walkway

One of the many walkways on Castle island.

Fireman memorial

A memorial to Robert M. Greene, firefighter, killed in the line of duty in Boston on Nov 27, 1978. This memorial is found on Castle Island.

Watch your head

There is a great playground on Castle Island with swings and fun climbing structures. Because Logan is so close, you can see the planes taking off and landing while you are at the playground. If a child likes planes, the view makes this playground irresistible.

Korean War Memorial

South Boston's Korean War memorial, found on Castle Island.

I think I got one

Fishing off the pier at Castle Island.

we love our kids

Around this time in Quincy, parents prepare for the various different child events (recitals, gymnastics shows, plays, and the like). This particular dance school first has people pay for the tickets, then later has the everyone come and choose the location of their seats (and get the tickets that go with those seats). This is the line for choosing the seats/picking up tickets. (I heard that last year people got in line a day early. No joke!)

Goliath

Growing up in nearby Braintree, I always saw the "big blue dog" from practically any hill. That dog was a crane known as Goliath. Goliath is huge, with 300-foot legs and a 390-foot crossbeam. At one point Goliath was the largest in the Western Hemisphere. In its day it was used to build liquefied natural gas tankers and other large ships in the now closed Quincy Shipyard. Sadly, this landmark will be gone soon, for it was sold to a company who will be shipping it to Romania. Farewell Goliath. Good puppy.

USS Salem

USS Salem (CA-139) is the only preserved US Heavy Navy Cruiser. She was built by Bethlehem Steel Company's Quincy Yard in Quincy, MA and launched on 25 March, 1947. After she served a distinguished 10 year career as flagship of the US Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the Second Fleet in the Atlantic, she was decommissioned in 1959.

In 1995 Salem was re-commissioned and returned to Quincy - this time as a member of the Historic Naval Ships Association as a museum.

This ship also is the location of the Haunted Ship in October.

Donald McKay monument

A quick drive from Quincy, Castle Island is a great place for picnics and relaxation. Here is one of the many monuments found there:Written on the monument:
Donald MacKay 1810-1880. Master Builder whose Genius produced ships of beauty and speed before unknown which swept the seven seas made the American Clipper Ship famous the world over and brought renown and prosperity to the City of Boston. this monument erected by private subscription - 1933

lion, front view

Here is a front view of one of the lions from yesterday.

a roar from the past

Back when I was growing up (I'm dating myself now) Chinese food isn't like it is today. It was all pu-pu platters, everything fried and mostly bright pink with pineapple. The drink menus were huge, all the drinks had funny cups -- who can forget scorpion bowls? Most of those restaurants have died away, but not Cathay Pacific in North Quincy. Even the outside of the restaurant reminds you of the old days. Here is the golden lions that are in the front of the restaurant.

Bethany Church Tower

This is Bethany Church's tower. This building and its 120 foot tower was built in 1927 in a Gothic style. The cornerstone was laid that September at a ceremony attended by acting mayor Thomas S. Burgin. I particularly like the large gargoyles, which have been said to be 4 feet long, cast in concrete and the longest in New England.. The church was built with Quincy granite and trimmed with limestone.

In July 2000, one of the gargoyles was struck by lightning and crashed through the roof of the parish house, causing significant damage. No one was hurt.

old insurance

This building is the home office of the Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company, founded in 1851. I really like the seal and other decorations in the front.

Thomas Crane Libary, Children's door, closeup

Here is a closeup of the door I showed yesterday.

Thomas Crane Libary, Children's door

Here is a view of the old children's room door at Thomas Crane Library. (For another view of the library, see here.) Now the children's room is in a completely different part of the library and the door is unused. But, it is one of my favorite views of the library.

Thomas Crane Library

This is a view of the Thomas Crane Library (main library). This part of the library was built in 1881 by the architect H. H. Richardson. (Yes, that is a morris dancer in front.)

morris dancers

On Saturday May 10th, 2008 some morris dancers came to Quincy for their "Kettle of Fish" ale. This is the Red Herring Morris team.

maypole

The maypole has a part of the history of Quincy, although it is not as famous as the history of the Adams family.

In 1624, Thomas Morton and Captain Wollaston, as well as 30 indentured servants, settled in Quincy and started a trading post. Things went pretty well until Morton discovered that Wollaston was selling the servants into slavery. Morton heavily suggested that the servants rebelled, and the rebellion caused Captain Wollaston to flee. Morton now became head of the colony (or "host" as he liked to call it) and decided to rename the area "Ma-re Mount". The name was a play on words, because it sounded like "merry" and it was near the sea. Some later converted the name to "Merrymount". Morton then freed all the servants, and started a colony where people (native, former servant or Englishman) were all treated equally. He started selling rum and arms to the natives (which was illegal).

Around now, the nearby Pilgrims claimed that Morton was having wild parties, "going native" and worshipping Greek and Roman gods. When they heard he put up a Maypole, they though the very worst of things.

Thomas Morton wrote the following about the maypole going up:

"The Inhabitants of . . . Mare Mount . . . did devise amongst themselves . . . Revels and merriment after the old English custome; (they) prepared to sett up a Maypole upon the festivall day . . . and therefore brewed a barrell of excellent beare . . . to be spent, with other good cheare, for all commers of that day. And . . . they had prepared a song fitting to the time and present occasion. And upon May day they brought the Maypole to the place appointed, with drumes, gunnes, pistols and other fitting instruments, for the purpose; and there erected it with the help of Salvages, that came thether to see the manner of our Revels. A goodly pine tree of 80 foot longe was reared up, with a peare of buckshorns nayled one somewhat neare unto the top of it: where it stood, as a faire sea mark for directions how to finde out the way to mine Hoste of Mare Mount."
(Morton, The New England Cannan, Book III, Chapter 14.)

