Is It Finally Spring?

Posted on April 7, 2011April 7, 2011 by Dusty Roads

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It was a beautiful day. I wore a pull over “hoodie” but tossed my winter coat in the car just in case. I didn’t need it.

It looks like the Herring Run for 2011 has come to an end, as fast as it started, it seems to be over. I drove over to the Middleboro Herring Run today and there was not a fish in sight. The gulls were also absent. After all the activity of the last few days it was almost spooky!

I went on to Plymouth to see if I could find the fish ladder there. I was told there was one just a few hundred yards from Plymouth Rock. What I found was a hidden gem in plain sight!

Everybody knows about Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II and even Plimouth Plantation but nobody ever mentioned the Town Brook and the little park called Brewster Gardens to me.

I parked at a meter on the waterfront not far from Plymouth Rock and started looking for a brook or stream connected to the harbor that fish might use to migrate to their spawning pond. I admired the little decorative benches along the way. I took some pictures of the shadows they cast on the sidewalk. I liked the patterns they made.

Crossing the road there was a park and that is where I found the brook. There were lots of people out and about. They were walking their dogs or feeding the ducks..in spite of a sign saying not to. This, it turns out, is Brewster Gardens.

I checked out some of the statues then crossed the little bridge to a path that followed the brook. As I wandered along I took pictures of the area. It was so lovely and the sky was so blue.

It didn’t seem like a very long walk before I came to the Jenny Grist Mill. This presented a lot of photo ops. The lady in the ice cream and souvenir shop told me to continue on to the top of the hill where I would see a pond. She said there were tons of photo ops there too. She was right.

I walked around the pond getting pictures of ducks and a swan. The swan was on shore and seemed to be doing some form of Swan Tai-chi or yoga. It was quite comical to watch. Once the swan wandered off, I headed back to the car. I wasn’t sure how long I had been but I had only put enough money in for an 1 1/2 hours.

Back at the waterfront I saw a couple more ducks and stopped to get their picture before I returned to the car. That’s when I saw a terrific scene. A flock of ducks was coming into the harbor but they weren’t flying…they were swimming. They looked like a tiny armada. It was the cutest thing. Definitely worth watching.

Once they got a little closer I got a better picture. I believe they are Merganser ducks.

As what almost always happens after I stumble onto something, I will do a little research on the park and it’s statues and the Grist Mill and fill you in on my findings.

The Herring are running!

Posted on April 6, 2011April 6, 2011 by Dusty Roads

It’s a sure sign that spring is coming when the herring return from the sea to spawn.

I’ve been watching more and more sea gulls gather at the Herring Run in Middleboro. I figured they must know something so Monday on my way to work I stopped to check out the waters.

The gulls were everywhere, lined up like they were going to a free buffet and in effect, they were. Those poor fish not only have to fight their way upstream from the sea but have to run a gauntlet of hungry gulls and even a great blue heron.

I was on my way over to the bridges when a man approached me. He told me he helped maintain the run. He saw my camera and said if I was into photography I should go to the fish ladder in the center of Middleboro. He said the herring run only last a a couple of days and that it had been two days already…not much time left. He gave me directions and I promised to check it out.

Since I had to work that had to wait until Tuesday and Tuesday was a “wonderful “, rainy, windy day. I reminded myself that April showers bring May flowers. When the rain seemed to be letting up I hopped in the car and headed over to Middleboro.

I didn’t think I’d remember what the little map meant that the gentleman had given me but before too long I found myself in the center of Middleboro heading toward the municipal light plant. And that’s where I found a little park and the fish ladder.

My informant was right! There were fish everywhere. I knew what a fish ladder was but I’d never really seen one up close or watched fish using one. This was really interesting. As the fish worked their way upstream the ladder made the jump smaller and provided calmer water on each side to let them recover for the next jump. The ladder was teeming and I felt bad when a fish would make the jump only to be swept back again because they didn’t get into the calmer water on the side fast enough.

Down at the river end was a little falls and there the tiny fish were trying to jump them. These fish are much smaller than salmon and don’t jump as high but trying to photograph one in the air was just about mission impossible. It gave me a whole new insight into those National Geographic pictures of the salmon in mid air flying over rapids and falls. I took over 60 pictures and only managed to catch a fish part way out of the water in one. It’s no prize winner but I will include it here simply because I don’t have anything better. It will illustrate the torrents these fish were trying to navigate.

