Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Salisbury, MA - Aug 26-29
This park was a delightful change from the private parks we have been at recently. Even though still fairly crowded, the location was wonderful -- right next to the beach at the mouth of the Merrimack River. There were beaches on two sides & a salt marsh on another. Unfortunately, it was situated near so many interesting sights we didn't have much time to just sit & enjoy the ocean. We went to the historic towns of Newburyport, Ipswich, Essex & Gloucester. We walked around Newburyport, enjoying the nicely maintained historic buildings. Ipswich is noted for its abundance of pre-Revolutionary homes & the Ipswich clam. We enjoyed both! The architecture of the early homes certainly reflects the puritan tastes of the early settlers. There are absolutely no frills! Unfortunately, we did not have time to try out the rival Essex clam, but the fried Ipswich clam certainly deserves its reputation as the "world's best".
We also spent a lot of time at the Parker River Natl Wildlife Refuge, located on Plum Island near Newburyport. They had many good observation areas & very nice trails. We saw two new birds here -- Canada Warbler & Baltimore Oriole. Our best sighting, however, was not a bird but a playful River Otter, which we watched cavorting around in a pool for some time.
We went to Cape Ann & visited Halibut Point State Park, which was interesting for several reasons. First, it is located on a beautiful rocky point jutting out into the ocean. It is the former site of a granite quarry, with an interesting interpretive trail along the quarry's edge. The visitors center is located in a renovated WWII fire-control tower, the only one of its kind open to the public along the New England coast. It was used during the war to provide aiming info to gunner crews protecting the area from attack by sea. Today you can climb up and see beautiful coastal vistas from all levels. The building also uses many forms of environmental friendly technology, including composting toilets; a greywater recycling system; a photovoltaic system to generate electricity; solar/thermal panels to provide hot water; & a geothermal pump to augment the heating/cooling system.
While on Cape Ann, we also visited the town of Gloucester & met a new Escapee friend, Claire Perrault, a local weaver & knitter who is a participant in a co-op in Gloucester. She plans to leave the area & go full-time in a Class B (van conversion) starting 1/1. We enjoyed meeting & visiting with her very much.
We also spent a lot of time at the Parker River Natl Wildlife Refuge, located on Plum Island near Newburyport. They had many good observation areas & very nice trails. We saw two new birds here -- Canada Warbler & Baltimore Oriole. Our best sighting, however, was not a bird but a playful River Otter, which we watched cavorting around in a pool for some time.
We went to Cape Ann & visited Halibut Point State Park, which was interesting for several reasons. First, it is located on a beautiful rocky point jutting out into the ocean. It is the former site of a granite quarry, with an interesting interpretive trail along the quarry's edge. The visitors center is located in a renovated WWII fire-control tower, the only one of its kind open to the public along the New England coast. It was used during the war to provide aiming info to gunner crews protecting the area from attack by sea. Today you can climb up and see beautiful coastal vistas from all levels. The building also uses many forms of environmental friendly technology, including composting toilets; a greywater recycling system; a photovoltaic system to generate electricity; solar/thermal panels to provide hot water; & a geothermal pump to augment the heating/cooling system.While on Cape Ann, we also visited the town of Gloucester & met a new Escapee friend, Claire Perrault, a local weaver & knitter who is a participant in a co-op in Gloucester. She plans to leave the area & go full-time in a Class B (van conversion) starting 1/1. We enjoyed meeting & visiting with her very much.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 4:43 PM 
