The Mayflower II - Home Again, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

On the day after we welcomed the Mayflower II back to her home berth in Plymouth, Massachusetts, it seemed fitting to me to have these dramatic and stormy skies.  The vessel has returned home after a three year absence to restore the 1957 version of the original ship that carried the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620.



Imagine a trip across the North Atlantic in the fall of 1620, surely a stormy and hazardous journey.

The Mayflower II crew enjoyed the arrival back home with a grand escort of countless pleasure craft through the Cape Cod Canal and north through Cape Cod Bay. Some of that journey they were under full sail on a lovely New England summer day.



It is a manual, hands-on ship - brute strength, leverage, and pulleys - no fancy modern-day winches to raise and lower the sails.



Back at her berth in downtown Plymouth, she will welcome the millions of tourists to visit in the coming years.



Masts and rigging silhouetted against the summer sky.



For too long, Mayflower II's absence has left an empty spot on the pier - no more - welcome home!

Out and About, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Sun dappled Old Sandwich Road stretches over part of Plymouth, some of it is unpaved, pot-holed, and washboarded. It is reported to be the oldest public road in the United States and was originally used as a path by Native American Wampanoag tribe members.



It's apparently too hot to be out bicycling today for this small fleet.



The flora all seem to enjoy the heat of summer.
















This beach in southeastern Massachusetts is a nice place to spend a hot summer day for the lucky folks who live nearby and have beach access rights.



Or you can hang out in a pine forest if you prefer the cool shade in this town conservation land along Beaver Dam Road.

On the Water, Plymouth Harbor, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

With their instructor close in trail, these young sailors take advantage of this breezy, cloudy day on the water to practice their sailing skills.



The narrow spit of land in the distance is Plymouth's Long Beach peninsula.



A dramatic stormy sky at the nearby Safe Harbor Marina.



Also nearby, a mimosa blossom. Like it or not, summer is half past - the days are getting shorter and the later summer flowers are blooming.

Merrill's Wharf, New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA

I wandered about the wharf in New Bedford on this fine summer day. My eye was particularly drawn to this robins-egg-blue boat. I don't usually see that color in a working fleet.



Some boats sport a fancy fresh paint job......



.....and some don't.



But all are undergoing constant maintenance to keep them sea-worthy. (There is a man working on the boat at right - hard to see him in the jumble of this viewscape).



This Nantucket lightship is one of a fleet of vessels built since the 1850's used to mark the hazardous Nantucket Shoals about 40 miles out at sea from Nantucket - sort of a sea-going lighthouse.



I was visiting at midday so all the boats were in port. They are back from the sea and their early morning work. Merrill's Wharf was completed in 1847 and is the longest wharf in New Bedford's port.



Nice visuals wandering around this mostly public area. New Bedford, MA, was formerly one of the world's most important whaling cities during the 19th century, today a busy fishing port.



And some are far from home.

Another Trip to the Tip, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Another late day/early evening trip out to the tip of Plymouth's Long Beach with my son. This scene struck me as vaguely reminiscent of an Andrew Wyeth image - just needs someone crawling.



Hundreds of birds were feeding along the surf line. Some of them are on their journey from Northern Canada to South America - Plymouth offers some good eating along the way.



Mountain ranges viewed from space? Rows of lavender ready to be planted? Or, the ripples of sand left from the ocean tides?



Ripples of sand is the correct choice.



Doing what a committed birder does hoping to get closer - crawling on elbows, belly, and knees in the wet sand. That is Bug Light in the water in the background (built in 1871 to mark the harbor into Plymouth and Duxbury).



Sunset behind a dune near the tip of the peninsula.



A lone fisherman heads out for an evening's work/play.



Spotting scope, binoculars, and camera - tools of the birder's art and science.



Three osprey chicks on the nest.



The distant bump of land is Duxbury where the Myles Standish Monument State Reservation is located. Time for the long walk back in the fading light. It is worth noting that it is still above 80 degrees F as 9pm local time approaches. Quite a summer day in New England.

Plymouth Harbor, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Seems early in the season for sunflowers but, I'll take 'em when I get 'em. This group was in the yard of a bed and breakfast establishment near the waterfront and harbor area of Plymouth.



And just around the corner and south of the Plymouth Rock I walked to the Safe Harbor Marina (formerly Brewer's). They offer 100+ floating docks and all the other amenities of a first-class marina.



Seeing all these beautiful boats on a perfect summer day makes me dream of having one. Except I don't know much about boats other than riding in one. I've heard said they are "a hole in the water into which you pour money."



If one motor is enough, I imagine two must be even better. In the immortal words of Tim the Toolman Taylor, "More Power!" (From a popular sitcom in the 1990's - "Home Improvement.")



Sibling rivalry?



They sure look inviting on this warm summer's day - to go bounding through the water at high speed with the wind in my face and the sun on my back.



And just a bit further south is the Plymouth Yacht Club property.  Ah, Plymouth, "America's Hometown," - it truly has it all, offered up with seasonal variety.

Visitors, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

I was enjoying my breakfast on this recent morning, looked up, and there they were across the pond, listening and watching. As if they were statues. (The moment captured with a point and shoot zoom through double-pane glass).



They weren't the only species hanging out - ever watchful - two great blue heron.



Such patient fishermen - waiting for a critter to pass by in the water - and when it does, a lightning fast stab with the beak hoping for a meal.



Later in the day, she came back to pose for me in the beautiful late afternoon light.



And of course, junior wasn't far away. There is still much beauty and wonder in the world - it's not all bad news.