Tuesday, October 15, 2019

T Stands for Gloucester, Massachusetts

After lunch, we headed back through Gloucester. Teague asked if I wanted to stop and see the famed Gloucester Fisherman's statue. I had driven by the statue, saw the backside of it, but had never seen the statue. A problem when you live in an area, you tend not to do a lot of tourist things.


Our first stop was the Fishermen's Wives Memorial. I didn't even know there was a statue to the women.


The base of the statue reads: The wives, mothers, daughters and sisters of Gloucester fishermen honor the wives and families of fishermen and mariners everywhere for their faith, diligence, and fortitude. The statue was installed in 1998 and you can read about how it came to be here.



My drink reference for this post is a line from the poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner  by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Water, water everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.


A schooner




Glorious Dahlias



A gull sunning himself


The schooner with full sails


Look how low the water is in the channel


Just as we were about to leave to head down the sidewalk to the Fishermen's Memorial, an alarm sounded like you would hear at a railroad crossing and a crossing arm came down. 


We were on a draw bridge!


Boat coming down the channel


drawbridge going up


and up


This bird swallowed a fish whole!



Coming through!


 A park bench by the drawbridge dedicated to the Bridgetender


Last one through


Coming down


And we could safely walk across the bridge to


The Fishermen's Memorial

On the base of the statue: They that go down to the sea in ships



The names of the men lost at sea are on the bronze plaques from the late 1600s to the present


It's funny when I'm out and about random strangers come up to me and share their life stories, sometimes very personal things. As I was photographing the "modern" side of the memorial, a young man pointed out the first name for 1943 and told me his great-grandfather was the first man lost that year. His great-grandfather was in the pilot house when a giant, rogue wave crashed over the top capsizing the boat. His great-grandfather's body was never found. Teague said the young man probably came down to the memorial every day to tell someone. Maybe. But the memorial is the only connection the young man would have to his great-grandfather. The memorial would be like visiting his great-grandfather at the cemetery.


A compass so you can always find your way.


The sign reads: Let A Prayer Be Said

We'd laugh and play all the day
between his labors at sea.
Now that's changed, my days re-arranged
He's no longer there for me.

I heard it said, what I did dread,
and feared the long nights through.
That a ship was lost at the terrible cost
of her captain and the crew.

What can I say of that tragic day?
What dirge be upon my lips?
Let a prayer be said, for the dead.
They that go down to the sea in ships.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

35 comments:

  1. Beautiful captures, really lovely place☺

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  2. What a great looking park and wonderful tribute to the sailors lost at sea. This looks like a beautiful area to visit. It's interesting that wherever you go, strangers open up to you and tell you their life's story. That draw bridge opening reminded me of the scene from the movie "Mystic Pizza." And a few years ago, the train draw bridge in Norwalk, CT got stuck in the open position, snarling train traffic for hours. Happy T-Day!

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    1. I couldn't imagine the headaches a stuck open drawbridge would cause for traffic.

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  3. I was a little confused with your first statue photo because that was not the statue I remember. But wow, it looks like a fun walk to see the statue. And a gorgeous day. You had a super day out, and I am glad you shared these for T this week. Hope its a great T day. Hugs-Erika

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    1. The Fishermen's Wives Memorial is relatively new being installed in 1996. I had no idea it existed. I really liked reading the story of how the statue was designed.

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  4. This was a fun trip, I would have enjoyed it too. And how exciting to see the draw bridge go up and down. I used to love watching Tower Bridge as a child. You got to learn a lot of local history, too. Thanks for sharing. Happy T Day, Valerie

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  5. Good morning CJ, I really enjoyed this post, can you imagine being the one to see the boat lost and not being able to do anything to help-that would be so sad.
    Loved the memorials and the draw bridge-how fun! They still may have some of those old draw bridges in Chicago on the rivers.
    I just finished reading a book Ocean Life in the old sailing ship days by Whidden. He had went on a ship as a very young boy to learn to be a sailor back in the early-mid 1800's It was kinda written like reading his diary. so this reminded me of that a bit.
    Happy T wishes Kathy

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    1. It would be horrible to see a ship being lost. Equally as bad as waiting for a ship to come in that was lost at sea. Sailors and fisher(wo)men have hard lives as well as their families.

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  6. Strangers tell me all sorts of personal things too! We must have very trusting faces! LOL Thanks for the tag along, I enjoyed the trip! :D

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    1. I have no idea why I attract the stories. And some of the stories TMI 😱 and I'm stuck like a deer in the headlights screaming in my head. I don't care! 😺

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  7. What a beautiful and interesting post. I enjoyed the memorial, sayings, the draw bridge and most of all, the young man's story. Also, your "drink" poem. Happy T Day!

