Rowley, Massachusetts: Salt Marsh at Sunset

If you're travelling to the North Shore and you love mosquitos, don't miss the Rowley Salt Marsh at sunset!  It's beautiful, but, oh . . . those little winged creatures'll getcha if you don't watch out!

                                                     Rowley, Massachusetts:  Salt Marsh at Sunset                                        Photo by Marash Girl

Larry's PX, Route 28, Chatham, Massachusetts

Larry's PX opens mornings at 5 AM, a breakfast/lunch place that the locals and the fisherman enjoy daily.  This morning,  Marash Girl wandered in at around 5:30 AM, sat herself down on one of the vinyl covered stools at the formica counter, and ordered a mug of coffee.  All around her, the men were holding forth in conversation.  From them, Marash Girl learned that there are 5,000 Native Americans in New England, and 5 tribes.  The fellow giving this information had met the chief of one of the tribes who, he was surprised to learn, was a woman.  He went on to say that his grandchildren just left, but another passel of grandchildren were arriving today, and because there was no room left in his house, his nephew was holing up in his neighbor's attic.  "Your rates must be good," his friend commented.

Freshly squeezed orange juice? Really?

 

At a recent visit to Market Basket, the one in Sandwich, Massachusetts, just over the Sagamore Bridge, Marash Girl noticed two big bins of recently squeezed oranges.  Whatever could that mean?  Astounded, she asked the woman behind the counter, "Your freshly squeezed orange juice is really freshly squeezed, and freshly squeezed right here moments ago?"  "Absolutely," the woman behind the counter answered proudly, with a big                 smile on her face.     Need Marash Girl say more?

                                 

How many people are dead in that cemetery?

At a recent visit to Sturbridge Village, Marash Girl decided to take the official "tour" of the main street in the village.  The tour started in front of the cemetery, next to the Congregational Meeting House, and began with the tour guide saying, "The first question everyone asks me?  'Is anyone buried in this cemetery?'  The answer is, 'No!'"  
"But where do the authentic grave stones come from, then?" asked Marash Girl.
"Folks donated the grave stones to Sturbridge Village . . . " the guide answered.  
Marash Girl asked, "Why would folks donate gravestones of the dead to Sturbridge Village?"  
"Oh, they're only the foot stones of the graves!"  
None the less, it made Marash Girl wonder!

Tour guide at Sturbridge Village

The experience brought to mind a joke that Peter loved to tell every time he was driving past a cemetery, which was often enough!  

Here's the joke:

"How many people are dead in that cemetery?"  Folks in the car who had never heard the joke before would venture a guess . . . "200?  400?"

Peter would laugh and answer, "All of them!"

If he were with Marash Girl at Sturbridge Village last week, and asked the question, he would have laughed when the tour guide would have said, "None of them!"

Footstones in "pretend cemetery" at Sturbridge Village

Photo Credits: Marash Girl

Lobster Rolls in Monson, Massachusetts?

Marash Girl, a lover of lobster, and especially lobster rolls,  returning from a (sad) visit to Wilbraham, consumed  (in totality) the king of lobster rolls.  On a toasted bun and covered with melted butter, the lobster roll, served hot, (can you believe it?) was full of succulent large, tender pieces of lobster.  Upon asking the owner why she served her lobster rolls hot, she answered,
"My husband comes from New Haven. The folks in New Haven always serve their lobster rolls hot!"



An unlikely place to stop if you didn't know better, CJ's  hot lobster roll is worth the trip out Route 20 to Monson/Palmer, Massachusetts:

371 Wilbraham St, Palmer, MA 01069 (413) 283-2196

 And for those of you who prefer burgers to lobster, CJ's offers your choice of 2 hamburgers, 2 cheeseburgers or 2 hot dogs with fries for $4.99!!!

You can eat outdoors or more sedately indoors in a rather nicely paneled dining area.

The only reason you might think twice about stopping at CJ's (if you didn't know better) is its location, right next to the  Magic Lantern, a strip joint that's been going strong on Route 20 (Boston Road), Monson, MA since at least the 1940's!

The Red Sox, the Union Oyster House, and the freshest scrod in town!

Union Oyster House, Boston's oldest restaurant, proudly displays Boston (Red Sox) Memorabilia and proudly serves the freshest of fish, including scrod which they define as baby codfish.
(If you dine at Legal Seafood, they'll tell you that their  "scrod" is any white fish that might be in the kitchen that day!)

[For an interesting and sometimes hilarious discussion of the word "scrod", see Wikipedia's history of Boston's use (and sometimes intentional misuse) of  the term "scrod".   Can you guess what it is?]

A brief walk through Edgartown, or Wish I were there!

