Local loop
Sat June 13, 2020
(~251 miles)
With pandemic restrictions in place, many restaurants and their customers have been gradually figuring out how to approach safely socializing in public. As the guidelines have begun easing, the upcoming New England Riders RTE at a Byfield, MA barbecue joint would be the first group event of the year not cancelled since the holiday party in January. Having been out and about these last few weekends, testing the waters and getting a feel for the “new normal” (that’s a phrase I’m sure everyone will be sick of soon, if they aren’t already), I felt ready to attend a small gathering, following proper precautions.
I chose to ride the NER North Shore Merrimac River Ride, with a lunch stop detour to the RTE location. Char and I are pretty familiar with Cape Ann from scuba diving excursions there, but can never really get enough of the scenery and character of the area. She had other plans, so I made this a solo excursion with plenty of time built in for puttering around to take photos plus a short detour for some lighthouse photos.
Left the house bright and early, taking interstate up to the Dunkin in Beverly MA. Since I wasn’t meeting anyone, I only paused long enough to get off the bike for a strech and some water. I spotted a cool-looking local coffee/pastry place, Half-Baked Cafe, just a few doors down that I’d like to try out next time I do this ride. Apparently they have MAPLE-BACON doughnuts – yum! There was a socially-distanced line waiting to get in so I decided to just get moving.
The weather was gorgeous – clear, sunny, and dry. I followed MA 127 through the bustling little town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, before turning on Ocean Street for the short scenic run by White Beach, almost deserted at this time of day.
The village of Magnolia was stirring, with plenty of joggers and beachcombers walking the low tide line as I curved around the little harbor and up over the bluffs on Shore Rd. There was some sort of construction crane out on a barge, perhaps there for working on pilings or a dock installation, but all was quiet and peaceful for the moment.
Continuing on Hersperus Ave into Gloucester, I’d planned on a brief stop for the view at Hammond Castle, but it was closed due to pandemic, with the parking lot completely roped off. Back on 127, the Gloucester boardwalk was still empty and positively gleaming with American flags , so I pulled over to take in the view.
I rolled over the short drawbridge, officially onto Cape Ann, and through downtown in very light traffic. I looped around the inner harbor onto Eastern Ave, enjoying the crusty seaside backdrop of Gloucester’s active marine industry.
Atlantic Avenue, on the eastern edge of the peninsula, looked stunning this morning. I cruised it slowly, stopping a few times to absorb the views. Many of the nice oceanfront hotels along this strip appeared to be still closed for business, even this late into the season, with lighter pedestrian traffic to reflect this.
The route picks up route 127A to swing around Good Harbor Beach and through the quiet residential easternmost lobe of Cape Ann into Rockport. The short local road detour through the Gap Head neighborhood is scenic, and riding atop the bluffs by the popular Old Garden Beach dive spot always makes me yearn to find out what the lobsters are up to right now.
Rockport was amazingly quiet for such a bright warm day on a late spring weekend. I pulled in briefly to the Town Wharf for the obligatory photos and enjoyed the calm.
Since I generally try to avoid crowds and places that attract them, I’d never ventured down Bearskin Neck, Rockport’s main tourism thoroughfare with beaucoup shops, restaurants, kitsch, etc. Usually jam-packed with pedestrians, this morning it was a ghost town – welcome to my eyes and deserving of a bit of exploration.
The narrow lane ends at the harbor breakwater, also deserted, and I enjoyed a few sunny moments with the unimpeded views of Rockport harbor. Never would have expected this at mid-morning in season.
The route continued north on 127 around the island to enjoy the quieter “back side” of Cape Ann. The Lobster Pool restaurant at Folly Cove serves up some great seafood (including delicious whole clams) with a nice view, but they didn’t appear open yet, and I already had lunch plans. The roadside porta-potty at Plum Cove beach was a welcome sight, since many regular public bathrooms were still unavailable. I’ve started to develop rather an eye for these green-or-blue-and-white conveniences at local playgrounds, ballparks, and construction sites during this time of COVID.
Crossed the Annisquam River on MA 128 back to the mainland and proceeded to enjoy some narrow twisty roads in the rural northern section of Gloucester running into Essex. After joining MA 133 and crossing the Essex River, the land opens up a bit, with fields and wide stretches of tidal marshlands, aside from the bustle while passing through the town of Ipswich.
