Life After 50: August 2023

Last Day in Pandarma

Our last morning here in Pandarma MA. Nancy had made a French toast casserole for breakfast which was super delicious. We sat out on the patio eating our breakfast and enjoying each other's company.

Nancy was attending her granddaughter's birthday tea party today. We went and helped them prepare for the party. I assembled the Caesar salad into some won-ton cups and topped them with crotons. I hear they were delicious.

Marlon had made a pen for Paul and it was nice to see him using it at his desk!!

Martha's Vineyard - New Bedford - Oaks Bluff

After breakfast Nancy and I worked on crafting our Christmas trees and flowers made with mussel shells. Take a good look at beautiful our trees and flowers turned out.

After crafting we got ready to take off and go to breakfast and then on to Martha's Vineyard. We had breakfast at a place called Tia Marie's. Tia Marie's is located in the heart of the National Whaling Park along the cobblestone streets of the historic downtown of New Bedford. Tia Marie is a European Cafe and the food served is Portuguese.

Nancy loves cappuccinos and ordered one right away. Of course, the whipped cream is what she really likes LOL Loved the Portuguese omelet with linguica and cow cheese. The sweet bread was delicious.

The streets of New Bedford are cobblestones. Checked out a few shops before heading out to find the ferry to Martha's Vineyard.

We are taking the Seastreak Ferry over to Martha's Vineyard. We started in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and landed at the port of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. It will take about an hour to get there. We sat on the top deck and in front. The view was great and the ride was fast.

Once we arrived in Oak Bluff we walked down the streets that had many shops. Stopped at the carousel called The Flying Horses. The Flying Horses Carousel is the oldest operating platform carousel in America. The carousel was apparently first located in New York City before being moved to the island in the 1880s. The carousel is one of only a handful of carousels that still have brass rings for a rider to attempt to grab as the carousel rotates. Marlon almost got the last brass ring, so close .................

In 1835, a group of local Methodists began holding religious camp meetings on a half-acre of land they bought in Oak Bluffs. These outdoor worship meetings were all the rage during the nineteenth century, and Methodists from the mainland would flock to the island to pitch a tent on the site and listen to services held on benches under the trees. After the first meeting was a success, they became an annual tradition, with more and more families coming over each year. By 1855, there were 200 canvas tents up, a drastic increase from the original nine when the site launched.

There are 318 Gingerbread Cottages on Martha's Vineyard. The cottages are designed to replicate the tents they replaced with narrow footprints and peaked roofs. Most of the cottages have double doors, porches, and a second-floor balcony. These are meant to mimic the always open double flaps on the tents, which allowed conversation with passing neighbors.

After a tour of the cottages and the Methodist Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is located in Trinity Park, Oak Bluffs, MA. The Tabernacle was built in 1879 and is a covered open-air public venue open seasonally that can seat approximately 1,678 people.

We are all tired and hungry. We ate at a place called Nancy's. The view was amazing as was the seafood. The lemon drink was nice and refreshing.

Time for some shopping which included a stop at "The Black Dog" Captain Douglas makes a vessel for himself, using early construction techniques and materials wherever possible. The Captain christens his new topsail schooner "The Shenandoah", and brings her to her new home on the Vineyard. The Captain brings a black lab/boxer mix aboard and names her "Black Dog" after the character in Robert Lewis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". The man, the boat, and the dog are nearly inseparable. Started off with a tavern and then clothes apparel.

Another part of the island we want to see is called Edgartown. Paul got us a taxi and we hopped in the van. We toured around the town and stopped at the Harbor Hotel.

We walked through the hotel and went to the bar. Guys ordered us drinks and Nancy and I went out and found us a spot on the front porch to enjoy the view.

After our drinks on the porch we walked around downtown and shopped. There were guys singing in the street and it was nice to listen to them.

Time to look for a taxi to take us back to Oaks Bluff. It's getting close to the time for us to catch the ferry back home. First, we are going to look for a place to eat. Giordano's is a great place for Italian food. We ordered clam bake which was amazing. We also ordered a pizza to share. :-)

Back on the ferry and heading home. What a great adventure we have been on.

Whaling Museum in New Bedford MA

Up early this morning and walked down to the local market where we had a great breakfast

and coffee. Took back some goodies for our friends.

The weather has been the best here! In the 70s with a slight breeze can't ask for better than that!! Nancy and I worked on our mussel trees and flowers. I will say I think they turned out fabulous.

After our crafting time was done it was time to start thinking about lunch. Paul and Nancy wanted to take us to a place they think is the best lobster roll ever. The place is called Knuckle Heads. :-) Loved the atmosphere in this place. We ordered the lobster roll and it was my first time to have it. Talk about delicious, yes it was very yummy!!! While there they showed us how to play Keno which I loved. Nancy did pretty well with her winnings.

Now on to New Bedford MA where we are going to tour around the shops and visit the Whaling Museum.

