the ounce to take home. Many of them are flavored teas blended by Jolie Tea. Flavored teas are not usually my cup of tea, as I’m more of a purist, but I must say I like some of these blends, for instance one called “Soiree” which combines three black teas with vanilla and rose petals.

I arrived at Jolie Tea about 11:30 in the morning, so I decided to have second breakfast or elevenses, an almond croissant and a cup of simple English breakfast tea. There are three small marble tables set in front of a banquette wrapping around a corner under the pretty windows. I was the only customer for a few minutes. The tea was good, but unfortunately the croissant was not fresh–disappointing in a French-styled tea place.  Maybe it would be better another time. I will try “La Petite Tea” on another occasion, which consists of a scone, a madeleine, a macaron, and a pot of tea.

It’s so hard to get good tea when out and about in the U.S.; even in places that should know better, the tea is almost never prepared properly. Therefore I welcome the presence of any tea shop like this, that has good teas and knows how to brew them. In England you can count on getting a good strong cup of tea, brewed in a teapot even if with teabags. It may not always be fine tea, in fact it usually isn’t, but at least it’s not the warm flavored water sort of thing that passes for tea in this country (a tea bag set on the side of a cup of not-boiling water!). It reminds me of what the tea expert James Norwood Pratt said in a recent article–that he would rather have ordinary tea well prepared than fine tea that is not properly made.

The teas I took home from Jolie Tea have been very nice: a light Cheericup Ceylon for the summer, an excellent Temi Estate Sikkim tea, and the Soiree blend.

There is another French tea and pastry place in Salem, Melita Fiore, on Washington Street just two blocks from the train station (as I discovered last December when I took the train to Salem for the House Tour). It has a lovely white interior with café tables and curvy chairs, a chandelier, and  large windows. The bakery cases are full of fancy pastries, cupcakes, and macarons. So far I have not had the chance to sit down here and have tea. In December I took a cup of Darjeeling, brewed from loose leaves, and a macaron with me to the train station to have while I waited, and both were excellent. I definitely plan to return here, with a friend I hope, and enjoy the elegant atmosphere along with tea and pastry. Later this summer the Peabody Essex Museum will be having an exhibition Childe Hassam on the Isles of Shoals, which I want to see, and that will give me a chance to try Melita Fiore.

Continuing on to Cape Ann on my recent excursion, I drove around the back shore of Gloucester, rolled the windows down and breathed in the fabulous sea air as I watched the waves coming ashore on the rocks while driving as slowly as I could along the coast. I passed Good Harbor Beach and continued into Rockport on Thatcher Road (127A), a very pleasant drive in the south end of town. I decided to have lunch at Heath’s Tea Room in Rockport, a relaxing place about half a mile from the center of the village. As it turned out, there were almost no vegetarian options for lunch, so I had the “Dartmouth,” the smaller of the two set teas, which comprises six tea sandwiches, a scone with butter and jam, and a pot of tea (no sweets course).

I asked for vegetarian sandwiches only and was given cucumber, always a favorite, and some very nice ones made with whipped cream cheese and slices of fresh strawberries. I do think it was regrettable that both were on white bread; however, I enjoyed them. Several kinds of scones are always available, and I chose cherry walnut. Heath’s scones are quite delicious and fresh.  They are definitely the American type of scones, which I have never seen in England, triangular and with add-ins, but good for what they are.

The tea room is decorated with pretty china, which is for sale, but the china I was served on was very ordinary, a plate and tea cup I wouldn’t have in my own house. This is unfortunate, as lovely china is to me one of the most enjoyable elements of tea time, and I take great pleasure putting together my tea settings. Still, even though Heath’s is not everything I could wish for in a tearoom, I’m very glad there is a tea room in Rockport these days, and I go there almost every time I’m in Rockport.

To top off the month, on the afternoon of my birthday Peter joined me for tea in the Courtyard Restaurant at the Boston Public Library. We were given the table by the windows looking out at the fountain in the library’s wonderful cloistered courtyard, one of my favorite places in Boston. The room is elegant and restfully quiet, and the service is excellent. Our waitperson coped calmly with my being a vegetarian and Peter’s not drinking tea and asking for simplified versions of the tea sandwiches. With her help and mine, he chose a delicious, refreshing drink made of a puree of fresh cherries and soda water; other fruits were also available.

This is the display at the entrance to the Courtyard Restaurant.

Here is Peter contemplating our tea assortment. I had cucumber with lemon cream cheese and mushroom butter sandwiches, among others; Peter had ham and deviled chicken, having rejected the smoked salmon and the shrimp salad. The scones are small, which is quite appropriate as part of a large tea, and are served with clotted cream and apricot jam and lemon curd in little glass jars. They’re a bit hard, but they do well enough with the jam and cream. I’m not sure why they give apricot jam here–to be different, I guess.  Strawberry is the classic because it’s the best!  Anyway, the sweets course is quite nice, best of all the fruit tart with custard and the macarons. I had a good pot of Darjeeling to accompany all the little savories and sweets.

This is where I had one of my retirement parties two years ago, with twenty-one current and retired MassArt faculty. I reminisced quite a bit about that grand occasion, which marked the completion of a thirty-two-year career and the beginning of my fabulous retirement. Our faculty member Laura Reeder recorded the occasion, and so I have a collection of photos of the party. I really should make a book with those photos and the ones of my other two parties at MassArt, the alumnae party and the staff party.

I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday tea. We stayed a good long time, and it was a setting most conducive to quiet conversation. There were only a few other tea takers while we were there, a father and daughter, a mother and daughter, pairs of friends … all very tranquil and delightful. Even Peter enjoyed it, and he was only there because it was what I wanted for my birthday.

I’ve been living what often seems like a charmed life in the beautiful month of June, for which I am full of gratitude.