CAPE ANN 2

“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.” (Psalm 107:23-24)

Yes, I know, the title is, “Cape Ann 2” and you may well be thinking, “I don’t remember reading CAPE ANN 1!”  Well, you really DID read, “Cape Ann 1” except that I entitled it, “Bob Baril’s Day Off”.  That was about six weeks ago and told of the wonderful day trip my daughter Rachel and I had to Rockport, MA.  Incidentally, Cape Ann is the “other Cape” of Massachusetts.  It’s only about a fifth as large as Cape Cod and is located around thirty or forty miles northeast of downtown Boston.

Mary Ann and I just returned from a mini-vacation to Cape Ann.  Those of you who know in New England know that the weather has been wet and awful this summer, but God blessed us with two sunny, spectacular, beautiful days!  On Thursday, we went on a whale watch out of Gloucester Harbor.  We had to get on the road fairly early on Thursday morning to make it up there, and fortunately we got there with time to spare.  The whale watch was from “Capn Bill & Sons Whale Watch”.  I’m sure if you just do an internet search you can get all the info. you need on-line.  (Mary Ann was the one who got all the details we needed.)  I’ve been on a couple of whale watch trips out of Cape Cod.  This was MUCH better than either!  We saw fifteen humpback whales and two minke whales.  We got some good photos and it was all really quite exciting!  They had comment cards for each person to fill out and turn in, and then there was a drawing for a free future whale watch.  No kidding, I won the drawing!  There is no time limit on it...it’s good whenever I want to use it!

We stayed at Bearskin Neck Motor Lodge in Rockport.  If you’re familiar with Bearskin Neck it’s MOSTLY a pedestrian walkway with an occasional car or truck negotiating its way through the sea of pedestrians and small shops, restaurants, and art galleries.  The water views from Bearskin Neck are SPECTACULAR!  The Motor Lodge is almost to the end of Bearskin Neck.  It’s a typical 1960s type two-story motor lodge.  There is no air conditioning, but by midnight the room was cool enough with the windows open that it was like natural air conditioning.  The view from our room was just wonderful as we could see the water, beaches, boats, and hear that restful “sound of the sea”.  Yeah it was a bit pricey.  The cost for one night is what you’d normally expect to pay for two nights or even three in a 1960s type motor lodge, but honestly, it’s worth it! Beaches, shops, and restaurants are all anywhere from a two-minute to a fifteen-minute walk away, and in most cases you can get to just about anyplace in downtown Rockport within a ten-minute walk from the motor lodge.  We got up early today and walked to the beach.  We stopped at a coffee shop and had hot beverages and a light breakfast on the way.  The guy who runs the Bearskin Neck Motor Lodge is a very nice man who looks VERY much like Pat Boone, but I’d say he’s gotta be at least fifteen years younger than Pat Boone!   I had phoned in the reservation about ten days ago.  He let us check into our room an hour early yesterday.  Today, after we checked out at 11, he let us leave our Dodge Caravan in his parking lot for two more hours while we hit more of the shops in downtown Rockport.  

On the way home, we stopped at the famous Fisherman’s Memorial in Gloucester.   You know, that “Gorton’s Fisherman logo” which actually was the Fisherman’s Memorial FIRST!  It’s a beautiful spot, and the Bible verse I quoted above is etched onto the Memorial.

So, that’s my report of , “Cape Ann 2”, or “Bob and Mary Ann Baril’s mini-vacation”!
I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I hope you can have a mini-vacation to Cape Ann sometime!