There once was a man from... (Part I)

Beer and camping: what could be better? Even as I scrawl this entry on the back of a trail map by firelight in a campsite on the Cape, the Smithwicks I just purchased in Brewster are getting warm from the evening heat. I can only hope this paper survives this ordeal so I can type it up when I return to civilization.

So why am I writing you, dear readers, 200 miles from home? Just this morning I realized that in the month that I've been here, I haven't even begun to fulfill the vision of what I had originally anticipated my experience up north to be: that of an adventure. I needed to take action. On my laptop I began researching areas locally that I wanted to visit, and after about 20 minutes my heart was set on Nantucket Island. I don't know why. Maybe that prurient limerick had something to do with it, I don't know. But in two hours I had my trip planned.

There's too much to write about in one post, so I'm breaking this up into pieces, hopefully littered with pictures... assuming something tragic doesn't happen to my camera.

Saturday, June 17

Today was an eventful one as I drove along the Massachusetts coast towards Cape Cod, where I have currently set up camp from out of the back of my car. Earlier I visited the town of Plymouth to see, of course, Plymouth Rock; probably the most uninteresting object I have ever seen in my life. It's a rock, no bigger than a coffee table. What really made it interesting was this colossal mausoleum that has been built to house this historic object. I later learned Plymouth Rock wasn't even an icon until over a century later when in 1741 a local townsperson promulgated the significance of the object. It isn't even certain, then, that this landmark is what it claims to be. Who cares, though, really? I still want one in my living room.



And there was also the Mayflower II: a recreation of the famous vessel of 1620. Don't be deterred by the word "recreation." It was built nearly 50 years ago where it sailed from Plymouth England to Plymouth Massachusetts with no assistance, completely under wind power (not even a backup motor), and a crew of about 30. I was told that only 8 members of this crew are alive today. The ship itself will be featured on a documentary about the winter of 1620 on the History Channel Thanksgiving Day this year. I got to know one of the curators who knows the story of the 1957 voyage pretty well and has met, on several occasions, the original crew.



I, myself, met some politely quiet gentlement aboard the vessel. Please meet "scurvy sam" and "dysentery dan."



To be continued...