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November 02, 2007

64 Lines About 32 Towns*

One thing I've been doing this summer, in addition to not writing, is making progress on Project 351. I've hit 32 more towns since I last checked in. Here are the Cliff Notes:

1. Hingham. The Old Ship Church is, well, a church designed to be reminiscent of a ship's hull. Which leads us to...
2. Hull. I really like this one; it's Fort Revere Park at the tip of Hull, with the causeway leading downtown in the background. I should have announced this trip ahead of time, to stock up on the "Highway to Hull" and "it'll be a cold day in Hull" jokes I know I would have received. My bad.
3. Cohasset. The replica of Minot Light on the Cohasset shore is a lot easier to get to than Minot Light itself, especially with my miserable history of maritime skills.
4. Scituate. Scituate Lighthouse. Those coastal towns are so much easier to find landmarks in than the landlocked ones.
5. Dover. It wasn't all that exciting the day I was there, but this picture of the town common is nice to look at now that we're plunging into the drear of November.
6. Medfield. The Peak House is one of the only buildings in Medfield to survive King Philip's War. If nothing else, Project 351 is really raising my King Philip's War awareness. Wait till I get to spend more time in Shay's Rebellion Country.
7. Westwood. I learned on the Internet that the drummer boy from the Battle of Bunker Hill was buried in Westwood. I thought a picture of the final resting place of an historically-significant-if-taken-too-soon youth would be poignant and meaningful. Turns out he survived the battle and lived another 60 years. Good for him; bad for my application to Deep and Meaningful School of Photography.
8. Dedham. I tried to swing by the Fairbanks House on three separate previous excursions, but was foiled by (a) a town fair, (b) rain, and (c) a road race. Fourth time was the charm! Here's also a good place to plug the Museum of Bad Art, which isn't the slightest bit disappointing.
9. Melrose. I finally found an observation tower that wasn't closed! So I went up it. It's right in the middle of a golf course, which made me feel a little conspicuous walking among the golfers. But I had nicer pants on.
10. Wakefield. The first town in Massachusetts named after a member of the 2004 Red Sox has a nice lake with an impressive stone church alongside it. They were hosting a wedding the day I was there; if you look at the big version of the picture, you can see what's either a bridesmaid or an Imperial Stormtrooper.
11. Reading. Reading Common. If this was a seaside town, I might have had more to work with.
12. Stoneham. I went to the very pleasant Spot Pond, then my car wouldn't start. I fiddled and cursed, then remembered the exact same thing happened in Virginia on Day Two of a two-week road trip a couple years ago. I did what the Virginia AAA guy did, and off I went. Memory; it comes in handy sometimes.
13. Marblehead. I went with the lighthouse again, but I got a great tour of the scenic sights of Marblehead from Christine at (a)Musings. We're going to meet up again for a tour of the Merrimack Valley as soon as our schedules line up.
14. Swampscott. Lobster traps and a boat. I'm telling you; these seaside towns are easy pickins.
15. New Ashford. I drove out to the Berkshires with two good friends whose car had suffered a fatal episode out there, and learned that there's a town called New Ashford, which has about 31 people and a cool old one-room schoolhouse.
16. Williamstown. Williams College, home of the Ephs and freaky eyeball sculptures. Pssst...they're still watching me...
17. North Adams. I spent some time here, wandering around the scenic downtown and stumbling into The North Adams Museum. I love stumbling into tiny museums that are largely labors of love. This one instantly became one of my favorites.
18. Adams. The access roads are closed, and I ain't hiking all the way up, but I had to include Mt. Greylock, the Commonwealth's highest point. Incidentally, I was reading something online about the type of people who try to get to the highest point in all 50 states (hmmm...) and they say the toughest to attain are Alaska and Montana, because of their size and remoteness, and Rhode Island, because the hill was on private property and the owner (not anymore, he sold it) was an ornery son-of-a-bitch who didn't like people hiking through his land. (Note: this entry just led to twenty solid minutes of Wikipedia-surfing. I love the Internet; I hate the Internet.
19. Clarksburg. The turning point of the world-famous hairpin turn!!
20. Salem. It's tough to pick just one image from historic Salem. Do you go with ships, old witches, new witches, literary sites, or the local packie? I went with old witches. Or at least old suspected witches.
21. Westfield. Stanley Park is a very nice place, with a garden and a pond and staircases and ducks. You could almost set a quirky indie English movie there.
22. Russell. Town #100!! Mostly known for being the town on the Mass Pike where you begin the long climb into the Berkshires, I commemorated it by taking a picture of the Mass Pike.
23. Montgomery. Interesting fact: in the last 75 years, the only people to successfully make it into downtown Montgomery are people trying to get to every town in Massachusetts. It's hard to get to.
24. Granville. Words like "Olde" and "Shoppe" raise red flags, and not just for me. However, here's the Olde Blacksmith Shoppe.
25. Southwick. Famous for being the town that sticks out into Connecticut for no apparent reason, Southwick is also home to the Congamond Lakes, which are damned hard to park at. I crossed the border 42 times before I finally gave up and drove to the other end for a fairly unsatisfying shot. At this location, I couldn't even make the unsatisfying claim of being in MA, yet being farther south than 0.01% of CT. Bummer.
26. Rutland. One of my rare pictures with people in them, since I attended the Pumpkin Paddle, in which people hollow out giant pumpkins and row around a lake in them. And yes, since you were asking, there is an outfit called the New England Giant Pumpkin Growers Association.
27. Holden. The impressive stone Gale Library. I stumped some Holden residents I knew when I asked what was scenic and picturesque. Again, seaside towns are so much easier.
28. Paxton. Moore State Park is really cool; it's got waterfalls and an old mill and waterfalls and is a nice place to walk around. Or have a furtive makeout session in a clearing. (Not on this trip. Years and years ago.)
29. Seekonk. I once again had to enlist a librarian's help, since the nature preserve I thought I was headed for turned out to be a birdfeeder and a loud family having a picnic. She sent me to the Old Grist Mill, which is a restaurant. More ducks were seen.
30. Rehoboth. More King Philip's War! This is Anawan Rock, where the capture of Chief Anawan ended the battling. Rehoboth proves that you can present an historic rock in this state tastefully, without a showy pavilion and unrequited hopes of excitement.
31. Somerset. The Braga Bridge whisks I-195 traffic into Fall River. Caution: if you're heading there to recreate this picture (why?), don't make a wrong turn and end up on the access road to the giant power plant, unless you're a fan of U-turns and squints from security guards.
32. Swansea. The Martin House Farm, which is nice if a bit anticlimactic after Anawan Rock.

110 down, 241 to go.

* Not to be taken literally

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Comments

Posted by: Suldog | November 2, 2007 04:41 PM

Posted by: Jeremy D. Scott | November 2, 2007 10:10 PM

Posted by: Sooz | November 7, 2007 10:28 AM

Posted by: Mass 351 Project | December 8, 2007 10:37 AM