Visiting the Mill in Brewster

I guess Mar and I are Old Fogies!
We are not beach people ... in fact, we didn't even pack the swim suits!
But look at some of the advantages of visiting Cape Cod in the off-season.
First, there were hardly any tourists; it was like having the Cape to ourselves! The three best things about that was no crowds, no crowds and no crowds! There was no road traffic with the accompanying horrendous summer traffic jams, most souvenir shops had opened, and we had these stores and sights to ourselves.
Seeing Cape Cod in the spring also meant seeing blooms you'd otherwise never get to see in person. And they were magnificent! Especially the azaleas. For me, the tulips, by the gazillions, took a close second .... most homes had at least one flower bed full of them.
We missed the rhodies by a week or two ... oh well, we'll have to go back in May next time to see those. Sharon Fogerty said they are incredible. We could see them budding, so sorry to miss them.
Another thing you'll only see in the spring are the herring running from the sea to the ponds. It sure is an awesome sight of nature to see, especially the fight between the herrings trying to get to the ponds against the sea gulls out for a buffet meal at all the streams. In April and May, the herring return from the sea to climb the man-made fish ladders to lay their eggs behind the mill in Mill Pond.
This is a series of pictures I took of the Stony Brook Grist Mill, the herring run, and the Mill Pond in Brewster.

Here's the Mill taken from the walkway that leads to Mill Pond. It is still a working mill, in museum form ... during the summer months corn grinding is done for the tourists.

Another view of the leading edge of the pond leading up to the mill.

Here's a shot taken 180 degrees from the last two, showing Mill Pond. There was one lone sea gull on the wall beside the pond. He didn't seem bothered by me, in fact, I was able to walk up to about ten feet from him for the next shot.
I have to think he was sitting here, full of herring, congratulating those who completed the swim past his fellow gulls.

The gull is sitting next to the end of the man-made herring run slewway, built so the herring could jump their way through the "locks" to the pond.

This was taken about half way down the herring run. The sea gulls are lined up, waiting for dinner to swim by!

Here's one gull who obviously sees a herring before his mates.

As soon as one gull dives for a herring, he is literally attacked by several of his mates. It is every bird for himself! Until a herring is swallowed, it is fair game. The gulls try to steal the herring right out of each other's mouths!

When a gull had had his full, he would fly off to a roof across the street to snooze and digest his fish dinner. There were dozens of gulls lazing on the roof, (darn, I forgot to get that shot.)

There was a nice foot bridge across the herring run. As long as you stayed a few feet away, the gulls would sit on the railing unperturbed.
I think they were saying to Mar in this image, "So like, where's your fishing pole?"

Here's one picture of the stream ...

.... and here's another. The drop in the stream was evidently too great for the herring to make it to the pond.

Here's part of the herring run that curved away from the stream ... making the incline less steep for the herring, but also "setting the table" for the hungry gulls!

Here's a sideways picture of the herring run showing the little, man-made "locks" which allow the herring to jump their way up to Mill Pond.

Humans aren't the only species to have bullies!
This one gull was really mean! He had staked out one of the run's areas for his exclusivity, and pity any other poor gull who came by to fish!
Here's one who dropped by and was being severely chased away.
This gull should have taken up hockey ... who would go into the corners against him!

Here's one smart gull who realized the herring were momentarily airborne, when jumping from "lock" to "lock". He's waiting for dinner to jump right into his mouth!

The gulls were really upset and shrieking at me from overhead while I took this shot.
It shows four of the "locks" on the run to the pond; I was too close for comfort for the gulls.
However, I had just turned away and they were immediately back at this section looking for a meal.

Here's one final image of the herring run. In this photo, the water is flowing towards the sea, several hundred yards away.
Mar and I were so glad to have had the opportunity to vist the mill, pond and stream while the herring were running.

GPK~RGHS Mini-Reunion on Cape Cod

Mar and I joined Sharon and Alan in their home for a wonderful, Sharon-the-Chef's, fresh, catch-of-the-day supper.
Sharon took us to an incredible fish store in Hyannis, where the fish sold were caught on the same day. She cooked them to perfection!
We had a wonderful evening talking about the old days, the new days, the days to come and Toto.
If you want to know who Toto is, ask Sharon!

'Meeting' Ms. Tubman!

