Tag Archives: parks

Historic New Bedford and The Whaling Museum

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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 19th 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.

Leaving the museum I wandered back uptown in search of an ATM. I’ll share those pictures and a bit more next time.

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New Bedford March 2011

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I’m not sure what it is about this city but I can’t seem to get nice weather when I visit.

When my friend Nancy and I went to the Whaling museum last year it was cold, raw and rainy. That was also the trip where I bought the National Parks Passport book for the first time. I didn’t know what I had until I got home so I didn’t get the “Stamp” proving that I was there. I’ve been trying to get back down there ever since and something, usually snow, has stopped me every time I’ve planned to go.

So yesterday I said this is it. I’m going back to the Visitor Center so I can get my cancellation stamp. The sun was shining. It was 40 + degrees out. BUT the weather report said snow! You have got to be kidding me. The first day of spring was 3 days ago!

By the time I reached New Bedford, about 30 minutes from my house, the sky was overcast and the wind was starting to blow. The warm air was disappearing and there was starting to be a nip in the air. I quickly parked and headed out of the parking garage.

I almost missed it. As I was walking down the ramp to leave the garage I spotted an older classic car tucked in a corner parking space. The spot was so dark I almost didn’t see it. In fact, I think I only noticed it because I’ve gotten used to paying attention to my surroundings because of the Photo a Day Challenge. I have to always be on the lookout for things to photograph because sometimes creativity escapes me.

The car was in beautiful shape. The finish was shiny in spite of the fine coating of dust on it. I have no idea what kind of car it is , just that it’s a beauty and I feel lucky to have spotted it.

After grabbing a quick shot of the car, I headed the rest of the way out of the garage and up the street to the Visitor Center. As I walked along I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful detail on the old buildings in the area. New Bedford is a gritty, blue collar city and it makes no bones about it. But New Bedford wasn’t always struggling. Once it was the world leader and the wealthiest city in New England, maybe even the world. New Bedford was certainly the Whaling Capital of the World.

I’ve told that story in previous posts and I am sure I will tell it again in future posts but today I was more interested in the architecture, and that’s saying something coming from me. I never notice buildings. It’s a shortcoming that my friend Joe often points out to me! But today I was looking.

The Visitor Center is located in a old brick and brownstone building that was first used as a bank. Eventually it was sold and became the Bristol County Courthouse. In the 1970’s it became a bank again until Fleet Bank donated it to the historical society and it was converted to the Visitor Center as we see it today.

　

Right across the street is the Andrew Robeson House. Andrew Robeson was a wealthy whaling merchant and a staunch abolitionist. He built his Federal Style house on North 2nd St. in 1821. The grounds were extensive. Eventually the building was saved from being demolished when it was moved by the city to it’s current location in the historic district.

The other building the I really like in the same area is the U.S. Custom House. The Custom House was built in 1836 at a time when the nation was flush with custom-generated income. The building was designed by Robert Mills who later went on to design the Washington Monument. The building is built primarily of granite. This made it one of the first entirely fireproof federal buildings. This is also the oldest continually operating custom house in the US.

Well, time to go in and collect my stamp. See you tomorrow when we’ll explore a little more of New Bedford.

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Sedona Trip Update

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Good morning.

Yesterday I told you my sister and I would conference call for plane tickets. We did it! We got our tickets and the  flights aren’t too bad but I will tell you that it was one of the most challenging bookings I’ve ever done. I had both my desk top and lap top going to check the different sites. Twice we went to book a fare only to be told the price had changed. The fares were jumping up right in front of me!

I have Kayak.com set to send fare alerts for the trip and I didn’t get one until today and that one is still over $100.00 more than the flight we booked.  All I can say is I’m glad that’s done. We are flying Southwest. I haven’t been on Southwest in years but their  “got to getaway” online price was better than anything else I could find besides, “Bags Fly Free” on Southwest 🙂

While I had Sandy on the phone I reserved the rental car. We were in for a shock there. The base cost of the rental was reasonable but then the taxes and miscellaneous charges kicked in almost doubling the cost of the rental! I’ve rented many times before and don’t remember this. I’m not sure if Arizona has extra fees or if I just never noticed it before. This may bear looking into for future reference.

After that call I got back on the phone and booked the Grand Canyon Railroad. I tried booking online but it never asked if there were seniors  in my party and it didn’t let me add the Rim Tour so I called. I got a wonderful agent who applied the appropriate discounts, Senior and AAA and waived the National Park fee of $16.00 because I have a  National Parks Pass.

That done I moved on to the Verde Canyon railroad and the Blazin’M.

