Old South Meeting House – Boston Massachusetts
Right aside the Granary Burying Ground is the Old South Meeting House which I mistakenly thought was the Old North Church so we went in to check it out for $6 a head. It was $15 for a combo ticket to another museum but we were both direly confused as to what and where the other museum was and we were on a timer for the goddamn parking so we just did the one…
The church part is very standard and… church-y. Throughout the pews and perimeter there are lots of little displays with various historical notes. There are some “ghosts” who tell personal stories with their little name tag-esque plaques. Displays on the edges showed how Boston has always been a particularly contentious city that has never been fond of censorship. One display in particular got my attention – it was an open copy of Phillis Wheatley Peters’ book Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral. Apparently, this was the church she once attended. If you don’t know her story it’s a really good one. She was born likely in West Africa before finding herself sold into slavery as a child and sailing for the colonies. In Boston she was purchased by merchant John Wheatley as a slave for his wife Susanna. She would have been somewhere around 8 years of age and wouldn’t have known any English but apparently she took to this new language so quickly it caught everyone off guard. The Wheatley’s daughter took a particular shine to her and began to tutor her. By the time she was in her early teens she had not only picked up English but also Greek and Latin and was reading the classics in their original tongues. The family was so impressed by this they relieved her of her slave labors and invested in her giving her a formal education. By the age of twenty she had written her collection of poetry and wished to publish them but no one thought she could do it in the colonies. So, they set sail for London where she did indeed become the first black woman to publish a book of poetry in the Western world. She intrigued London but caused quite a stir when she came back to the colonies. Slavery was largely based on the belief that black people were somehow less than and to have a young black woman write poetry flew in the face of this concept. Instead of accepting this possibility the people here in Boston doubled down on their racism and misogyny and accused her of publishing some white woman’s work under her own name. She was put on trial for this and basically had her character torn to shreds but she persisted. She proved to one and all she did in fact write her own poems. And afterwards she was given her freedom by the Wheatley family. And that’s where the story should end… in triumph and joy. But no, she went to marry an impoverished black grocer, lost two babies to death, and eventually succumbed to pneumonia trying to work as a scullery maid to provide for those babies. She was 31. The infant daughter she just gave birth to followed her into the next life on the same day. But I suppose not all is lost for we have not forgotten her. Her poetry and spirit live on and are studied, read, and reflected upon to this very day.
This was a quick tour. Honestly if I were a kid I would have been bored to tears but as an adult I rather enjoyed it.
King’s Chapel Burying Ground – Boston Massachusetts
Our trip to Boston was another one of those poorly planned ADHD kind of moments where we just pointed vaguely at the Freedom Trail and decided to start walking. But before that we had to go through truly mental traffic, dodging cars parked in the middle of the street and not knowing if I was driving in one lane or two because… who needs paint lines, ammirite? Parking was no less nerve wracking and cost a whopping $43 even though we were only here for an hour or so. I expected that. I did not expect a valet asking me for the keys to the Prius who’d later lose the Prius. And it’s keys. Separately. If you’re not swearing at this point GOOD FOR YOU! Because I was.
Luckily this parking was VERY close to this cemetery which we had not planned on going to. But who am I to say no to a cemetery? And it was cool! Apparently, the King’s Chapel Burying Ground is the oldest cemetery in the city of Boston with its first internment in 1686. It claims several famous residents including the first woman to step off the Mayflower Mary Chilton. Also a number of revolutionary war heroes, lots of governors, portrait artist Joseph Badger, the first colonist American born Architect Charles Bulfinch, and “The Ice King” Frederic Tudor who pioneered ice harvesting and shipped ice from various ponds to destinations as far as India!
The art on the stones of this cemetery were MAGNIFICENT! Just so creative and strange and well-articulated! There were dancing skeletons and angels, death’s heads and wildly elaborate border carvings. I was loving each and every second of this relatively small cemetery. It’s still attached to the church which is also really tiny and apparently has crypt tours during the warmer months. WE SHALL BE BACK.
Acushnet River Antiques – New Bedford MA
We’ve now been to this particular antique store a few times because I never managed to blog it and keep forgetting we’ve already been here. That being said its totally worth being blogged!
This is a very decently sized antique store with a great assortment if oddness hailing from its multiple vendors. Being so close to where a lot of whaling history went down I’ve also found it to be one of the best antique stores to find scrimshaw and sometimes old maps and photos of the area. There seems to be a lot of old, er, very racist advertisements and portraits of creepy Victorian children as well. If either of those is your thing then this is a good bet! And it has never been disappointing on the haunted doll scale.
Deffinately worth a looksie if you’re in the area!
Salt Pond Braille Trail Etc – Cape Cod National Seashore Eastham MA
Sometimes it’s really neat to go somewhere so different from where you live that even the plants are unfamiliar. That was what our last trip to Cape Cod was like.
Salt marshes are such unique and interesting places full of gorgeous views and neat wildlife. But this place was special in an even more inspiring way for there was a short trail at the beginning that was dedicated to the blind. A rope provided guidance down a series of small steps, knots in the rope allowed for the hikers know there was something more to experiance – usually a braille plaque next to something worth feeling – perhaps the trunk of a tree or something else nature-y.
I’m not blind so I don’t really know how user friendly or helpful this trail was but I did find the very idea of it absolutely innovative.
Beyond the braille trail there were other easy trails that meandered for quite a ways and showed us absolutely gorgeous views. It was a very pleasant day and I’d suggest this place to others looking for a peaceful stroll.
Ford Nature Preserve Rindge New Hampshire
Good news is I am getting very close to my goal of posting one Catching Marbles entry per day for the whole month of October! Bad news is my body has really not been happy with this aforementioned goal and now I am near the end I’m really scratching the bottom of the barrel for easy entries.