The Maypole event was too much for the nearby Pilgrims, so Morton was kicked out of New England, and the maypole cut down.

This maypole was put up on Saturday May 10th, 2008 in remembrance of Thomas Morton's event. A local historian Jack Dempsey read the poem that Thomas Morton put on the maypole and then people could dance. (Unlike the first maypole event, there was no beer :) ) Here you see the Morris dancers handing out the various ribbons for people to hold.

Here is the poem that Thomas Morton put on the first maypole:

Rise Oedipus, and, if thou canst, unfould

What meanes Caribdis underneath the mould,

When Scilla sollitary on the ground

(Sitting in forme of Niobe) was found,

Till Amphitrites Darling did acquaint

Grim Neptune with the Tenor of her plaint,

And caused him send forth Triton

with the sound of Trumpet loud,

at which the Seas were found

So full of Protean formes that the bold shore

Presented Scilla a new parramore

So stronge as Sampson and so patientAs Job himselfe,

directed thus, by fate,

To comfort Scilla so unfortunate.

I doe professe, by Cupid's beautious mother,

Here's Scogans cholse for Scilla, and none other;

Though Scilla's sick with grief, because no signe

Can there be found of vertue masculine.

Esculapius come; I know right well

His laboure's lost when you may ring her Knell.

The fatal sisters doome none can withstand,

Nor Citherea's powre, who poynts to land

With proclamation that the first of May

At Ma-re Mount shall be kept hollyday.

a peek in the kitchen

On Mother's day, a very large percentage of the people around here go out to eat. This makes even the calmest of restaurants be a bit crazy busy and loud. Here is a peek in the kitchen at the Macaroni Grill in Burlington, MA on that day (Sunday, May 11, 2008).

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

views from Nut Island

View from Nut Island, looking towards Quincy.

cannons

Cyrus Alger (1781-1856) was an inventor and famous metallurgist who lived and worked in the Boston area. The first gun ever rifled in America was made at his works in 1834. He invented the first malleable iron cannon in 1836 and improved time fuses for spherical shells.

In the mid-1800s Cyrus Alger needed to find a new place to test his experimental cannons because South Boston (location of his iron foundry) was a bit too residential to do more test firings. So, he decided to move the tests to Nut Island.

He and others from the South Boston Iron Foundry (also known as the Cyrus Alger Iron Company) fired their cannons across the bay towards the cliffs on Peddock's island. Not all cannon's fared well. The center object is all that is left of an 11-inch Rodman rifled cannon that burst during a test. The two objects to the side are projectiles that were used in that type of cannon.

Headworks

Isn't this a pretty building? It is one of the only buildings on Nut Island in Quincy. This is the Nut Island Headworks. At the headworks, sewage passes through screens and grit chambers that remove large objects, sand and gravel. After screening, the sewage is conveyed through the five mile Inter-Island Tunnel to Deer Island, where it undergoes primary and secondary treatment. This facility serves 21 southern sewer system communities.

Kind of looks too pretty to be a building that deals with sewage... (FYI, there is NO sewage smell around here.)

Nut Island - trails

The picture above shows part of the public park at Nut Island. It has a nice path with great ocean views and occasional signs explaining various bits of historical information. The paths are well paved, so they are excellent for stroller walks.

Nut Island sign

The next few days I will be posting pictures from one of my favorite "hidden gems" in Quincy, Nut Island.

Years ago, colonist built a path from the mainland to the island to allow their cattle to graze there. The path got built up more and more until it became walkable (and later drivable) from the mainland.

In 1952, the Nut Island Primary Wastewater Treatment Plant was built. Sewage from the southern collection system received treatment for the first time. In 1998, the treatment plant was demolished and a headworks was built in its place. Around that time the land around the headworks was landscaped for use as a public park. Finally, in September 1999, it was opened to the public.

I just love this sign that is at the end of the Nut Island dock. Quite often on early mornings and late afternoons you can find people fishing here.

r you ready?

In Weymouth there is a McDonalds with an indoor playplace. Kids can play while their parents finish eating their food. It is also good for when they are waiting for their food, because this McDonalds (at least when I have been there) has very slow service.

granite ball

You may have noticed a large granite ball in the background of my last picture. Here is a better picture of it. This ball was presented to the City of Quincy by the Granite Manufacturers Association in 1925 on the 300th anniversary of the first settlement in the area. For years, Quincy was known for its granite.





Thomas Crane Library has this photo in its archives of the monument's evolution. Starting from the bottom, it first shows the granite as a rough block of stone, then as a rough ball, then the shined ball in its first location beside City Hall. This monument was later being moved to the rotary south of the Fore River bridge in Quincy Point. And later still, it was moved back in front of City Hall where it is today.

John Adams

This John Adams statue is found in Quincy Center, right in front of the city hall. Dedicated in 2001, this life-size bronze statue of the "Atlas of Independence" was designed by sculptor Lloyd Lillie. John is looking across the street, towards Abigail/John Quincy Adams statues.

sunset

April Showers

Tulips in the rain.

g building

This is G-Building in Bristol Community College in Fall River. The fountain area in front of the building is a very peaceful place to sit and eat your lunch when you are between classes.

club 58

Outside of Club 58, a nightclub in Quincy Center. Although many people put the club's address as 1515 Hancock St, it is actually found at 58 Ross Way . (Yep, that is how they got their name.)