north shore

it appears as if we may be moving within the next several months (most likely in the dead of winter, yay...), so now is crunch time to squeeze in lots of fun things.  for our long weekend, we did the north shore of mass.

and now, please enjoy many pictures of robert... because i guess that's what happens when you're the one carrying the camera in your purse all day.  

first stop: gloucester, america's oldest seaport.

first we walked around the harbor

 

and then we visited hammond castle.  back in the day, some guy built it as a wedding gift to his wife.  not bad.

although it kind of looks like it, no, i did not chop my hair.... yet. maybe i'll get the courage one day. in a few years.

next stop: rockport. we got crab cakes at some little place off the side of the road (i never knew i liked loved crab cakes until i moved here) and then went to halibut point state park, my new favorite place. we went to a beach where the shore was just a bunch of big granite boulders.  rob found a cool rock and we sat on it for a good while and just watched the waves crash against all of rocks right in front of us.  

i spy mr. rob siting on a rock. you can barely see him here.

 

third, and final stop: ipswich.  all we actually did here, besides drive, was go to an orchard.  but it was a lovely orchard, so worth the extra drive time.  we got delicious cider and donuts and then walked around the animal area.  i love farms/orchards/cider mills/etc.

 

to top off our day, we had the pleasure of seeing this hen.  the oddest looking hen i have ever seen. in my life.  this was the best pic we have of it, and i'm not sure if it fully captures all of its...beauty..  but all of a sudden it came out of its hen house and gave out a loud cocka-doodle-doo, announcing its presence.  it was hilarious.