Massachusetts!

It turned out I fell asleep facing the wrong way on my king size bed. I woke up at 6 am, still on top of the covers with my head where my feet are supposed to go. I think I underestimated just how tired I was. So I righted myself and set the alarm for 7:30. At 7, I woke up again but drifted off. This happened a few times, even after the alarm. But by the time it turned 10:41, I realized I had better get out of bed if I was going to see anything today. :)

But I officially feel much better! And I love Rhode Island! I am rested!

My first stop today was only a half-hour away in Falls River. Battleship Cove was fantastic! Four ships and three boats... it was mind-boggling. Now I've been on battleships and destroyers and subs before, so the main attraction for me was the PT boats and the PT boat museum on the 2nd deck of the battle-wagon. If I had gone into much more detail I would have spent another two hours there, minimum. I did walk the decks of all three ships and go through the Russian missile corvette (since I obviously had not been on one of those before). They had a landing craft from WWII sitting just inside the entrance... and the PT boats were great! There was a wooden walkway next to the boats as they were under a canopy on land. Wooden boats like they are really can't be left in the water indefinitely. There was a neat video playing in the area between the two boats. I learned quite a bit about them. The only thing I really knew was about Kennedy's famous misadventure with the 109. I loved hearing about MacArthur's rescue/flight to Australia and how the boats were developed and used.

I was shocked though, as I went below on the battleship, when I saw how many models of ships and planes and tanks and whatnot they have there. There were several hundred at least. Wow.

As I was getting ready to go on to New Bedford at 2pm, I realized I had not eaten yet today and that there was a cute little cafe right there called the "Waterstreet Cafe". Oh, my gosh, was that good! I had the garden salad with lemon vinaigrette (new favorite dressing!) and a bowl of fish chowder with a side of flatbread. My taste buds went crazy with delight.

And across the street from the cafe was the Marine Museum, predominately dealing with ferry ships and ocean liners, including the Titanic. Lots of model ships (I'm seeing a lot of those these days) and relics from the ocean liners. Deja vu:

"Where are my friends?" LOL

By now it was around 3ish and I had yet to get out of Falls River :) So I headed out to New Bedford for a whaling experience. The Plan called for visiting the Whaling Museum and the Seaman's Bethel (the Whaleman's Chapel from Moby Dick) and it only took a quick half-hour to get there. I was a little worried though, because I knew the Bethel was closing sooner than anything else. So I went there right after parking the car in a very convenient garage and visiting the Visitor's Center on the same street.

Oh, this was nice. After taking a couple pictures I sat down on a pew and prayed for my upcoming adventure in the Navy and praised God for this trip and for everything in general. It was so lovely to pray in that place.

The Bethel was across the street from the Whaling Museum. Now I chose to take this trip when I did mostly because of today. Every second Thursday of each month, New Bedford has a party. Everything is free and open til 9pm and there is live music and lectures and whatever else. I thought this rather odd when I was looking at the hours for the museum online so long ago. When I walked in the doors around 4:30 (usually they would close at 5), the ladies at the front desk let me in for free since the free hours would begin at 5. This place was fabulous! They had three whale skeletons adorning the grand entry room. Then there was a staircase leading to all the exhibits. First room was a lot of facts. A right whale skeleton and whaling longboat with signs circling them, talking about the science of whales, but also who, how, when, where, and what about the history of whaling. I felt satisfied with just this room, but there was a lot more to go. Besides the small whaling vessel they are restoring, there were rooms and rooms and rooms of whaling art, whale bone art and displays of ships and artifacts from around the world. This was truly a world-class museum.

I took this opportunity to drop the things I had just bought off at my car in the garage down the street. When I returned, I explored a bit of the park to the north. There was a memorial park to the first black regiment in the Civil War (they had been recruited there). I was going to head a block north to see the whaler's monument, but suddenly I was intrigued by a man and a woman in a cafe playing the cornet and the guitar. I had a peek inside... they were a "Blues Duo", and they were alright. I thought I'd have a BLT while I sat an listened. It turned out it was an Internet Cafe as well... if I had only thought to drag my laptop with me...

But that didn't matter. After finishing, I went and saw the statue and then decided to go to the Art Museum. They had a temporary exhibit of "The Birds of John James Audubon" titled "Taking Flight" from the collection of the New Bedford Free Public Library across the street. And sure enough, since it was after 5, admittance was free for this as well! The entire first gallery was devoted to these life-size prints. My favorites were in the first enclave... the Wood Duck and the Ruffed Grouse. It was entrancing. I would have toured the rest of the museum too, but right about then there was going to be a performance at the Visitor's Center of the "Singing Whalemen of the Caribbean, the Barrouallie Whalers". But to start out, the New Bedford Sea Shanty Chorus would be singing as well. On my way down the street I was interrupted by a parade of Portuguese dancers that had their own mini orchestra playing behind them. It felt so free and wild and fun to be there! I'm so glad I made a point to come today!

The Chorus was so good that they nearly brought tears to my eyes... I bought their CD afterwords. The Whalermen were very Caribbean. They sang working songs that they would use when rowing or searching or catching or selling during the day. It was fun too. This ended up being a 30 minute concert in total and let out at 8 pm. I went for a quick walk down to the waterfront (just to see it) and then took off. I had planned on reading a chapter or two of Moby Dick there, but it started to sprinkle, so I packed up and headed north to Plymouth. I checked in about 9:30... but I stayed up way too late, doing all these posts after I used the hotel pool for a half hour and did push-ups and took a looooong shower. Good rest tonight!