     A final farewell:   the mural on the wall of Stop & Shop in Vineyard Haven, opposite the Ferry taking folks back to "America", as Phillip Craig would call the mainland!

Trees in Massachusetts History

A giant Pagoda Tree still stands on South Water Street in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Photo Credit: Marash Girl

"The Giant Pagoda Tree, Edgartown, Massachusetts: (A Chinese Nuai Tree - Sophora Japonica) was brought from China in a flower pot in 1837 by Captain Thomas Milton to grace his new home then being built. This is believed to be the largest of its kind on the continent." Photo Credit: Marash GIrl

No longer standing in Concord, Massachusetts is Jethro's Tree - 1630-1930:  "Near this spot stood the ancient oak known as Jethro's Tree beneath which Major Simon Willard and his associates bought from the Indians the "5 myles of land square" ordered by the General Court for the plantation of Concord, September 12, 1625.  Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission. Photo Credit: Marash Girl

No Photo Available

The Oak Tree atop Wilbraham Mountain, Wilbraham, Massachusetts

Central to the lives of an Armenian family who summered at the top of Wilbraham Mountain was a giant White Oak Tree, a tree that had survived for 300 years, a tree under which the family picnicked for many a summer, a tree which was central to their summers and their lives,  a tree around four people could stand and still not touch hands, the tree under which their Uncle Harry slept on the day that he went to be with the Lord, the tree that fell soon after Uncle Harry's passing.  Marash Girl has yet to find a photograph of this tree.

The Historic Trees of Massachusetts

 By James Raymond Simmons published by the Plimpton Press in Norwood Massachusetts in 1919 and housed in the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, is now available online as an e-book.

Conflicting Messages from Edgartown Harbor

Butterflies in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard

Butterflies in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard

Shining on - Edgartown Lighthouse

The moon shines on Edgartown Lighthouse, Edgartown Harbor, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

A Shout Out for the Newport Playhouse and Cabaret Restaurant, Newport, Rhode Island

Welcoming visitors to the Newport Seaman's Church Institute is this 1930's handpainted map of Newport Harbor  

Surprise of surprises!  Dinner, theatre, cabaret, and friendly folks!

The Newport Playhouse and Cabaret Restaurant (http://www.newportplayhouse.com) is a family owned business based on the premise that all of the actors not only act on stage, but cook, serve, sing and dance.  Unbelievable talent for an unbelievable price in the heart of Newport, Rhode Island!  [Check out Friday nights when they offer a special for two!]  A magnificent buffet which is prepared on the premises greets the theater goers -- a variety of "home cooked" entrees, salads, and desserts  that cannot be beat.  Sitting at long, cafeteria style tables, the diners have the opportunity to meet and greet one another in a casual, friendly atmosphere.  Not until everyone has finished eating do the doors to the theatre open; diners leave the dining room (where later the cabaret will take place) to enter the theater -- a theater small enough so that every seat in the house is a good seat!  [Marash Girl & entourage attended, the comedy Spreading It Around by Londos D'Arrigo, which is playing from April 3 - May 25, 2013.) Bordering on slapstick, with a serious message to convey, the actors never failed to entertain, and were not "acting" but rather "living" their parts.  [The surprise was to see the very same actors later singing, dancing and joking around in the cabaret, and then later, at the end of the evening, to have them greet us at the door as we left.]  The theatre provided one of the most entertaining evenings Marash Girl has experienced in many a year. 

The cabaret after the theatre

Standup comedy at its best!

 The Newport Playhouse and Cabaret Restaurant (102 Connell Highway • Newport • Rhode Island • 02840  (401) 848-PLAY (7529) is worth the trip to Newport, Rhode Island.  And by the way, if you hesitate to go because of the price of hotels in the city, try the Seamen's Church Institute (401-847-4260), a "Seamen's Bethel" which has "welcomed Newport mariners and visitors for over 93 years" with rates less than a third of the rates of the hotels in town . . . (www.SeamensNewport.org).

Warning or Welcome? Newport, Rhode Island

In the center of Newport, Rhode Island's downtown is a sculpture of a wave -- whether a warning or a welcome was unclear.  (Note the bottoms of two feet at the lower half of the sculpture.)

A Walk on the Wild Side

The Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island, has experienced the hunger of the Atlantic Ocean as have all of the beach front structures along the New England coast.  Newport's grand mansions, albeit set above and back from the dangers of the sea, were built along the cliff at the beginning of the 20th Century, and protected from the curious tourist by natural and man-made fencing along the mansion side of the cliff walk;  the occasional metal fencing on the ocean side of the walk protects the walker from being lured by the Sirens down the steep narrow paths into the sea (Iffar & Enila, take note); the dirt paths, now closed off by only short bits of fencing, lead their circuitous route down to the rocky ledges and the hungry ocean.  Vertigo prevented Marash Girl from photographing the ocean itself.  Just seeing the repeated signs of caution was enough to spoil an otherwise beautiful walk on a beautiful day along the beautiful Atlantic Ocean.

