June 27, 2019
Day 64 Ipswich, MA
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It was a little chilly and very foggy when we started out this morning. Our route took us along the shore, through Beverly, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Gloucester and Rockport and then back to Ipswich. It was a nice circuitous route that had some amazing ocean views. The only thing was that for the first few hours, our ocean views looked like this:
and this
and this
There were some beautiful oceanfront estates from Beverly to Manchester-by-the-Sea.
At Magnolia, Kerry found a "detour" along the water through a residential neigborhood. I wasn't sure about the roads, but Kerry was sure it would be fine. It was like this for just a little way
But, there were some huge homes to gawk at.
Just past Magnolia, we stopped at the Hammond Castle Museum. It is a huge home built to resemble a medieval European castle. It was built in the 1920's by inventor John Jay Hammond.
We first thought we weren't going to get to tour the place because the only access was down steep steps. We wouldn't leave the bike unattended in the upper parking lot. While trying to figure out what we should do, we met Jay, who works there and led us down a roped off driveway to the entrance.
Inside, the place is strange. There is the grand hall
which opens onto the courtyard pool
and numerous little rooms with medieval style furnishings.
We saw the library and a couple of guest bedrooms.
Looking from the outside, I think we actually saw only a small portion of the house. It seemed very dark and gloomy, but the weather may have added to that. It was the site of one of those haunted castle TV shows and seems like perfect place for that!
Our next stop was Gloucester. We had to visit the famous fisherman statue.
There is now also a fisherman's wife statue nearby.
We went to a small maritime museum and walked around the old waterfront. There is a ship that is going to be rebuilt. The guy didn't say if it was to be part of the museum or being rebuilt for private use.
From Gloucester, we rode up to Rockport. The sun came out and we had some great views up there.
The town was packed with people who basically took over the street in the little downtown area. We heard there was a large motorcycle club visiting.
We circled back to Gloucester and rode on to Ipswich. Tomorrow we get to Maine!
Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 2,453 miles (3,948 km)
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