The park itself is a very pretty little park with picnic tables and benches. I bet it’s a pleasant place on a sunny spring day.

The gulls were here too but they were just flying overhead. Maybe my presence was keeping them away. It wasn’t too long before the rain started again in earnest so I wrapped up my visit with a last picture of a grass-covered boulder or hummock that made me think of Cousin It from the old Adams Family Show.

Then I ran for the car before my camera and I got soaked.

Thar Be Whales Out thar!

Posted on April 5, 2011April 5, 2011 by Dusty Roads

Wednesday 3/30/11

I am still on my quest for National Parks Stamps and stickers. It’s a bit early in the year for me to be running down to the Cape but it’s such a pretty day and the weather is supposed to go back to winter for the end of the week. In fact they are saying we’re going to get an April Fool’s Day Nor’easter. With that in my future I couldn’t pass up a sunny, spring day like today.

I got a late start for a number of reasons and almost changed my mind about taking a drive like that (about 1 1/2 hours) just to turn around and come back but I justified it by promising myself I would stop in Bourne to take some pictures on my way back. As so often happens with my “seat of the pants” plans, that was not to be. But I would not be disappointed either.

The drive down was uneventful, the traffic this time of year isn’t bad and I reached the Salt Pond Visitor Center around 2pm. I was getting my Passport stamped and chatting with the clerk in the gift shop when one of the rangers rushed in with a pair of binoculars in his hand.

He said they were seeing the whales off the coast with the bird spotting scope. He was heading out to the deck to see if he could see them with the binoculars. He said the Right Whales were in the area and the Humpbacks were just returning. He hadn’t seen them himself yet but one of the other employees had said she was seeing breaching behavior which is typical of Humpbacks.

He suggested I go down to Nauset Light or Coast Guard Beach to see if I could spot them from the shore. He told me Nauset Light was a little higher ground so that was where I headed.

In spite of the sun, it was pretty brisk with the breeze off the ocean. I layered on a hoodie and winter jacket, grabbed my binoculars and camera and headed to the stairs down to the beach. At the head of the stairs is a landing with a bench so I made myself at home there. I no sooner set my things down and turned to look out to sea when I saw my first “blow”. Another followed and then another! I grabbed the binoculars first as they have more range than the camera. Through those I could see a whale flipper slapping and rolling on the surface. The only whales that I know for sure do that behavior are humpbacks. A few minutes later there was another spout but this one was a definite “V” shape, a trademark of a Right Whale.

A mother and her son came down to join me so I pointed out where I had been watching. The mother was skeptical but it wasn’t too many minutes before the little boy yelled that he could see it, pointing excitedly in the same direction I had been looking. More people joined us adding their opinions as to what kind of whales we were most likely watching. The show went on for probably 1/2 hour, maybe 45 minutes. My co watchers slowly drifted away, I think because of the cold. I tried to get a couple of pictures just to confirm the sightings but I knew it was a long-shot.

I watched as the various spouts worked their way up the coastline eventually disappearing altogether. I packed up my gear, snapped a picture of Nauset Light and headed home. I made 1 stop at the Christmas Tree Shop in Sandwich where I was finally able to see where the trail goes up over the Sagamore Bridge. I have been saying for ages that I wanted to climb that bridge and get pictures from there. Now I know where to get access.

From there I headed home. I was tempted to make that stop in Bourne but it was too early for sunset shots and I didn’t feel like “hanging around”. I was more than satisfied with my day after seeing the whales.

As a surprise ending I saw a rainbow trying to form as I pulled around the rotary in Taunton. It was very faint but I tried to capture it. It was a great ending to the day.

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Wrapping up my New Bedford Day

Posted on March 28, 2011March 28, 2011 by Dusty Roads

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I don’t carry a lot of cash on my little excursions as most places let you use a credit or debit card and my little jaunt to New Bedford was no different. Even so I hate to use a card for minor things so I paid cash for lunch and I had picked up a couple of small things at the Visitor Center which meant that I found myself cash poor and I still had to get the car out of the parking garage.

Not knowing what that would cost or if they would take plastic I went in search of an ATM. The little free map I had picked up at the Whaling Museum showed a lot of bank branches in downtown New Bedford, which from the waterfront was uphill.

I set out to locate a bank and pretty soon I saw a lot of them. I also saw some really interesting buildings and decorative trim. I took some pictures of the architecture and the bustle of the downtown area.

