13 - July 1, 2010

Initial Impressions

Christopher Setterlund

July 1, 2010 – In My Footsteps Travel Day

1.      Returned to Gloucester, I had an even better time since I knew the places I wanted to see.

2.      Also hit Rockport again and Ipswich, the North Shore is like a dream every time I go, 3 trips thus far and probably 1 or 2 more to go.

3.      There was so much traffic from just north of Boston down about 10 miles, it was the only hiccup on a nearly flawless trip.  Even that was cool as I got to flirt with girls passing by, hey you never know, right?

4.      Did over 230 miles today on $20 of gas, did I mention how much I love my car?

5.      At Stage Fort Park in Gloucester there was a lot with a guy at a shack looking for $10 to park for the beach.  Little did he know that across the street were free spots, for 20 minutes at least, which is all I needed.  Ha ha, sucker, I smiled and waved, he was not amused.

6.      Got to see a drawbridge go up today in Gloucester, I was stuck on one side with two hot college girls.  Oh no, whatever shall I do!

7.      So I am walking out on this trail or rock pieces to see the Thacher Island Twin Lights in Rockport when what do I see sort of hanging out on the rocks but a big gray Tupperware bin, yeah I thought it was random too.

8.      At a great little spot called Bearskin Neck in Rockport I got to witness this Crocodile Dundee looking guy holding up traffic by repeatedly saying to one car ‘Welcome to Rockport.’  It’s like, dude, they know where they are after the first 10 times you said it.  Then he also was yelling at a guy fishing to ‘rip ‘em out of the water.’  Funny, but crazy too.

9.      There was this dog in the doorway of a store staring at me, he was fine until after I snapped a photo, then he flipped out.  Maybe he doesn’t like his picture being taken?

10.  There was a little blond-haired boy calling out ‘Opa’ over and over, then it hit me that he meant Grampa in German.  How did I know?  From having to write German dialogue in my book Second Coming.  Yes, I officially rule, understanding German on the streets of Rockport.

11.  Bearskin Neck also was home to a yodeling pickle as well as creepy mannequin heads in a second floor window.  The place is great, like a big outdoor mall made of old fishing shacks.

12.  I remembered seeing in Stop & Shop this week lots and lots of the refills for the OFF repellant clip-ons but none of the clip-ons themselves.  These would have served me well walking through the woods where I became an afternoon snack for tons of bugs.

13.  Oh yeah, and a greenhead fly stowed away in my car for the ride home in traffic.  Nothing beats trying to kill something and drive.  It’s probably still in there now, sleeping and waiting for me to go to work tomorrow.

14.  They need to make Annisquam Lighthouse in Gloucester a little easier to find, without a GPS it would stay lost.  The long search was worth it though, lots of great shots of it.

15.  There was this little guy going round checking all of the parking meters along Bearskin Neck, at least I thought it was a guy until she turned around, ugh, cold shivers, with her buzzcut, I had to go dive in the harbor to escape.

16.  Went to a place called Castle Hill in Ipswich, turns out it was used in the movie The Next Karate Kid, the one with Hilary Swank, never saw it but hey I lied to the gatekeeper.

17.  In the latest edition of my GPS trying to kill me, this time my British Nanny tried to tell me to take the carpool lane on I-93.  I refused and then as I was stuck in traffic I watched several cars with only one person inside go by in the carpool lane.  I could hear my Nanny voice saying ‘I told you so silly Yankee.’

18.  My last stop in Ipswich was to be the Turner Hill Mansion, or so my GPS said.  I drove inside this place and it ended up being a damn golf course and resort, no mansion.  So I figured I’d take a photo, too bad this jerk that had been tailgating me decided to park in my shot, so I had to stand there like an idiot waiting for him to move.

19.  Was excited to visit a place called Dogtown in Gloucester, it was an abandoned old settlement from the 17^th century.  Never got to see it since the bugs were killing me, but I did get to hear a fight between a couple construction guys, that was almost as good.

Quote of the Day:  “Welcome to Rockport.” –Crocodile Dundee looking guy, over and over, to a car trying to park at Bearskin Neck.  Maybe he was a robot whose circuits got scrambled?

Song of the Day: Between the Lines – Stone Temple Pilots  buy mp3 here

Photo of the Day:  Motif #1: Rockport, Mass.