Dover, NH to Essex, MA and on to the White Mts.

Monday July 7

I was up at 6 this morning and drove southeast to Portsmouth, NH the home the Smuttynose Brewery which makes the Old Brown Dog beer that I love. I am going to send a list of all the excellent wines Steve Fortune shared with me. I biked around Portsmouth and walked their waterfront Park. They have a theater in the Park that is doing Beauty and the Beast. The set looks pretty cool. They have some very old cemeteries their and I took some photos of one of them. They have some great carving on the stones. One of which I copied on a wood carving years ago. it’s hanging in my studio. I love New England gravestones from the 1700’s that is my geek thing. Everyone has one. Now you know mine. I love all the death’s heads and skeletons they carved. They acknowledged death and carved their gravestone accordingly. People to day in our culture are very removed from death. THey also had some great flowers gardens and fountains in the Park. There was one guy working in the Park with a mohawk and kilt! I think our Parks employees should dress like him! Ha! Stevie show that photo to Joe Castro! Tell him he would look good in a kilt and mohawk!

Portsmouth, NH

Then I drove on down the coast through Rye and Salisbury to Massachusetts. Newburyport, and into Ipswich were I stopped at the world famous Clam box for fried clams. They were small bellies, I usually eat big belly clams but there were delicious. I always eat clams in Mass. Then I drove on in to Essex, MA where my friend Tom lives. Those of you who helped me celebrate my birthday met Tom. He and I were college roommates and have been fast friends ever since. His wife Peggy went Bates College as well. They have three children. Elliot, Lindsey and Jenny. It was great see them. Peggy was busy packing as she and the kids were headed for camp very close to where I spent July 4th. So I went for a swim with the girls in their little pool. We played Marco Polo and they told me about their year. They all play music and are a good artists. Then Peggy and I and the kids went out to Crane’s Beach. It is one the old Estate of the Crane family who made all those plumbing fixtures.

It’s a beautiful beach and the temperature was hot. There weren’t any green head flies and the water was pretty cold. So we swam and then spent about and hour battling the waves and building a huge sandcastle. It took all of us to keep it standing with the waves crashing in on a rising tide. Then we went grocery shopping, and I grilled some chicken for dinner. Then Lindsay played me a couple of great songs on the piano titled. Alone and Face in the Crowd. They were really great pieces and she played them very well. Then the kids went to bed and Tom and I had a Harpoon Ale and talked before bed.

In the morning we had cereal and the kids and Peggy were packing and I helped were I could and then we went down the street for ice cream and they left for camp. Tom and I had chicken and salsa sandwiches for lunch. He went back upstairs to work and I drove to Salem, MA to the Peabody Essex Museum. It is a great Museum. Well worth the trip. Salem has a lot of touristy stuff geared toward witches that I avoid with the exception of the historic cemeteries. Since it was hot I went to the Museum and looked at their collection of old ship models and nautical displays. Then I toured a new exhibit called Body Politics, Maori Tattoo Today about contemporary tattooing in the Maori culture in New Zealand. Tattooing is part of their culture that was banned by the British along with their language and religion.

Now many Maori of all ages are going to their families and getting permission for traditional tattooing of the face and body as a protest of the oppression they feel to this day. Now that is a great reason for a tattoo. The exhibit was a series of wonderful photos by a Dutch artist and a series of objects with traditional designs from the PEM collection. It was a very moving exhibit. Beautiful tattooing a very strong convictions for being tattooed and for which designs and symbols to wear. All part of a process of self realization and rediscovery of their traditional culture. Great exhibit. Then I viewed and display about Japanese kabuki theater that was cool. This Museum is full of objects from cultures around the world that were brought here on ships though out our history. Including a whole traditional country house form China that was brought in about 2003. It is also amazing. It toured it last summer but I sat and watch all the films and slide shows about China. They are great.

Then I heard a guard say that the governor of MA was on his way and I got out of the Museum just in time as the State Police, Press and politicos began to swarm! I drove back and made some beef tips marinated in garlic, soy sauce (thanks Chris) pepper and onion. I grilled those and served them with broccoli and a salad of fresh lettuces, raspberries from their garden and sunflowers seeds in balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty. We drank Harpoon IPA and then sampled some saki I brought from home. It was pretty good. We listed to music and then watched some of the animated movie Alice by Jan Svankmeyer. It’s a really cool puppet take on Alice in Wonderland. I recommend it if you have never seen it. Peter Tush has shown it at the Dali Museum as part of their FIlm series and other Svankmeyer films. Fascinating films. The saki hit hard and we turned off the movie and went to sleep.

Wednesday morning we had cereal with blueberries and tea. Then I went to Gloucester and bought propane for BEYOND and groceries and drove out to Good Harbor Beach. Parking was $20 so I drove down the road and parked at a nature park and rode back. The ride went right along the cliffs looking over the Atlantic and was wonderful. The temp is about 88 and the beach is full. I head right for the water and boy is it cold. It takes my breath away when I dive in! This is the coldest water yet. Much cold than the other day at Crane’s beach even though is the same ocean. Must have been the big rainstorm last night. I got out and walked down the beach and got to talking to Norma who works in Boston at a hospital and likes to travel. She enjoyed St. Petersburg. She introduced me to her friends and tried to find me a place to get a good lobster roll. THen I rode my bike back to BEYOND and stopped at a national chain bank and tried to cash a $50 travelers check but they wanted $10 service fee! Screw that!

