The Salmon Falls, a river separating a section of Maine and New Hampshire, once powered mills along its way.
My fondness for old mills, by the way, did prompt a novel, Big Inca.
ALONG THE SALMON FALLS
Category: Postcards
GRAY SEAL PARADISE
The deck of the Chatham Fish Pier is ideal for viewing gray seals in motion.
The town at the elbow of Cape Cod also includes Monomoy Island, an 8-mile-long sand spit that is home to thousands of the seals, as well as great white sharks feeding on them in recent years.
IMMORTALIZED IN STONE
The rear of the stone structure supporting the Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw Memorial and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment is worth a close examination in its own right. Engraved here are the names of the soldiers, most of them from humble beginnings and circumstances, who would otherwise be lost to history if not for their heroic service and sacrifice.
Boston is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.
INSIDE HISTORY AT FANEUIL HALL
Maybe it’s all a reflection of classic proportions, but so much in Peter Faneuil’s historic town hall and marketplace simply feels right ever since it was erected in 1742 and enlarged in 1805 under Charles Bulfinch’s masterful design.
Boston is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.
COLONIAL LINES
Novelist Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was born in this 1774 house owned by her grandparents, which she would inherit from them. The site, sitting in the heart of South Berwick, Maine, just a few miles from us, is now owned by Historic New England and open to the public.
ON THE GREAT WORKS RIVER
Not all of New England’s water-powered mills sat along major rivers. This woolen mill in North Berwick, Maine, was founded by Quaker William Hill, beginning in 1862, and made blankets for Union soldiers. The Great Works River itself had been named by earlier Quakers.
The mill has been renovated into residences and offices.
My fondness for old mills, by the way, did prompt a novel, Big Inca.
COMMITMENT TO LIBERTY
Public sculpture typically celebrates famed men or mythological figures, but the Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw Memorial and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, which sits across from the State House, is in a league of its own.
Within its unified design, the focus turns to each of the enlisted black soldiers as they resolutely march to battle to free slaves. Every face is unique, sympathetic, tragic, and each body moves with muscle, even anger and justice. If August Saint-Gaudens had created no other work, this masterpiece would have sealed his reputation.
Boston is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.
OVERLOOKING THE REMAINING MILLS
Hard as it is to imagine, Dover once had twice as many mills along the river, plus tanneries and other supporting enterprises.
My fondness for old mills, by the way, did prompt a novel, Big Inca.
HOT AND SOUR
Chinatown is a delightful contrast to much of Boston’s more Yankee reserved style. We recommend feasting on dim sum on a Saturday or Sunday morning, but be sure to arrive early – the restaurants are soon packed for the inexpensive rounds of adventurous platters.
You never know quite what to find in its shops, either. A resourceful puppeteer I know discovered the perfect fabric in one of its retailers aimed at, shall we say, exotic dancers? She was hardly the type, and the owners were amused.
The city is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.
FANCIFUL CRITTERS
The animals circling on the carousel in the Rose Kennedy Garden atop the Big Dig are a vast improvement over the days when the Expressway overhead was jammed.
Boston is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.
Jnana's Red Barn 