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    1. I thought the young man's story was touching. I hope the poem passed for the drink requirement 😺

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  8. Beautiful photos and it looks like a beautiful day weather-wise too. I would love to visit Gloucester one day...
    thanks for sharing and happy T day!

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    1. We went on the first day of Fall. Temps were in the glorious 80s!

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  9. I really LOVED your take on T this week, CJ. Great way to think outside the box. Nary a drop to drink, indeed. Let's hope they figure ways to get salt from the ocean soon, because our cities are quickly running out of available water to drink.

    This was a lovely post. I really enjoyed the statues. Both of them. And I also enjoyed the various things you shared, like being able to walk on the draw bridge and the young man who shared his remembrance with you. That was quite touching. Thanks for taking us to Gloucester and showing us some sea worthy sites. It's an amazing area and I think even people who live in the area should do a few "tourist" things at times. Thanks, too, for thinking outside the box for T this Tuesday, dear.

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    1. Whew! I was afraid Coleridge's poem wouldn't fly for T Day 😺 As to desalinating drinking water, it's already being done. Tampa Bay in Florida has a desalination plant that supplies drinking water to the Tampa Bay area. Students at WPI where the Young One went did a portable desalination design for their MQP (major qualifying project to graduate) It was to be used in the event of an emergency like flood or hurricane. Not only could it desalinate water, but it also took care of any bacteria that would be present in dirty water.

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  10. Wow, Gloucester looks like a lovely place! I loved the statues and view out over the sea 😀. Such a lovely walk and tribute to those lost at sea! Wishing you a very happy T Day! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. It must look a lot like your seaside home. I think I would love to live by the ocean.

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  11. I don't even know where the closest drawbridge to Memphis is, and I enjoyed my virtual trip to the one you saw. That memorial is a wonderful place both for regional and personal history. As you say, for people whose loved ones were never recovered for burial a memorial like this stands in for the tombstone they'll never have. Touching.

    Happy T Tuesday

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    1. The drawbridge was such a surprise. Neither one of us knew it was there or saw the signs as we walked down from where Teague parked the car. The memorial is very touching especially when you read the 5,368 names (so far). All those unfinished lives. All the potential for hopes and dreams lost.

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  12. I got here by by-passing Bit Defender. Even with the https, it said dangerous URLs. Anyway I'm here safe and sound. 😉

    I love the dedication to "They that go down to the sea in ships." The statue to the women who waited and sometimes mourned is a nice addition. Most impressive to me were the name plaques going all the way back to the 1600s. And the prayer brought tears to my eyes.

    Beautiful and touching post, CJ.

    Happy T-day! Eileen xx

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    1. I think some of the URLs like Elizabeth's use the old http: protocol. But glad you are here. the prayer brought tears to my eyes, too.

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  13. What an interesting post filled with delicious photos! and story...
    I like how the guy came down to talk about his great grandfather. The drawbridge would have excited me to no end. What fun you must have had there.

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    1. We were just about to cross when the alarm went off so that totally took us by surprise. A bunch of us were like little kids. Pointing. Look at the boats! The bridge is going up! Yup, pretty excited we got to see it.

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    2. Some day I'll walk on one. The closest I can think of is on the ferry in Washington Puget sounds crossing the bay to Vashon Island and the way it hooks up to the dock. that's about it for my excitement of steel contraptions.

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  14. A truly super post to read. I loved seeing the photos and reading about the memorials and seeing statues.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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    1. The statues are very beautiful. I really liked learning the story behind the Fishermen's Wives statue as I never knew of it. I liked how the wives turned down the design for those who only wait.

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  15. Gloucester, Massachusetts looks to be great place to visit - just as Gloucester, England is, although it is landlocked! The statues and plaques are a lovely way to commemorate the fishing industry around the town! Belated Happy T Day! Chrisx

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    1. You would think the settlers would have named the town after some other seaside town like Bristol (though there is a Bristol in Rhode Island) Someone must have been very homesick. 😺

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  16. What a very moving blog post. I somehow have an afinity with seafarers, although we had very few in our family.
    The statues are beautiful. And what you showed of Gloucester looks very nice.
    Loved the schooner! And the drawbridge reminds my of my home country Holland, where there are so many of these bridges and we always had to calculate bridge time in our cycle trips if we had to be somewhere on time. Fortunately they have certain times (especially in summer) when they open the bridge.
    Happy belated T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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  17. Simply loved this post.
    A great read and super photographs.
    It must have been fun to see the draw-bridge go up and down.

    All the best Jan

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  18. What a so beautiful place to visit CJ !! Love to admire all the fabulous photographs you so kindly share with us, Thanks so much. This drawbridge is super interesting, and fantastic statues. Wish you had a very happy T-day.
    I wish you a very nice weekend, big hugs
    Caty

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  19. A beautiful place with alot of history! Very moving! Big Hugs CJ!

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