BOB BARIL'S DAY OFF

“And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:” (Luke 15:23)

In the past, I’ve mentioned on this blog that I tend to be a workaholic.  My “to do” lists are unbelievably long.  The amount of “blue collar” and “white collar” tasks I have to accomplish before Thanksgiving Day 2008 is so overwhelming, that sometimes it drives me to staring vacantly and sadly into space for 10-15 minutes and wondering if there’s any way to clone several more Bob Barils and/or instantly produce $10,000 to hire people to do some of it.

Despite my workaholism and despite the overwhelming tasks I really DO still face for 2008, once in awhile somebody kind of makes a way for me to have a, “Ferris Buheler’s Day Off” and that was the case with Tuesday, July 15.  My 21-year-old daughter Rachel loves Rockport, MA and desperately wanted to spend a day there this summer, but she did not want to go there alone, and she has NO sense of direction.  SO, a few weeks ago, Rachel asked me if I’d consider taking a Tuesday (my day off) and going with her to Rockport.  I agreed.  She got July 15 off from work, and we had our version of “Ferris Buheler’s Day Off” .

I have desperately wanted a sunny dry day to do some prepping for outdoor painting.  YES, our house is covered with what Jay Severin calls “cheap, plastic junk” (that more sensitive people call “vinyl siding”)  but I still have a porch and railings that get painted, and they look terrible.  It was a bit hard to give up a sunny dry day of working at the parsonage, but I honestly needed this fun trip to Rockport!  The weather could not have been better.  We left around 8:45 a.m. and and arrived in Rockport around 10.  Honestly, I think tourism has GOT to be done this year.  Yes, there were crowds of tourists in Rockport, but I’d say only about half the number of people you’d typically have seen in past years.  We easily found an on-street parking place.  I was surprised that you can feed the meter to park up to 5 hours!  I think there was a 2-3 hours limit in the past.  We did feed it so it would allow us 5 hours of visiting the town, and we walked the 10-15 minutes to Bearskin Neck.  Rockport reminds me a lot of Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  It’s not quite as nice as Boothbay Harbor, but it IS almost as good.  There’s a sense in which it’s nicer than just about anything on Cape Cod, (and I love Cape Cod).  Bearskin Neck is quaint and touristy.  It’s filled with art galleries, restaurants, and gift shops.  We looked around a few art galleries which was fun.  At the end of Bearskin Neck is a “jetty”.  I think most of you know a jetty is a pile of rocks in a row that jut out into the water.  Rachel really wanted to walk out to the end of the jetty.  It was REALLY rugged, and I had to stop and sit down about a fourth of the way out, but she made it to the end and I snapped her picture a number of times.

For lunch, we ate at Portside Chowder House right on Bearskin Neck.  Although SOME of the items on the menu were a little pricey, the place was pretty much “family style” and most of the prices were reasonable.  I had a cup of clam chowder which was really good and a huge steak and cheese sub which was filling and delicious.  Rachel had chicken fingers and fries which she could not finish.  The service was good.  The best part was we were seated at a window looking right out on the water!  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE PORTSIDE CHOWDER HOUSE.

Later, we went to the Bearskin Neck Ice Cream Store and each got frappes.  For those of you from outside New England, a “frappe” is a New England milk shake.  There’s something about a frappe...a generous amount of ice cream, milk and syrup, that just doesn’t compare with the “shakes” you get in the rest of the country.  The frappes were outstanding!  I also highly recommend this place!

One of the shops we stopped in was Bearskin Neck Leathers.  I couldn’t imagine I’d buy anything in there, but I did!  My cell phone holder broke some time ago.  If you go to buy a new one at the cell phone store, they’re pricey and not that great.  I’d had my cell phone on my belt in a goofy oversized holder.  There was a PERFECT leather cell phone holder which I bought for just 8 bucks!  I was delighted!  We also stopped in a candy/gift shop in the downtown for some souvenir magnets, and Rachel bought a tee shirt.

We did NOT come prepared for swimming, but we DID take a five minute stroll across the public beach.  Rachel noticed that across the street from the beach was a public park called “Millbrook Meadow”, and we decided to walk over and check it out.  What a WONDERFUL place Millbrook Meadow is!  We had a blast walking through it...green and picturesque with a bubbling brook running through it.  There was a huge snapping turtle in the brook! There’s a path leading uphill from the meadow to a very old burial ground.  From the burial ground you can look across to the ocean.  What a spectacular view!

Have I whet your appetite for Rockport?  I hope so!  My wife and I are seriously considering spending an overnight there before the end of 2008.

Yes, I’ve got an overwhelming amount of work to do, but sometimes you DO have to take a “Ferris Buheler’s Day Off” or I guess I’ll call it a “Bob Baril’s Day Off”!