North Atlantic Reprise

My alarm went off at 7:30 and as I reached from my bed to hit the snooze, I half considered sleeping in an extra hour and simply catching the 9:30 train to Rockland. I thought better of it and forced myself up. The train to rockland is an hour and some, which would get me in later in the day. And I do like to get an early start to travel.

Rockport, Massachusetts, is a small fishing village north of Gloucester, on a rocky peninsula sticking into the Altantic. It's picturesque, quaint, heavy on the tourist industry and some fishing. I wanted to get a last taste of the old new England fishing villages, so it seemed like a good place to go. Turns out I underestimated the tourism there, but it turned out ok.

Caught a train from North Station, commuter rail, $20 round trip ticket. A little over an hour's ride out of town. Went by pretty fast- the scenery once you get beyond Salem becomes really lovely as the rail runs through forest and salt marshes and past other small fishing harbor towns.

In Rockport, I walked to the main street along the harbor, about a twenty minute walk from the station. It was nice that it was early enough in the day that the streets were not yet choked with tourists, and I could get my fill of the scenic storefronts on bearskin neck. Bearskin neck is full of old lobster shacks and fishing shanties which have all been converted to the picturesque tourist industry- gelato shops, cafes, quite a few Asian Imports, several clothing stores, candy stores, tarot parlors run by witches, restaurants, sea glass jewelry, pottery, 'whimsical artwork,' and Austrian strudel. I did stop into the strudel place and get some cherry strudel which was actually pretty good.

On the train ride over, I'd been considering joining a sea-kayak tour, but once I got out there, I realized that I'd be a lot happier doing it with someone else and not just being a single in the tour group. Besides, that $40 could be well spent in other ways. I ended up renting a bicycle for a few hours, $15, which included a lock, so I took off in my landlubbery ways.

I've always enjoyed exploring by bike, especially places where you have interesting spots and sights separated by long distances. I biked along the coastal roads, stopping now and then to park the bike and pick my way down to the shoreline. The coast up here is really rocky (surprise!). While the small beach proper down in Rockport was sandy, farther north, the Atlantic crashed into a shattered plain of granite steps marching into the sea. I walked here for awhile, cooling my legs in the spray and waves washing over the rocks. I took photos of the lighthouses on distant islands. It was a nice farewell to the Atlantic- it was a place which conveyed well the power and isolation of that ocean.

Caught the train back and walked home from the north station, a few miles journey, but one that took me through some picturesque parts of the city. Chinese take out for dinner. Tomorrow I catch a flight back to St.Louis.