Originally known as Agawam, the historic portion of Ipswich south of the river has several old houses, dating back hundreds of years, built very close to the main road as was the custom.
This ship sculpture in Newbury looked cool enough for a u-ey. Phone screen + sun glare = unintended crop! 🙁
One of my route modifications included a side trip out to Plum Island, which I hadn’t visited since staying at a family rental there as a kid. It is a nine mile long sand barrier island along the MA coast between the Ipswich and Merrimack rivers, formed by the fierce currents in the surrounding waters. Most of the island consists of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and state beach lands, but the small beach community of Plum Island (part of Newburyport) occupies the northern end, with a lot of rental properties and small summer homes.
Despite the many years that have passed, the island still retains most of the sleepy seaside village charm that I remember – with people walking/biking everywhere on the grid of narrow lanes with sand spilling into the streets. A lot of the bungalows and cottages look like they were probably there during my last visit some 35 years ago (damn!).
I cruised slowly up Northern Boulevard, soaking in the beach vibes and feeling happy. Near the northern tip of the island, the Newburyport Harbor Lighthouse can be found in a fenced field next to a municipal building, almost dwarfed by nearby trees that makes the scene look a bit overgrown. This light station has a varied history, starting as a pair of ranged lights, then with massive storms having destroyed several past iterations of the light towers. The current tower was built in 1898.
I am still pursuing an IBA Lighthouse Tour certification, so after taking my photos, I was dismayed to realize that I’d left my IBA numbered flag at home and felt foolish for having come all this way. Then I remembered that a local receipt could also serve as sufficient documentation with the photo, in addition to the spotwalla.com track I was recording on my phone. Feeling somewhat less aggrieved, I headed back over the bridge into downtown Newburyport and pulled around behind a commercial building where I could get a nice close-up shot of the Newburyport Harbor Range Front Light.
Turning around from where I parked the bike in the parking lot, I merely had to look up to see the Newburyport Harbor Range Rear Light sticking up above the old keeper’s building. Now privately owned, the rear tower can apparently be reserved for a six hour fine dining-with-a-view experience for 2-4 people, catered by one of the local restaurants. Newburyport was once an active port for the rum trade and lining up the two range lights on top of one another helped guide sailing vessels through the channel in the Merrimack River.
Having completed the coastal portion of the ride and captured three lighthouses on the day, it was time to get some barbecue! I zipped a few miles down I-95 to Byfield and pulled in at the Rusty Can restaurant in Byfield MA, a new-to-me restaurant. I was greeted by a few other riders just pulling in, including Karen the organizer of this Ride-to-Eat event. She participates in a rider Meetup group and had advertised the RTE there as well as with NER, so there were a couple different online communities coming together to talk bikes and eat.
The restaurant wasn’t allowing customers inside and there was no real outdoor seating except for a couple picnic tables in front of the convenience store next door. Masks on, we were to give our orders to the outside staff for to-go only and just eat where we could find room.
I had a difference of opinion with the woman who was taking orders about good customer service, when she rudely refused to answer a simple question I asked about the food. I’ve little patience for discourtesy, so I decided not to spend any money at this establishment. Ever.
Disappointed and hungry as I was after this turn of events, luckily RTEs are about more than the food. I hovered around the picnic tables, mask on and chatting with great people about bikes, current news, etc. while they ate. Reports were that the food was decent, though the comparison with other well-known Q varied, depending on who you talked to. No sides appeared to be included, though I didn’t spot anyone eating ribs or other meat platters. Most people seemed to opt for the brisket sandwich. It’s no Goody Coles or BT’s, that much I could tell.
Crossing the river again on MA 97, the route entered a series of great wooded back roads working south through Groveland, Andover, and Boxford. I bypassed the break stop at the Middleton Dunkin and continued on the final twisty loop through Harold Parker State Forest. Lots of cars parked and people walking/swimming/fishing at the forest’s Field Pond.
Coming back to MA 114, I pulled in to end the ride at Richardson’s Dairy to relieve my hunger with some delicious locally-made ice cream.
Several parking spaces were coned off in the center of the lot to keep overall customer volume down. Folks were wearing masks and keeping their distance in the lines. I went in for a couple scoops of strawberry cheesecake ice cream and enjoyed it on a nearby shady stone wall while cooling off and reflecting back on a day of classic New England riding that had had a bit of everything in it (minus the bbq!).
