Rainy Day Review of New England

Today marks the end of the second week in New England. We have been as far north as Newburyport and as far south as Cape Cod. The theme has been libraries and cemeteries, with a few coffee shops and book stores thrown in for our day tripping delight.

And, since it's raining outside right now and my ankle needs to recover from a minor twist, this entry will be a review of favorites encountered along the way.

Before I begin, it's worth mentioning the criteria. What merits a visit by the HopeMom? Above all, it cannot be a chain operation. This includes Starbucks, although I must confess I did give them some money in exchange for a grande soy latte in a moment of weakness last week. The only other shop around that day was a hardware store. A hammer might have helped my head but the latte went down a bit easier. Other than that, we are only visiting mom-n-pop, local, cool and interesting destinations. Here are the highlights, in no particular order.

Yankee Book and Art Gallery on North Street in Plymouth is a small, independent bookstore cluttered with old, rare and interesting books piled high to the ceiling. It's an asthmatic's nightmare but the book lover's dream. The owner, Charles Purro, was friendly and helpful. We talked haunted houses, town history and jazz music. If you like bookshops, this one is a must-see!

 On a wet day in early June we trekked north to the small seaside town of Essex for a visit to the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. Because of the weather, the tour was truncated to only include the indoor display, which was located in an old schoolhouse. To give a sense of the age of the community, the bell tower in the church across the street contained a bell hand crafted by Paul Revere. Over one hundred years before that, in 1690, my 9th great grandfather -- Stephen Greenleaf, a blacksmith by trade -- was buried in this community. By the looks of the Information sign at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum only heaven can give us the answers we need. I wonder if Grandpa Stephen found his answers by looking in that direction?

One Sunday afternoon, Hope and I followed the Freedom Trail through downtown Boston. It was a wild and fun day. We saw manic homeless people, drunk locals and lost tourists. Importantly we ate some of the best soup ever known to humanity at Pho Pasteur on Beach and Washington Streets in Chinatown. The vegetables were crunchy, the broth was amazing and the service was friendly. The place was packed with locals too, which is always a good sign. This one is worth a return visit next time.

On a country road in what seems to be the middle of a pine forest stands a huge two story book shop called Parnassus Book Service of Yarmouthport. The building was constructed in 1800. On the north side of the structure books sit on shelves outside, as though at a stall in the local farmer's market. Customers merely drop their payment in a bucket before leaving. To go inside is a book lover's paradise. Old collectible novels find a place next to contemporary history books. I came very close to purchasing Nancy Thacher Reid's book about the settling of Barnstable but the 1000 pages (in hardback, no less!) seemed a daunting load for the lightfooted traveler. About five miles from here my 11th great grandfather, Richard Sears, was buried in 1676.

Lunch in Cohasset can be challenging on a Sunday afternoon. This is because in a town of 7,142 people nothing is open! Against Hope's better judgment, we took our chances with Mr Dooley's Olde Irish Village Pub, where we sat on the patio overlooking the village common. And, as you can see from the picture, Hope enjoyed her root beer nearly as much as I enjoyed my salad and soda water.

One of the primary goals for this sojourn through New England has been to research the 17th century colonial period. To that end, we stopped off at the Sturgis Library a few days ago to spend some time in the archives tapping primary sources. The building itself was constructed as a church in 1645 by Rev. John Lothrop and is in remarkably good condition for being about 360 years old.

Amazingly, this church (like the bookstore) is located only a few miles from the dwelling sites of five of my grandfathers. As you can see from the yellow pins on the map these founding fathers of Barnstable stuck pretty closely together. In the southwest dwelt Thomas Howes, my 11th great grandfather who died here in 1665. North of the Howes residence was John Hall, Sr. Born in England in 1610, he died in Yarmouth in 1696. He is also my 11th great grandfather. His son, John Hall, Jr (my 10th great grandfather) also died here in 1710. Fortunately I was able to find Grandpa John Jr's tombstone in the Hall Cemetery with some help from a friendly local. If it hadn't been for her, there's no way I would have known to walk down this dirt road  into the forest to get there!

These are just a few of the places we have been and the sights we have seen. Now, however, the rain outside is starting to let up so I think HopeMom will take another excursion in New England today. Stay tuned for more next time!