Sunday
Headed back west across northern Massachusettes. Just realized looking at my calendar that Thur to Sat are the only days I can catch a SF Giants ball game near where I am. They are playing the Pirates in Pittsburg and I intend to be there. It will put me near Indiana for my high school reunion in Sept and near Chicago where I will see Bob's cousin who was out of town when I was there last.
Headed to Rowley to a DDD diner but it was too early for lunch and I had a breakfast of blueberries so went on to Newburyport, a small village full of quaintness. Then to Andover, established in 1642.
This guy enjoying the sun on his front porch seems to be nude, but alas, no.
I stopped, not because of that, but because it looked like he was in competition with his neighbor for the best front yard flower garden.
Apparently they must also be careful of water usage here like California.
The neighbor's flower garden.
Ipswich, est. 1633, population 13,000
Nearly every home in this mostly historic district village had a date marker near the door.
This one is 1725.
Almost 300 years old!
It's not a lot by European standards, but for progressive America I'm constantly amazed that these lovely old places haven't been torn down for something new.
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| Ipswich |
Next to Deerfield Village, a place the Keno brothers on Antiques Roadshow talk about
On the way stopped at a farm stand for some vegs and a good corn cheese and tomato pie.
Deerfield Village in the Connecticut River Valley of western Mass. has been a working village since 1650.
Known for its mile long main street, the entire town is a National Historic Landmark with many homes open for tour, either self guided or by docents.
I bought the $14 ticket and spent the rest of the afternoon.
I bought the $14 ticket and spent the rest of the afternoon.
I was surprised by the authentic colors on some of the homes.
It seems that as the owners became more prosperous and paint became more available they did what we do today, update.
It seems that as the owners became more prosperous and paint became more available they did what we do today, update.
Salmon pink? Really?
I still prefer the old rustic look when they were poor.
There is even an old tavern, the Barnard, which unfortunately wasn't open. Well, it was Sunday. Besides, it's a museum now and shares the building with the Frary House.
This entire village is not a re-creation like Williamsburg, but is full of homes that were actually built where they stand by local farmers and businessmen of the day.
Deerfield was saved by wealthy patrons, a New York City couple whose son attended nearby Deerfield Academy. They saw the town begin to change with places being renovated away from their original roots, so began buying up property to save them and eventually owned most of the town. Then they filled the homes with either original furnishings or their collections of American antiques.
Its charming avenue is lined with elm and maples, utility lines have been buried, and traffic rerouted and old street lamps installed.
In Old Deerfield, the way it was is still more or less the way it is. I came away besotted.
It was 4pm and down the road only 8 miles was Amherst and The Homestead, Emily Dickinson's home. I had time for one last tour. U Mass is there in Amherst as well.
Emily's grandfather, I believe, was instrumental in its founding. So many tours, so much information...
Learned details of Emily's life I had forgotten, like the fact she was very social until about age 25 when she began to be reclusive to the point of hiding in the basement to avoid going to church with the family. This of course left her a lot of time to wear only white and write those 2000 poems she is know for. That was what was saved because they had been sent to friends and family. Most of the poems she wrote about life, love, nature, and eternity were burned by her sister upon her request after she died. They used to do that then. Writing was considered too personal to be shared. I've never forgiven Thomas Jefferson for burning his wife's journal. And that was before the whole Sally Hemmings thing, so that couldn't have been the issue.
Only a few of Emily's poems were ever published in her lifetime.
Today has been full of just what I had hoped this trip would be.
There is even an old tavern, the Barnard, which unfortunately wasn't open. Well, it was Sunday. Besides, it's a museum now and shares the building with the Frary House.
This entire village is not a re-creation like Williamsburg, but is full of homes that were actually built where they stand by local farmers and businessmen of the day.
Deerfield was saved by wealthy patrons, a New York City couple whose son attended nearby Deerfield Academy. They saw the town begin to change with places being renovated away from their original roots, so began buying up property to save them and eventually owned most of the town. Then they filled the homes with either original furnishings or their collections of American antiques.
Its charming avenue is lined with elm and maples, utility lines have been buried, and traffic rerouted and old street lamps installed.
In Old Deerfield, the way it was is still more or less the way it is. I came away besotted.
It was 4pm and down the road only 8 miles was Amherst and The Homestead, Emily Dickinson's home. I had time for one last tour. U Mass is there in Amherst as well.
Emily's grandfather, I believe, was instrumental in its founding. So many tours, so much information...
Learned details of Emily's life I had forgotten, like the fact she was very social until about age 25 when she began to be reclusive to the point of hiding in the basement to avoid going to church with the family. This of course left her a lot of time to wear only white and write those 2000 poems she is know for. That was what was saved because they had been sent to friends and family. Most of the poems she wrote about life, love, nature, and eternity were burned by her sister upon her request after she died. They used to do that then. Writing was considered too personal to be shared. I've never forgiven Thomas Jefferson for burning his wife's journal. And that was before the whole Sally Hemmings thing, so that couldn't have been the issue.
Only a few of Emily's poems were ever published in her lifetime.
Today has been full of just what I had hoped this trip would be.
More head nodding, smiling, wondering what's next...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Dickinson quote: "unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality."
ReplyDelete