Every now and then I get to combine hobbies—in this case motorcycles, movable bridges, and boats. I’m just back from a weekend bike trip to Gloucester to get my fix of New England fishing boats and towns. In Gloucester I stayed at the Crow’s Nest, the bar made famous by the book and movie The Perfect Storm. Upstairs from the bar are hotel rooms—nothing fancy, but they’re clean and relatively cheap. There is no extra charge for the stale smoke smell. That’s the Crow’s Nest in the background:
It was pretty chilly during the ride up. Like Howard Blackburn, I thought I would let my hands freeze around the grips lest all be lost. Unlike Howard, I got to keep my fingers.
Gloucester has one two movable bridges. This is the Blynman Bridge:
It’s a double-leaf bascule bridge and was built in 1907 to honor Richard Blynman. In 1643 he dug the canal—known as the Cut—that connects the Annisquam River with Gloucester Harbor. (See the comments for an interesting note about this bridge.) This shot shows the counterweights that assist with opening the leaf:
The bridge operator on duty was kind enough to let me in to the control house so I could get a picture of the control panel:
GoodMorningGloucester has videos from inside the control house and photos of the bridge here. Live streaming video of the bridge can be seen on this webcam.
Nearby Essex was a center for shipbuilding. Of the estimated 6000 schooners built in Essex, seven have survived. Here’s the bow of the schooner Roseway (built in 1925), on the hard at the Gloucester Marine Railways for its annual haul-out:
The Gloucester Marine Railways have been around since 1859, making them the country’s oldest continuously operating marine railways.
This is the bow of the Evelina M. Goulart (built in 1927), undergoing restoration at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum:
Also at the shipbuilding museum is a sailing model of the schooner Ernestina (ex-Effie M. Morrisey, built in 1894). Ernestina currently resides in New Bedford. The model is named Effie M Morrisey Jr:
Here’s my dad, to provide scale:
The model can actually be sailed by a person lying prone on the deck.
The schooner Adventure (built in 1926) is based in Gloucester:
The oldest surviving Essex schooner is the Lettie G. Howard (built in 1893), currently owned by the South Street Seaport Museum in New York. In this photo by Karen, the Lettie is seen sailing wing-and-wing down the Hudson:
The Lettie was originally sailed out of Gloucester, and though this may ruffle some feathers here in New York, I think it’s time for her to be repatriated. She belongs in Gloucester.
Another type of Gloucester boat is the dory. This one was made in the dory shop at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center:
It was being raffled off to raise money for the Gloucester International Dory Racing Committee, and despite the confidence I display in the following video, I did not win.
(video courtesy of GoodMorningGloucester)
Northeast of Gloucester is the town of Rockport, home to one of the most painted and photographed buildings in America, Motif #1:
The original shack was destroyed in the Blizzard of 1978; what you see now is an exact duplicate.
Finally, here are some Gloucester fishing boats:
And some from Pigeon Cove:
For the complete gallery of pictures from this visit to Gloucester, please click here.
What, no mention of your boy?
I’d like to add that I’m very disappointed that there are no pictures of the rooms at The Nest or the Bar at The Nest or mention of your amadama french toast.
Say hey to your partner for me and your two adorable children.
Also let me know when you guys plan to come up as a group of New Yawk Bloggers and I’ll try to set up a reception Beer and Blog event with our local bloggers.
First of all, I owe Joey a big apology. He was incredibly generous with his time during my visit and made me feel at home. Thanks to him I know where the best breakfasts are and where to get the best pizza.
Second, there is one picture of a Crow’s Nest room in my photo gallery that is linked to at the end of the post.
Third, here’s Joey’s picture of my amazing french toast breakfast at George’s.
And fourth, a Beer and Blog event sounds wonderful. I know my fellow NY waterbloggers are up for it. Thanks, Joey!
[...] Chickity Check It!- A Brooklynite’s View Of Gloucester Brian Luster, a Brooklynite who is a FOB has posted his adventures from last weekend in Gloucester on his blog- A Moveable Bridge [...]
It was great to meet you Brian & your dad!
Note: There are actually two movable bridges in Gloucester. The railroad bridge about one mile up river and an interesting note on the Blynman Bridge you pictured….it averages 10,000 openings per year making it one of the busiest in the world!
Thanks for the correction. I’ve updated the post.
WOW! Your A Real Gloucesterman now! Nothing like staying at a 5 star hotel. Usually they throw the newbies out the front window on a friday night. Looks like you had a great time. Take Care.
Maybe it helped that I came by bike.
Hope you know I was just joking, LOL.
I’m reallly looking forward to you getting a group together for next year. I think everyone would have a great time!
brian . . . very nice. one of my early trips to gloucester was in 1987: a 300′ + russian fishing trawler was in for shore leave, something that never happened then . . . pre-perestroika. . . even thoughthese monster factory ships hung just outside the intl limit AND bought fish from gloucester-based trawlers. it was moving to see this great green/ivory creature of the high seas with the hammer and sickle on the stack. unfortunately, this was pre-foto days for me.