a WHALE of a HISTORY lesson

Day two of our trip to Fairhaven & New Bedford was an amazing tour through colonial New England.

We started in Fairhaven, at Fort Phoenix... a stronghold that rose from the dead after destroyed by the British in 1778.

It sits, overlooking Buzzards Bay - next to the Hurricane Dike that protects New Bedford Harbor.

 

From here, it's off to "The Center" - Downtown Fairhaven.
First stop, the Millicent Library (named for the daughter of Henry Huddleston Rogers).

Isn't this place GORGEOUS!?!

Not only was the outside amazing, but look at these stacks!

I wanted to move in!

Such elegance!

Next stop, Town Hall!

My favorite feature of the outside was this coral gargoyle!

I LOVE his squiggly body!

The stained glass windows in both of these historic building were awesome.  Check these out...

 (click on the image to get the full-effect)

We made one quick stop before Elizabeth treated me to an mouth-watering lunch at The Waterfont Grille in New Bedford.  You've already seen the picture of the succulent shrimp scampi... but you haven't seen pictures from the in-between stop.   Hahaha, you'll have to wait, again, before you can see those.  ;)

Before popping into the Whaling Museum, we visited the Seaman's Bethel.  Here, I was introduced to a scene from the movie Moby Dick and cenotaphs... memorials to seamen lost at sea or who died while on ship.  To see photos of these, click here.

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Time to swim with the "fishes"... well, actually, some massive whales and a replica of a whaling ship.

These guys were HUGE!  30+ feet of sea mammals hanging from the ceiling.

If you look close at the shot on the right, you can see the baby whale, he/she has got to be at least 10' long.

To put this all into perspective... our lovely model, Elizabeth, shows how tiny we are compared to these beasts.

Here's my foot with a whale's vertebra... looks more like a step-stool.  Oh, and behind the vertebra is a rib bone. (mmmmmm, ribs!)

On to the Ship!

Literally.  The Lagoda, in the Museum, is a half-scale model of the original whaling ship.  We had a chance to climb all around it, peek down into the hull and up to the crows-nest.  Below is a view of the ship's bow & sails.   Isn't it wonderful?!?

To learn more about this exhibit & the ship, visit the Museum Website.

Finally... I love, love, love the architecture that surrounded me today.  This shot is the epitome of quaint... I wish I had another week to see it all.  But since this was all I time I had for this visit, it was enough.

What a great day!