An Afternoon in Newburyport
October is a great time to visit Newburyport as we did on October 10, 2016. Fish and Chips at the Grog and a visit to nearby Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.
October 10, 2016
Newburyport is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts. It has cobblestone walkways, shops, restaurants and museums. My fascination with the town is that it was the inspiration for the imaginary city of Innsmouth, the setting of the H. P. Lovecraft story The Shadow Over Innsmouth, part of the Cthulhu Mythos. It is a popular tourist location. October is a great time to visit, imagining that I'm walking through Innsmouth.
Lunch
The Grog is located on 13 Middle Street. It has an interesting history. Alfred W. Thompson opened a "Ladies and Gents Eating and Oyster House" after completing his service in the Civil War. The Restaurant's customers were local sailors, travelers and statesmen until Prohibition began (1920).
https://flic.kr/p/2nS3TfR The Groghttps://flic.kr/p/2imwNdT Fish and Chips is always a good choice
R&R Traders
Right next to The Grog is an interesting store with a great collection of imported items, minerals and geodes. In preparation for Día de Muertos they had a great collection of Mexican skulls and other artifacts.
https://flic.kr/p/2nS3QUi R&R Tradershttps://flic.kr/p/2nS67wU My kind of store
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
After lunch and a bit of window shopping, we headed out to Plum Island, a short drive out of town. It has two beach areas, and trails near a large salt marsh. However parking space is very limited., another reason to visit in October rather than mid-summer.
https://flic.kr/p/2ijxavw Sand, Rocks and Seahttps://flic.kr/p/2ijAJ9v I spent some time watching this Heron fishhttps://flic.kr/p/2ijANZY Looking for fishhttps://flic.kr/p/2inbVAJ Concentration
Then, just like that, it was time to leave.
https://flic.kr/p/2inaMn5 Time for all of us to leave[jetpack_subscription_form show_subscribers_total="false" button_on_newline="false" custom_font_size="16px" custom_border_radius="0" custom_border_weight="1" custom_padding="15" custom_spacing="10" submit_button_classes email_field_classes show_only_email_and_button="true" success_message="Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm Follow' to start subscribing."]
