GLOSTA!!! America's Oldest Seaport

Today, my dad, Katie & I went to Gloucester, MA. Amazingly, none of us have ever been before even though we have all lived in MA for most of our lives.

Our first stop was the the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial. Built in the 1920s to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the city of Gloucester, Massachusetts, this memorial is dedicated to all the fishermen/sailors of Gloucester who have lost their lives at sea (more than 10,000 as of this writing). Designed by sculptor Leonard F. Craske, the memorial consists of a statue of a fisherman at a ship's wheel with the inscription, "They that go down to the sea in ships 1623 - 1923" on the base and a series of memorial plaques surround the statue in a half circle. The plaques bear the names of the fisherman who have died at sea since 1623. The names include the men on board the Andrea Gail, whose ship sank in October of 1991. The story of the Andrea Gail's sinking has been told in a book and movie both titled "The Perfect Storm".

Then, we made our way down Rogers Street where we saw many, many fishing boats along the Harbor shoreline. What I found amazing was how industrial this town was. I never quite thought about how much work it is to provide fresh food, such as fish and meat, to the consumer. There are a lot of hard working men (& probably women too) in this town.

Below is part of the "harbor loop" and also the site of many scenes in the movie, "The Perfect Storm".

We stopped for lunch at Captain Carlo's for seafood on the Harbor. Then, we looped back to the car on Main street, stopping at a few interesting gift shops along the way. Back at the car, we made our way over to the "Crow's Nest", the famed bar in "The Perfect Storm". We snapped a few quick pictures and made our way to Hammond Castle.

John Hays Hammond, Jr. built his medieval-style castle between the years 1926 and 1929 to serve both as his home and as a backdrop for his collection of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance artifacts. In addition, the building housed the Hammond Research Corporation, from which Dr. Hammond produced over 400 patents and the ideas for over 800 inventions. Second only to Thomas Alva Edison in number of patents, John Hammond was one of America's premier inventors. His most important work was the development of remote control via radio waves, which earned him the title, "The Father of Remote Control."

No wonder then, that this strange place has a history of odd sights, sounds, and energies. Stories of spirit entities here mainly revolve around sightings of Hammond, his wife, and his black cat, though the staff there have confided to a select few that there are more entities here than just those three, including one groundskeeper who died there tragically, and still others who are unidentifiable.

This is just freaky...

Last stop, Stage Fort Park.

This area was the site for the city's first settlement in 1623.

10 Pound Island...

This was really a great day for all of us. It was nice to explore a town so close to home. I guess this is what they mean when they boast about taking a "stay-cation". How great it was to visit someplace so close and support local tourism.