The term “bethel” comes from two Hebrew words, “Beth” and “El.” Beth means “House” and El means “God”, so it is a Seamen’s House of God or a Seamen’s Church. Because whaling was so dangerous, many whalemen felt the need to attend services at the Bethel prior to shipping out on whaling voyages.

The Pulpit
Ironically, there is one element of Moby-Dick that Melville wrote that has helped to make the Whalemen’s Chapel famous. When Melville writes of the Whalemen’s Chapel, he describes the pulpit as being suggestive of the front of a ship. But the pulpit when he visited was not prow-shaped; it was a typical New England box-style pulpit.

The pulpit in the Whalemen’s Chapel today is not due to Melville’s book, but to the movie which was released in 1956. The director of the movie, John Huston, was Irish and he went to Ireland to film the movie. The pulpit seen in that movie is unmistakably the prow of a ship. When the movie was released, it was hugely successful and one result was that Americans wanted to visit New Bedford to see the Seamen’s Bethel with that pulpit in the Whalemen’s Chapel. The only problem was they arrived expecting to see something that did not exist. And they were not happy to discover an ordinary pulpit in the Chapel.
The New Bedford Port Society listened to the grumblings of visitors for some years before deciding to build a mock-up of the pulpit described in the book and seen in the movie. The idea was that they would test visitor reaction, and if it was positive, then a more authentic-looking pulpit would be done. The new pulpit was first seen by visitors in 1961 and since the pulpit met expectations, the grumblings stopped. The pulpit remains today because visitors are generally satisfied with it and since the Seamen’s Bethel relies on donations to operate, there are more important areas for funds to be used than building an authentic-looking pulpit.

Nancy had a classmate named Brad that sat behind her in school. Brad was a whaler on the Sol E Mar. You will see a classmate's name, who went down on the Sol E Mar. Nancy got emotional when she saw this. Rest in Peace Brad..........

The painting had moby dick painted into them, can you find him in the painting?

The Whaling Museum was right down the street from the church. The amount of history in the museum is plenty. You could spend many hours in there reading about the whaling that was going on here in Massachusetts.

Inside the Whaling Museum, there is a half-scale model of the whaling bark. Lagoda is the largest ship model in existence.

Time to head back to Padaram to relax. It was coffee time and so we all walked down to Farm & Coast a local market. Sat out of the patio and enjoyed some coffee and a sweet treat.

Dinner at the Sail Loft tonight. We have had the best time ever with these guys. A trip we will always remember. Thanks for a great time!!

The Black Whale - Turbines

A morning walk to Scuttlebutt in The Village of Padanaram for coffee. We were shocked that they charge a fair wage administrative fee of 18% and a 7% tax on top of that, when all they did was hand us a cup of coffee.

The Black Whale was a very nice place to eat with a great view. Daphnee met us there for lunch. More seafood for me a crab cake sandwich !!

The offshore lease areas are in federal waters on the outer continental shelf south of Martha's Vineyard and southeast of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay and east of Montauk Point on Long Island, NY. Together they amount to about 800,000 acres.

Below are pictures of the arrival of all the parts to construct the wind turbines.

Before dinner Marlon and I walked over the drawbridge in South Dartmouth MA and loved seeing all the boats in the harbor. I have never seen so many boats in one location.

Before dinner drink on the porch!

Refill time

absolutely perfect temperatures

Before dinner Nancy and I decided what we were going to make with all those mussel shells. Christmas trees and flowers.

Nancy has a beautiful back yard the perfect location to watch the birds and enjoy all the surroundings.

Men doing some talking around the grill, together they made the perfect steaks.

Dinner is served!! Super delicious and I am so enjoying my time with our new friends.

Arrival To Providence Rhode Island

We decided to stay at the airport hotel since we had such an early flight and a late flight home from Providence Rhode Island. The food at the hotel restaurant was very tasty. We enjoyed a Cuban sandwich with black bean soup. We immediately became friends the minute we met at Edna's On The Green in The Villages Florida. We have only hung out 3 times before we came to their house.

Paul Cussin was waiting on us when we arrived:-) The ride back to their place was about 40 minutes. Their house is located in Padarama in The Village, Massachusetts. Nancy met us at the front door where we hugged and were happy to see each other. She set the table outside where we enjoyed conversation and great food.

After we ate and got settled in, we all took a walk down to a local coffee house where we met their son Todd and had a beverage and a huge plate of fries with bay seasoning to share.

Time to get back to the house and get ready to go to Daphne's house which is their daughter. We are going to attend a polo match that is being played at their house. Dave her husband will be playing in the match. I was very impressed that they had their own professional polo field. I got to try some vodka infused with jalapeno and cucumber. I really liked the drink :-) We sat up on the roof top balcony to watch the game.

Getting hungry so we decided to go eat at The Boathouse which is located on the Sakonnet River. The food and atmosphere was amazing. I tried oysters on the half-shell and littlenecks.