This one was supposed to be a hike but when I got there I realized it’s more of a cute oasis and meditation spot. The driveway into the parking lot was so sketchy I wasn’t even sure it was a driveway and the parking lot? Hilarious. A cute little grassy area that was trying so hard and allowed for way more parking than anyone could possibly want here.
There was a big bulletin board and trail maps — of other trails in town, heavily spattered with mold, dead spiders, and debris, clearly no one had come by to change them in a dog’s age.
Beyond the parking lot was a field full of birdhouses and the scrappiest cold weather flowers I’d ever witnessed. Beyond that was a little bench that overlooked a tiny, cute pond. To either side were big old farmhouses so I suspect this plot may have once been that too before being turned into a tiny bird preserve.
Is this spot adorable? Yes. Is it a good place to enjoy a slice of nature and unwind? Yes. Beyond that though it’s probably not anything to write home about. If you live in Rindge by all means check it out but it’s not worth any farther a drive
Halloween Displays – Rindge NH
There is supposed to be some huge Halloween light display up on Monadknock View Road but I ambled over there and nothing seemed to be going on despite the Facebook post that led me to believe there would be. That being said I have been keeping my eye out as I’m driving around and this display on Foliage Way is just growing and growing. I felt they deserved a shout out.
Arisu Anime Shop – Old Mystic Village Mystic CT
Every year around my birthday I end up at B F Clyde’s Cidar Mill and then Old Mystic Village to celebrate. We were a few weeks late this year but I was super happy to see a few new shops in the village, one of which was this anime shop, the likes of which I’ve never been in before.
We were immediately greeted with life size Dragon Ball statues (and look at me knowing where they were from! There’s hope for me yet.) The ceiling was adorned with paper lanterns and the isles were full of anime inspired plush toys, including a whole Hello Kitty corner which I’ll admit had a squishmallow type plushie that was sooo soft I almost lugged it home!
From here the back wall was one big bookshelf for comic anime and the other section of the store was all noodles and novelty snack foods. I couldn’t identify most of them. Maybe next time I’ll be brave and try something, on this day I was already stuffed to the gills on apple cidar doughnuts.
1810 House B&B and Antiques – Wolfboro New Hampshire
Main street antique stores with well-arranged display cases are fun but as for myself I prefer the quirkier establishments – basement antiques, mill antiques, and of course barn antiques. Much to my delight this store was in a barn out back of a cute little B&B. It was so quintessentially White Mountain-y.
And for being a barn it was WELL ventilated and cool. We saw all sorts of antiques, most of which were clearly linked to the local area. Ancient toys, old farming tools, a couple accordions, even a wooden opium pillow. What wasn’t to love? It was halfway like shopping and halfway like visiting a roadside country museum. I loved every bit of this place from its rustic inventory, to the chickens out back, to the cute little inn next door. It was the perfect way to end our journey into the white mountains and if you’re in the area go check it out! It’s a lot of fun!
The Last Damning Accusations of Caroline Cutter’s Gravestone – Elm Street Cemetery – Milford MA
As we all grow older and hopefully wiser we began to take on the gentle wisdom of phrases like, “Let lying dogs lie” but Caroline Cutter may have been an exception to this philosophy. You see after her death in the mid 1800’s her husband spent what I can only guess was a decent bit of money on a scathing 150 word headstone that called out several members of the community by name, accusing them of harassing his beloved to literal death.
Basically, this was a petty feud between a church and a couple who once attended services with them. According to the church Caroline’s husband Calvin Cutter was little more than a shyster. They accused him of bullying other church members into helping him fund his own church across town – a church that ultimately was never built. For these grievances they excommunicated both Calvin and Caroline and Caroline apparently took the blow to her reputation very hard and despite her better efforts was never able to get back into the good graces of the church.
After she died Calvin took it upon himself to make her headstone into one of the pettiest monuments ever carved. In it he claimed the excommunication destroyed his wife’s life, threw her into poverty, and eventually killed her while she was already down. That’s quite a bit of drama. Drama I don’t even think the town wants over 200 years later as a completely unrelated monument/plaque stands two feet from the stone nearly completely blocking it.
Now I don’t know if Calvin really was a na’ardowell, nor do I know if Caroline was really as dramatic as her husband. It seems as if social ostracization may have made both of them a little nutty. And maybe, just maybe, dear old Calvin wasn’t a grifter but just someone with ADD who let his rejection sensitivity spill over into his grief for his deceased wife. Anything could be possible!
But no matter what you believe the stone still reads thusly, Caroline H., Wife of Calvin Cutter, M.D. Murdered by the Baptist Ministry and Baptist Churches As follows: Sep’t. 28, 1838; aged 33 She was accused of lying in church meeting by the Rev. D. D. Pratt and Deacon Albert Adams. Was condemned by the church unheard. She was reduced to poverty by Deacon William Wallace. When an exparte council was asked of the Milford Baptist Church, by the advice of their committee, George Raymond, Calvin Averill, and Andrew Hutchinson They voted not to receive any communication on the subject. The Rev. Mark Carpenter said he thought as the good old Deacon said, “We’ve got Cutter down and it’s best to keep him down.” The intentional and malicious destruction of her character And happiness as above described destroyed her life. Her last words upon the subject were “Tell the Truth and The Iniquity will come out”
This stone is SUPER easy to find, though there is no parking in the cemetery or roadside. I parked at the gas station across the road but I guess there’s also a park around the corner with even more appropriate parking. The cemetery gates are behind a little park monument out front and should be open if it’s daylight hours. As for Caroline Cutter’s stone – it’s in the first row almost in the center right in front of someone’s barn and behind another completely unrelated monument.
