About Town :: Westport

We are not quite snow free yet, but very close. There are still some of the large snow piles left around town, and a bit out in our side yard that does not get as much sun. That patch of snow is still covering up what should be my crocus. 

However, that said it actually hit 60 degrees today and it felt like a heatwave! My snow drops are about to burst in the backyard. And the birds and squirrels are going a bit bonkers in the back. I guess we all just need a bit of sun and warmth already.  

I know I haven't posted much lately and that is because work has been busy, and I haven't had time to bead or make much jewelry. For those pieces I have made there hasn't been enough sun to take pictures. But today was perfect. I was able to get out and get a bit snap happy, so you'll see a few pieces coming up in the next week or two.

While we had the sun, we decided to head over to the library where the river walk is. This is my little New England town with the Saugatuck River that runs right through the middle of it. No it isn't very big, but there is more to it than what you see here. I just like the view down by the river.

It was crazy windy today as you can see from the water that is high and choppy. The river is tidal with tides that typically range from 7 to 10 feet, and flows directly into the Long Island Sound. We did manage to catch a few fine feathered friends who walked up the steps. There are steps that go down to the water for anyone deciding to row a boat along the river. You can see his friend popping his head up over that last step. Although the sight of me and the sound of my camera lens zooming in had these two off to the water quickly.

You can also see my photography assistant (aka The Bead Girl) who was out snapping pics with me. It was hard to get her to stand still or find an angle where her hair was whipping in front of her face! 

I also spotted a stone carving that for some reason I've never noticed before. I laughed to myself as I was wondering what kind of stone this was; I could hear the answer in my head from my BBF Christine who always defaults to agate if you're not sure. A good rule of thumb. So we'll go with agate that looks to have a bit of 'lace' in it. 

Mystic :: Encore

Between the four of us, we had something like 200+ pictures from our day at Mystic Seaport. I thought I'd add two more of my favorites.

One of my photographer, Kate. And another picture of the seaport framed in shadow and with Kate having a look out over the water. It was a peaceful day.

One exhibit I wanted to mention was of the Gerda III, which was a Danish workboat during WWII. In 1943 it was used to ferry Jewish refuges from occupied Denmark to neutral Sweden. The refuges were smuggled aboard and hidden in the cargo hold of this small boat. Although it was regularly boarded and inspected by German soldiers, they were never discovered.

The Gerda III rescued approximately 300 Jews taking 10 - 15 people at a time to safety. The boat was part of a spontaneous effort by Danes who rescued roughly 7000 Jews --- nearly the entire Danish Jewish population were saved from the hands of the Germans. Now that is an amazing story!

A Day at Mystic Seaport

We moved back East over 10 years ago, and live about an hour from historic Mystic Seaport, but we'd never been until a few weeks ago. We decided to do a day trip and spend the afternoon walking around the still working shipyard. 

I hadn't realized that it was essentially a similar type of open air museum as you'd find at Colonial Williamsburg complete with demonstrations on how to properly set the sails or to rescue a distressed ship at sea. 

Many of the original buildings are still standing and open for you to step in and speak to the merchants; grocery, watch maker, maps, blacksmith .... all showing items from the 1700s and 1800s. 

The maps show the tracks of whaling ships, and we stopped into the watch shop where all the pieces are still running including a large grandfather's clock from the 1700s. There are exhibits of small sailing boats and early racers called Cat Boats as the area became famous for competitive sailing. 

The ship shown at the beginning of this post is called the Charles W Morgan (built in 1841), which is the oldest commercial ship still afloat. It sailed for over 200 years as part of the American whaling fleet. This ship was built for durability, not speed and navigated all over the world from the Arctic, to around Cape Horn.  We went on board to tour the cramped quarters below deck where the officers and men lived.

I loved that this was a 'working' port and that the blacksmith was pounding away, the grocer was weighing items on the old scales and there was real salt cod drying (pictured above). Drying food is one of the world's oldest known preservation methods. Here the salted cod is dried by the wind and sun laying on wood racks. Many people think drying cod this way makes it tastier. Might be all the salt? I'm just say'n.

A quick shout out to my oldest daughter who has been into photography for the last few years. She took the vast majority of these pictures, and I'm really loving how she captured the light from inside the buildings to let the doors and windows frame the seaport. This is definitely worth stopping for an afternoon walking tour around the seaport if you're in the neighborhood.