Hi Everyone,

  I have a hard time sleeping when there is a Red Sox game on, so I’m up following it. It started at 2:10 but I just got up.  Still half the game left to play.  It might be the last one for a while since we seem to be planning to leave Sebana Cove tomorrow on our way to join Sail Malaysia.  Our first stop will be an overnight anchorage at Jason Bay which I think is cool since “Jason Bay” plays left field for the Red Sox.  It’s 60 miles from Sebana so we’ll have to leave at daylight.  Then it will be on to Tioman Island.  Our friends Ruth and Cliff on Icicle will leave either today or tomorrow with the same plan. 

More from our visit to the States…..

  I grew up in New Bedford, MA.  My growing up friends Harriet and Bruce still live in the area: Har in Dartmouth and Bruce in Westport.  But both of those areas say “New Bedford” to me.    We grew up on Plymouth Street in New Bedford’s West End and it was a great place to grow up.  New Bedford has great beaches, a mix of several cultures, and the best steamed clams anywhere.    www.destinationnewbedford.org   or  www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us   or  www.nps.gov/nebe

      Appropriately the brochure about New Bedford starts out…..   ” “Around the World!”    The crews of New Bedford’s famous whaleships sang out this cheer as they embarked on voyages that took them to every corner of the globe in pursuit of whale oil……Today, New Bedford is an authentic seaport city with a large fishing fleet and working waterfront.”  There is a huge Portuguese community, hence the great steamed clams and wonderful Portuguese food.  There were other influences too.  At the beach we poured vinegar on our french fries and there were places to get fish and chips reflecting an English influence. When I smell vinegar I think of the Acushnet Beach where we learned to swim and hang out until we were old enough to drive ourselves to Westport and Horseneck Beach with its sand dunes and waves for body surfing.   And there was a French area too, in the North End.  The North End was French, the South End was Portuguese and the West End was where the Jewish community lived.  But by junior high everyone was mixed together and there was only one high school so everyone went there.  New Bedford wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a good place to grow up and it is definitely worth a visit if your travels take you there.

  Across the Achushnet River from New Bedford is Fairhaven where you can find the monument to Joshua Slocum, the first man to circumnavigate the world alone on his sailboat Spray.    http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/ http://fairhaven-ma.gov   Growing up we rarely ventured across the bridge to Fairhaven or Marion, but now it is a favorite place and we always stop there when we visit Har and Bruce, the real reason we go to New Bedford.  

“Acushnet” comes from the Wampanoag or Algonquian word, “Cushnea”  meaning “as far as the waters” from Wikipedia 

Our favorite corner in Fairhaven.  Pumpernickle Restaurant where we “always” eat lunch and Euro across the street where we always find something to buy that we can’t live without.  And the Millicent Library just down the street.  We seem to always enter New Bedford from Fairhaven so stop there first. 

Padanaram Harbor where Har lives.  I love New England

Har took us to a daffodil field not far from her home, where it looked like spring, but felt cold to me.

Buttonwood Park  Ruth the Asian elephant standing behind me.  Yup, that’s her name and we’re about the same age too. She has a friend Emily the elephant too who is a bit younger.   Buttonwood Park is the next street over from Plymouth Street.  How great is that, as Rachel Ray would say, living around the corner from a park, zoo, tennis courts, skating pond, all part of Buttonwood Park.   Growing up it was all free. Unfortunately, now the zoo isn’t  free. but the animals do have better housing and care now so I guess the fees go for a good cause.  And I think you can check free passes out of the libraries with your library card.  You can see I’ve added an “I love New Bedford” button to my hat.  Har bought it for me. http://www.bpzoo.org/

Lobstah Dinnah at Har’s  per Randal’s request.  Eating lobster is great fun and very messy.  Har’s husband Dick, Bruce and his wife Jean were there too!  We spent a wonderful evening eating lobster and catching up with each other’s lives and thoughts and hopes. 

The most important reasons we go to New Bedford;  Har and Bruce…”the Plymouth Street gang.”

Perfect fried clams from the Oxford Creamery in Marion, MA!  YYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!  Har’s’ niece and her husband own the restaurant and he does all of the cooking.  Go early, it gets jam packed!

Peter and Catharine Katzenbach and one of their labs outside their beautiful home on the Westport River.

The first time we met Catharine and Peter was when they welcomed us into their guest apartment for the 3 nights we spent in New Bedford.  Har’s daughter Sharon is married to their son John.  It was a lovely apartment, they were wonderful hosts.   We hope one day we can repay their hospitality “when” they come visit us on DoraMac. 

New England stone walls.  “Good fences make good neighbors,” as Frost wrote.  But it made for difficult farming as the stones had to be cleared from the fields first. 

end part one