August 03, 2003

The South Coast

Sooz and I took a much-needed daytrip today. Usually, on the rare occasions our days off coincide, we sit at our computers and mutter, every hour on the hour, "we really should do something today", but today we did.

First stop was the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, which was cooler than I expected. A lot of models of old whaling ships (including one half-size), many seascapes by William Bradford, and lots of little pieces of former whales (mostly teeth and bones, but also including one startling, highly intimate piece of a former male whale lovingly preserved in glass).

Next up was Fall River, and the Lizzie Borden Museum. The house where the double axe-murder occured is now a functioning bed-and-breakfast, and also gives a few tours every day during the summer. We were incredibly lucky here. First, we arrived in Fall River three minutes before the final tour began; second, to comemmorate the anniversary of the killings (August 4, 1892), the museum went all out and had actors portraying the Borden family to liven up the tour. The best part? The sign over the stairs warning of a low ceiling, ending with "Be Careful! There have already been two fatal head injuries in this house!"

We spent most of the afternoon in Newport, R.I., window-shopping on Thames Street, drinking frozen lemonade and drooling over some of the boats in the harbor. Then we had some burgers in Providence and headed home. We lucked out again; Arlington was clearly recovering from downpours and the news was full of woe about the day's weather. But we didn't see a drop of rain all day.

The book Curious New England is now a staple of our road-tripping. Check it out if you have an urge to hit the road.

Comments

Maybe BunkoSquad needs a new area called "Day Trips Around New England for Under $75." :)

The book's publisher has a little website at http://www.dartmouth.edu/~upne/1-58465-112-1.html

Posted by: Sooz at August 4, 2003 04:35 PM

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