The cabin in Wilbraham? Guess again.

Schoolhouse, Kapawi, Ecuador             Photo Credit:  Lorig

Perhaps we miss our cabin on the top of Wilbraham Mountain too much . . . you know, the one that was tossed about and ultimately destroyed by the tornado . . . but when Matt and Lorig took a an eco-tour of the rain forests of Ecuador, it was Matt who said to Lorig, "Look, look at that school house; does it remind you of something?"  And sure enough, the school house in Kapawi, in the rain forests of Ecuador, looks very much like the portable school house become summer cabin that once graced the top of Wilbraham Mountain.

Eco-Tourism in the Rain Forests of Ecuador

Lorig swimming against the current in the Capahuari River.  (Capahuari means piranha in Achuar, the language of the locals . .  You'd think that would be reason enough not to go swimming in that river.) Photo Credit: Matt

The Pirannha that Matt caught (just look at those teeth!), which the cook fried up for dinner. 

Is that called turning the tables, or what?  Photo Credit:  Lorig

A caiman lurking in the reeds of the Capahuari River, Kapawi Lodge, Ecuador  . . .                        Photo Credit: Lorig

A Caiman of Ecuador in the Capahuari River. "Like all crocodilians, caimans eat a variety of fish, amphibians, turtles, birds and mammals   -- whatever creature happens to be unlucky enough to wander near them . . . "   Photo Credit:  Lorig

When Marash Girl expressed concern at her daughter's swimming in a river shared by pirannhas and caimans, she was told by her daughter, "The piranhas won't actually bite humans if they have enough other food.  And we were told that they have plenty of other food in the river."  Perhaps, but Marash Girl wonders what the caimans were thinking, and what her daughter was thinking that the caimans were thinking she was . . .

Tantiusques, Sturbridge Native American Nipmuc Lead Mine, Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Photo Credits: Marash Boy

A surprise phone call on a snow flurried Sunday morning sent Marash Boy and Marash Girl driving west on the Massachusetts Turnpike to Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to meet Karoun (of Karoun Yoga) for a walk in the woods, a walk in the woods that held surprises. . . an open abandoned lead mine, stalagmites and stalctites in the making, an uncrossable stream, and miles of walkable snow covered paths.

Open entrance to lead mine in Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Yawning entrance to second lead mine at Tantiusques

                    Icycles reach upward, stalagmites in the making, noted the geologist
                           on the walk, as water dripped down from the roof of the open mine.

The uncrossable stream . . .

From The Trustees of the Reservations:  "Follow a loop trail through quiet woodlands then visit the site of a former lead mine used by Native Americans and, later, European settlers.

About Tantiusques, Leadmine Road, Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Tantiusques (“tan-te-us-quays”) – a Nipmuc word meaning “to a black deposit between two hills” – was the center of one of New England's first mining operations.

A short loop trail leads through quiet woods; a spur trail passes through the Leadmine Wildlife Management Area and ends at the Robert Crowd Site. Visitors can view the foundations of the house and barn of the African-American and Native American man who worked at the mine in the 1850s.
The Nipmuc originally mined here for graphite to make ceremonial paints. In 1644, John Winthrop, Jr., son of the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, purchased the mine with hopes of extracting lead and iron. In the early 19th century, Captain Joseph Dixon and his son worked here before founding the J. D. Crucible Company of New Jersey, famous manufacturers of pencils.
Today, careful observers can see the mine cuts, ditches, and tailings piles made by the various mining operations. The mineshaft that tunnels into the face of the low ridge is the most recent of all the excavations, dating to 1902. Most of the mining at Tantiusques was of the open trench variety. The cut along the top of the ridge is the partially filled-in remainder of what was once a several thousand foot-long trench, 20 to 50 feet in depth and roughly 6 feet in width, which followed the vein of graphite."

Marash Girl wonders if the painting of faces by the Nipmuc using graphite based paints, and the leaching of the lead from the mines into the nearby lake, led to the early demise of many of the Nipmuc Native American Indians living near the mines.

Visiting Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond on Christmas Day

Site of Thoreau's Cabin discovered Nov. 11, 1945 by Roland Wells Robbins

Beneath this rock lies the chimney foundation of Thoreau's Cabin, 1845-1847.
"Go thou my incense upwards from this hearth."

Iffar selects a rock to add to the memory pile honoring Thoreau.

At Walden Pond, Concord, Massachusetts, Enila & Iffar give Henry David Thoreau a Merry Christmas hug.
Replica of Thoreau's one room cabin in background.