Rockport, Massachusetts

Buckle up, buttercup...gonna be a long post today!

We woke to a beautiful but chilly morning.  After breakfast at the Airbnb we went for a leisurely 4 Mike walk around the quaint/artsy/fishing town. 
 

I'll just let you scroll thru along our walk. 

Richard says the mooring balls will be full with sailing club and local residents sailboats in a month or so. Currently all the boats are hauled out and shrink wrapped for the winter.

Hard to tell but this seagull is twice the size of our NC seagulls!

Lots of homes with million dollar views!

We got lightweight "puffy" jackets for our UK trip coming up this May.  Glad we got them as they are really comfy and did the trick of keeping us warm. 

Looks almost like a Bahamas beach if you ignore the 40 degree temperatures.

After a little rest at the Airbnb,  we took a scenic drive thru Gloucester to the Eastern Point lighthouse.   Not much to see as the grounds are off limits and the marsh trail was difficult to access so we passed on that one. 

Looking south from the quay you can see the Boston skyline! 

We found a little diner called Charlie's in Gloucester for a good lunch, then back to the Airbnb for another rest.  See a pattern here,haha? 

Richard was out fishing at 5:30am....(we didn't see him off at that hour, haha,  even though the boat is just a minute from where we are staying. 

But in the late afternoon he texted me to let me know when they'd be arriving back to the harbor for offload. 

So we were able to be on the dock to see them come in. 

Richard is in the bright blue/orange bibbs.

A few minutes before, a truck had pulled up on the dock, ready to offload their catch. The driver pulled off a large scale and set it on the dock.   You can see them lifting the Grey crates full of lobsters up to be weighed. Then they rigged and hauled down an equal number of empty crates. They did this several times until empty. Richard said they had a normal day, about 800 lbs. 

It was all very efficient and looked like they were all very professional of course. 

Looking good!  Pushed off the dock and on to their mooring for the night.

We had to walk a few blocks to get to the other side of the harbor.   In the meantime Richard had stripped off the bibbs to reveal his normal  "work clothes "!   We met the Captain and chatted with him a while on the dock. Seems like a real nice guy. Said he aims to spend winters on a boat I the Bahamas some day so maybe we'll cross paths with him again.  

In the bucket is a very nice lobster and a bunch of stone crabs that Richard saved for me!

Richard walked with us over to the Airbnb and we had a real relaxing chat to catch up again.  

I harvested the crab claws, then we took the still alive crabs back over a block to the harbor.  Tossed them in the water and they crawled away.   Their claws will regrow!  I put them in a baggie in the fridge for tomorrow....I have a lobster to prepare for dinner tonight! 

Nice one!  

Beautiful!   

Yummy!  Melted butter really hit the spot. 

Fun day!