We lucked out with that call because they said they were running a special on first class on the train when you combine  it with the Blazin’M. The cost for first class and dinner was only a couple of  dollars more than the coach cost so of course we’ll go first class.

2  more tours to book.

I moved on to the Bottom of the Canyon Tour. I pulled up the reservation page on the Native American journey’s web page and filled it out. I haven’t heard back or paid anything. It seemed to me it was kind of  “up in the air”. I will give it a couple of days to get a response and it if no luck  I will call them. Since I don’t know if we got the day I requested I held off booking the trail ride.

It’s coming together.

I’m going to sign off for now. We have snow on the way and I want to run down to New Bedford to the Whaling Museum. I still need to collect my stamp from my last visit and it’s in the New England National Park Challenge so I can get my first stamp in the challenge. I’ll let you know how I make out in my post tomorrow.

Another Challenge~ New England Passport

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I was mentioning to one of my co-workers that I would love to have an Irish post for St. Patrick’s day next year and she said she knew someone who was going to Ireland.  She said one of our co-workers from another department was going over for about 2 weeks. I asked if she thought he’d let me get an interview to post and she said if she spoke to him, she’d ask.

Well, she got back to me and said his exact words were…Bring it on! So we’ll have a real Irish adventure to look forward to!

The title for today’s post is Another Challenge. When I was at the AAA Marketplace I stopped by the National Parks booth. I am a great fan of the National Parks. I’ve mentioned before that I collect the stamps in the National Parks Passport. Well they have a regional Passport. So I accepted one.  I just got around to reading it and it covers National Parks in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts , Connecticut and Rhode Island. Altogether there are 23 parks listed in the New England Passport. The challenge is that to complete the book you have to visit all of them before December 31, 2011. If I succeed I will get the 25th Anniversary Passport.

Well, I love a challenge and some of these parks are close together so I may be able to go to more than one in a day but Acadia National Park in Maine is a hike. I’ve had it on my list for a couple of years now. I really think it deserves more that a “quick hit” so I’m going to have to do some planning to get there before the end of this year.

 I wonder what the weather is going to be like on Wednesday. If this snow clears I might just head down to the Cape. I love Cape Cod and that’s where I can collect the stamp for the Cape Cod National Seashore.

www.nps.gov

But for now I will sign off. I need to check airfares so Sandy and I can book our flight to Phoenix.

Grand Canyon Railroad and the AAA Travel Show

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As I wandered on to the 2nd half of the show floor I seemed to be moving into the more local booths, local as in states. I stopped at The Hershey, PA booth and right next to it was Lancaster County, PA, Amish country. And then I saw a big sign…Lake George and I had to stop there. I have to laugh because even after I told them I was from the area, they pressed the brochures into my hands. One of the reps was a young lady who has a store on Main St in Bolton. She knows my mother and brother so I told her to tell them she had seen me.

More local was the Concord Booth manned by reps in colonial dress.

 There was a National Parks booth too where I stopped for a chat.

As I was preparing to leave…if I could find an exit…I saw a booth that I has somehow missed. The Grand Canyon Railroad! There were 2 young ladies manning that booth and it wasn’t crowded so I had a chance to have a nice visit. I told them we had a trip planned in May and would be taking the train and include the Rim tour. They said that was absolutely the way to do it (of course ) but then we discussed some of the other tours in the area. They had both been on the Bottom of the Canyon tour but with another tour company. They had heard of Native American Journey’s but didn’t know it well. They said that going with them would give us more of the perspective of the Native Americans. They also said that some areas of places like Monument Valley are closed unless you have a Native American Guide. I had heard that but it was nice to have confirmation. As I was getting ready to leave they handed me 2 wooden train whistles as a gift. I had mentioned my sister was going on the trip with me and they remembered saying, “here’s one for you and one for your sister.” Very good. I am impressed by things like that. Shows they were really listening to what I was saying.

I left the Grand Canyon booth and went to the third floor so I could get a look out over the show floor.

 Then I headed back down to leave. Easier said than done. I walked around and around and couldn’t find the exit. Finally I asked one of the security guards.

By the way, security was tight. We didn’t have to pass through any screening but the guards all had the little wires in their ears and seemed to be a higher level than the normal “rent -a-cop”. Anyway, they gave me directions that could have been from Peter Pan…First Star on the right etc J they told me to go to Hershey and take a right then a left at New York etc…Pretty funny. Finally I saw a small exit sign.

But you still had to get past all the AAA displays by the exit. I skipped the survey and headed out. I’d had enough of crowds and “hawkers” for one day. All together I was in the show for around 3 hours. You could easily spend all day but I had what I came for and was glad to drive off into the sunset.

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