Her name deserves to be handed down to posterity, side by side with the names of Jeanne D'Arc, Grace Darling, and Florence Nightingale, for not one of these women, noble and brave as they were, has shown more courage, and power of endurance, in facing danger and death to relieve human suffering, than this poor black woman, whose story I am endeavoring in a most imperfect way to give you.
~ from the Preface of "HARRIET, THE MOSES OF HER PEOPLE" by SARAH H. BRADFORD

Harriet Tubman's Home in Auburn, NY

Finding Her Resting Place: Ms Tubman's Grave is
Under the Tallest Fir Tree in the Vast Cemetery

One Side of Her Marker

The Other Side of Her Marker

To This Day Her Grave is Attended to With
Flowers and Recognition of Her War Efforts

Cleaning Up the Dandelions

On our return trip from Cape Cod we took a slight detour for a pilgrimage to see Harriet Tubman's home and gravesite.
When writing Beautiful Niagara, Mar and I had met the wonderful people at her St. Catharines, Ontario church: who maintain the memories of her life-risking work to free so many slaves in captivity, prior to the Civil War.
Subsequent to the war, she relocated to Auburn, NY, purchased the home seen above and lived a long life.
After researching her life and documenting her incredible work, it was quite a moving experience to visit her final resting place.

Hey Bird! Want Some Tartar Sauce with That?

We visited the Old Mill and its adjacent herring run in Brewster. (I have some pics of the mill to post on another day.)
This shot by Mar is great. She took it just as a sea gull was about to swallow a herring whole.
It's nifty how they know to swallow them head first so the fish's fins don't catch in their throats.
The water is still in a turmoil as several birds had fought for this one fish.
It was quite a glimpse into nature's circle of life that has gone on for eons as the herring make their spring run from the ocean to the ponds ... and the sea gulls feasting like kings.

Is This What Montreal Looked Like in the 1600's?

This is a pic Mar took under the bridge that takes you onto the Cape.
I cannot help but wonder if this is what Montreal looked like under the JC Bridge before all the skyscrapers were built ...

A Scary Honeymoon Moment

Mar and I were having a nice romantic and quiet stroll on a Chatham beach when we were attacked by this fierce sea monster.
Putting myself between the ferocious monster and Mar, and using every marshall art technique I know, I finally killed it after a 25 minute duel in the sand.
To the Victor went the spoils ....
To be sure Lloyd Bridges would be proud!

Sailing. Sailing. Sailing the Ocean Blue!

I got up one morning on our honeymoon to take a solo boat excursion in shark invested waters.
I've never seen rougher seas!
At times, the visibilty was so low I had to steer looking out from the bridge.
That was enough adrenalin for one day!

Our Honeymoon Pictures ~ The Underground Railway

When Mar and I had our Mini GPK/RGHS Reunion with Sharon Hawkins in her Yarmouthport restaurant, The Optimist Cafe, she explained to us that the house's owner before the Civil War had been a ship's captain, who assisted the Underground Railway.
In the cellar of this home, he had built a sub-cellar to hide fleeing slaves from Southern owners coming north in attempts to capture them.
Above is the trap door in the restaurant's cellar basement and the brick-walled chamber they hid in.

More Honeymoon Shots from Cape Cod ~ Our Day in Provincetown

Mar and her new friend outside a smoke shop ...

This was an entrance to a store, down a hallway, off the street ... I took it 'cause I loved the shadow affect on the walkway.

Crazy Provincetown ... people paint storefronts in ANY colour!

Need a gas mask, army uniforms, WW2 helmets? ... this store has them all and more!

A view looking up one of Provincetown's narrow streets ..... the Town was built way before cars ... you feel you are going back in time everywhere you go ....

As Mar and I were having a meal in a little bistro, this girl in a short pink mini-skirt and heels pulled up and started putting music equipment and signs on the sidewalk across the street. We noticed she was very unsteady in her heels.

ONLY IN PROVINCETOWN! Turns out it was 76 year old "Ellie", some guy in drag, who does a panhandling concert every night in front of the Town Hall. (Click and enlarge the pic and you'll see it really is an old guy!) As soon as he started serenading me with a song I was OUTTA THERE .....

The old pier posts on Provincetown's deserted wharf .... decaying and covered in barnacles.

Provincetown, USA ... zip code 02657: the country's highest population of same sex couples.

Gotta get some souvenir T-shirts!

Another Provincetown street: so typically narrow.

We were going to buy some pretty seashells to take home to decorate the garden .... until we found out they were ALL IMPORTED FROM THE PHILLIPINES!!!!!

The view from the doorway of one souvenir shop ... as I waited once more as Mar shopped ... Hahahaha

As we left Provincetown late in the afternoon we stopped to take a picture on Route 6A, looking back on the town. I was whimsically wondering if I'd ever be back ....

Honeymoon Shots, Cape Cod

There was a huge pile of these shells at the beach near our cottage. Think I'll make it my desktop background when I get home!

This little cottage was located right on our beach. It was almost a twin to the one Mar and I stayed in. These are sooo typical of Cape Cod architecture!

Here's the Chatham lighthouse ... you can see the light was just revolving towards the camera as I clicked the shutter. It was an overcast day and I'm sure many fisherman were glad to have that beacon going.

The beach at Chatham. There are 600 miles of beaches on the Cape.

One of the sand dunes above the Chatham beach.