Gloucester

July 12, 2016

Today we drove to Goucester. We went to see Hammond Castle. It reminded me of Hearst Castle in California. There is even a ceiling that William Randolph Hearst gave to Mr Hammond. Hammond was an inventor and is considered the father of remote control. That's how he made so much money. The castle is medieval.  Many things were shipped from Europe. It has lots of interesting rooms. There's a conference room with a domed ceiling where if you whisper on one end,you can hear it on the opposite end.  The courtyard has a roof and he could simulate different kinds of weather. The house also had beautiful views of the sea. 

Mr Hammond also collected things from Columbus's voyage. He had a skull of one of Columbus's crewmen.

We had lunch in a little diner and then walked around Gloucester. It's a cute little seaside town. It has a memorial to the fishermen's wives. 

There's also a memorial to the fishermen lost at sea. Gloucester has been a seaport since the 1600's. They have a list of all those lost at sea since the 1700's. Both memorials are on a walkway along the harbor. 

Our hotel (Castle Manor Inn) called me in the morning, to ask whether we would be arriving after 8, but we were there by 3. It's a cute little place that seems to be family-run. 

In the late afternoon, we went down to Half Moon Beach. We paid $10 for parking for the day. It was a very rocky beach, but we had chairs, so we were quite comfortable. I went in the water a little, but it was difficult because of the rocks.  We enjoyed sitting on the beach. After a while, the tide came in and we went up to another part on the grass. The park was pretty big and I also walked around to see the rocks, etc. there's also a baseball field. It was very nice.  Perfect weather.