Having made a successful ATM stop I wandered back to the parking garage. Before I headed to the exit I drove to the roof to see what kind of views there might be from up there. It’s actually a pretty interesting view. You can see out over the harbor and all the fishing boats and ferries. On the other side is a bridge that looks like it must be a pedestrian footbridge.

Being so close to the water I had plenty of company from the sea gulls and took the opportunity to take some more pictures of them. There’s a building with whales painted on it. I’m told it’s just a warehouse but that the artist Wayland painted the mural. He is known for his ocean murals and has painted around 84 murals. There used to be one in Boston but I haven’t been there since the “Big Dig” so I don’t know if that was saved or razed in the construction. I sure hope it was saved.

Photo op finished I headed back down the ramp to the exit. When I got to the booth to pay there was no attendant. I waited and waited, cars came in but no one came out but me and no one came to take my money. After about 15 minutes I gave up and headed back out to the highway and home.

In speaking to some of my co workers who have lived in New Bedford all their lives, I get the feeling I have only scratched the surface of what this city has to offer. I see many more visits and posts about New Bedford in my future. But until then I can say this was another nice visit to a very interesting city.

Historic New Bedford and The Whaling Museum

Posted on March 26, 2011March 26, 2011 by Dusty Roads

Cobblestone streets, grand old mansions, ornate trim. Walk the streets that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick, that’s historic New Bedford.

Inside the Visitor Center I chatted with the 2 volunteers for a bit while I secured my stamps. I hadn’t planned to visit the museum but the volunteers were good. They were quick to tell me about the movie that was showing and that there was a new whale skeleton with a fetus. That kind of got my attention in a morbid sort of way. They said yes, the whale had a fetus and that was on display too. So I wandered off in that direction.

I planned to get lunch before I got involved watching a movie…and one with no pop corn to boot…and headed toward the Catwalk, a pub style restaurant that served amazing food for a reasonable price when Nancy and I were there last year. A couple of guys were hanging out in front that looked like they had just come in off the boat. Unshaven and in watch caps they were loitering and smoking in front of the Catwalk. It turned out the restaurant was closed for renovation. So taking a deep breath I asked the guys about it. They seemed to know all about it explaining that it was being completely done over. I asked them to recommend someplace for lunch and they suggested I go back uptown to a sandwich shop.

I asked them about Pizan’s which was right across the street and they just kind of shrugged, commenting it was ok if I wanted Pizza.

I decided it was worth a shot. It kind of reminded me of the little bar/restaurants I grew up with. There were little booths and a few tables. A plank floor and a counter where you placed your order. 2 Environmental Police came in with me so I figured it couldn’t be all bad. I’m not sure what they ordered but I had a meatball sub and a soft drink. It was not bad but nothing special either. If I go back there again I will have to try their pizza as that seemed to be what those guys felt was the best.

Finishing my lunch I wandered on down to the waterfront. RT 18 is quite a busy street so I didn’t try to cross but I could see the signs for the various ferries to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. I began working my way back up toward the Whaling museum. In the process I spotted a building with really outlandish window decorations. There were Buddha’s and crows and vines to name just a few. They were all made from a black material, cast iron maybe????…and very shiny.

The sign on the building read Old Dartmouth Historical Society.

A little farther up the street was another white multi-columned building. According to the informational sign displayed this was once a bank. In fact, 2 banks. One side was for the wealthy merchants and whaling elite, Merchants’ Bank and the other side was for the working man , shopkeepers and tradesmen, the Mechanic’s Bank.

This was right across the street from the Whaling museum so it was time to check out the baby whale skeleton and the movie.

As I approached the museum I noticed some decorations I didn’t remember from last year. There was a bright orange squid, a miniature whale boat frame, and a sailor.

There was also some other statue that I couldn’t identify and I forgot to grab a picture. I will have to save that for another trip.

The movie was good, Around the World…The Business of Whaling in 19^th Century New Bedford . The title was longer than the movie! You don’t wait for it to start as it is on a continuous loop. You just go in and sit down and stay until it’s back to where you made your entrance. It tells about the whaling days and was very well done. The theater is also quite attractive. I didn’t go through the museum again but did go into the atrium to see the new whale skeleton and sure enough, there was the little baby skeleton. That is so sad but I guess that’s life …and death…in the wild.