I dove to Gaybrook’s Garage and they tried to find the leak in my rear tire but it’s too slow so we all the tire pressure right and I went back to the house and made black bean salsa, did laundry, and watered Peggy’s garden. Then Tom drove us to a different town to meet his brother John for a game of disc golf. It was a good course and I did okay. Tom and John are both much better than I am but I had a few good holes. It was great fun until the end when John lost a Frisbee and I was walking across some rocks looking for his frisbee when I was stung on the ankle by a yellow jacket! Ouch, it hurt. I ran out of the rocks and they didn’t bother me anymore. Luckily I am not allergic to insect venom and the hurt was gone by morning. We went home and munch on bean dip and drank beer while I made us some fresh pasta and chicken with pesto and broccoli. We listened to much until bedtime and then crashed. I was sunburned from my time on the beach but I slept well.

Muselix and blueberries for brekkie and then off I wrote a card to Estill and Winfree then I did all my financial work on the computer. I made a salad for fresh lettuce and sugar snaps from the garden blueberries and smoked almonds and we ate the leftover steak and bean dip for lunch. We arranged to meet in Gloucester at 5:30 and I drove to a local bank and after a few calls to confirm my travelers checks authenticity they cash it, with no service charge. I drove to Gloucester and took a lighthouse boat tour ( it was $27 cash only!) that went out in the Atlantic and north up Cape Ann past about 6 lighthouses and the back down the Anisqaum River and into Gloucester harbor. It was 2.5 hours and we had great weather and saw lots of lighthouses and the original Humane Society House which was started to give aid to shipwrecked people! Cool! I also saw the spot where the first transatlantic cable hit the US from Britain. Also cool! After the boat ride I rode my bike out to Rocky Neck Artist Colony to meet Tom and we went to the Thursday Night on the Neck which their gallery tour. We picked a good place to meet because there was a large group of people singing sea chanties.

So I finished my letter to my nieces and the TOm showed and we looked in the galleries and saw some beautiful art. There was a fanciful wood and fabric airplane by a man from Essex who is a retired ship builder. It was fab. Then we wen into a restaurant and Tom ordered a dark and stormy. I thought it was going to be beer but instead it was ginger beer, dark rum and a slice of lime. After I got over the initial shock it was very tasty! I am going to have to remember them for a future party! I ate haddock and fries and Tom had a shrimp over noodles thing that looked tasty. THen we went to see a photographer and his work was wonderful. He shoots black and white film and lots of boats and the harbor. Tom purchased and wonderful photo he had seen before and wanted on the second viewing. It was old tilted pilings and their reflections in the water. And a sailboat in the background. It look a lot like calligraphy. Wonderful piece. Then as we were walking back a New Orleans style Jazz marching band came by with lots of peel following and dancing. It was really fun. We walked to the water and watched then sunset and took a shortcut through some ripe raspberry bushes (Tom almost had to drag me out as I was busy picking) We stopped for ice cream and both order Maine Moose Tracks which turned out to be raspberry and chocolate and was delicious!

Then he drove home to catch a phone call and I rode back to BEYOND and drove into Essex. As TOm was on a call I stopped at an English pub where I had tried to get a beer last summer and the owner sent me down the road because the place was full of flies. I went in and as there were no flies I waited a long time for a bartender and it was the owner and she got annoyed because I wanted draft beer and her taps were foaming. I got a draft of Old Thumper and I think it was old. There was another guy there and he had been on a long bike ride and had 2 flats in Gloucester and walked his bike about 7 miles to this pub because he knew the owner and was waiting for his brother to fetch him. He didn’t seem quite right and the owner was certainly upset that he was keeping her open late! I had my beer and left before things got weirder and drove home. Tom was still on his call so I took and shower. We had a final beer and talked some more. Then off to bed.

Essex and Gloucester, MA

In the morning after cereal I packed everything into BEYOND and then went to chlorinate the pool for Peggy and turned on the pump to circulate the chlorine and discovered the water level was too low so I found enough hoses to string together and started filling the pool. When the level was up to the intake to the pump I started only to discover the outlet form the pump was not connected to the pool! CWAP!! (As Crenshaw would have said) so I tuned it off before it drained all the water i just put in. Found a screwdriver, connected it and started the pump again. When I finally had a enough water in and the pump seemed to be working I left Tom a note and headed to the bank to cash a travelers check and mail my letter the drove North. Up Route 1 to Portsmouth, NH where I treated myself to Pizza Hut buffet for lunch. I bet some of you were wondering when i would break down and have Pizza Hut buffet! Well it was great they had beets on the salad bar and lots of hot ’zza. I ate my fill, gassed up Beyond and drove North on Rt. 16 up to the White Mountains and off on the Kancamagus Scenic Highway. After driving a while I found a campsite and took a nap that lasted until morning! guess I was tired.

More photos have been added.

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