I was already on my way home from Rhode Island on this perfectly rainy day when I decided to use the weather’s gloomy ambiance to my advantage. I wanted to go find the Bancroft Tower and take a few dark and dreary photos of the castle and the foreboding gray clouds in the background. Nothing makes my inner Goth happier than that! Also, I had half an hour to kill before Lucky’s Aquarium opened. I’d heard rumors of a fresh fish order and I wanted to go for a good poke.
ANYWAY, Bancroft Tower is situated in a sweet residential neighborhood, atop a steep hill overlooking Worcester. There is a little parking lot and a lot of street signs saying that is the only place you are allowed to park. Of course, since it was raining, and spring, I was there with only two other cars who seemed to be idling, not gawking at the tower before them.
The park is very small, just a little patch of grass and a nice big castle directly in front of the parking lot allowing easy access to anyone who is not in form for a hike! As I approached it two HUGE turkey vultures flew off the tower straight towards me and scared the ever lovin’ piss out of me. Not many people know just how overwhelmingly monstrous those birds can get. It’s like being pursued by a goddamn pterodactyl! Imagine my absolute joy to see I’d taken a photo of them perched atop the tower without even knowing it! A moment later a woman walked her wee dog through the big arch doorway. I walked in as well and found that the doors to the tower part were locked but I guess they are open for Sunday tours in October allowing the public to climb up to the observation deck. Oh! How I wish to do so! It merits a return visit!
The tower itself was built in 1900 with the help of many very tuckered out horses who hauled the stones up that atrocious hill. It cost a mere $15,000, that’s over a cool half million today. It was to serve as a memorial.
Also of interest was the fact the park seemed to intersect with a 14-mile loop bike path through the city. If anyone is so inclined to try a challenge! Other than that the park and tower seem a lovely spot for some opportune castle photography or a scenic picnic. Definitely would recommend this to anyone who finds themself in Worcester.
I’ve been meaning to check out Lucky’s for quite a while now as so many people seem to love this place. I knew however, that going to a well loved fish store might be a bit detrimental to my wallet. *sigh*
ANYWAY, as I drove up I discovered it’s in a warehouse dock. Certainly not what I was expecting but I’ve been to a lot of super sketchy aquariums and pet stores in the past so why not? There was a sign saying Lucky’s Aquarium, clearly handmade though almost hidden. I was alone today so I sent a quick text just to make sure if I ended up toppling into a serial killers lair someone would know…
As I walked in there was some aquariums and equipment in a hallway, still not giving me the best vibes until I saw one display tank with some very fat and happy looking newts. And beyond them there was an actual fish store! It was small but well maintained.
There was a counter full of probably 30 or 40 bettas of all kinds and sexes. And they all seemed healthy, a few of the females were even a bit on the chonky side. I found a GORGEOUS male, almost all orange, but for $45 he had the wrong tail type for my little breeding colony. To be fair the prices were anywhere between $7.50 and $65 per betta. It was the best selection I’ve seen at a petstore so far.
By now I was looking around and seeing a number of exotic large fish including two tanks of stingrays, some dinosaur fish, a selection of large fresh water puffers, a lung fish, and a fairly sizable arrowana.
I knew this place was popular and they seemed pretty sold out of most things on this day but they did have a nice selection of live plants and the small fish they did have were all super decently priced which is how I came home with a $4 plant and two almost adult hillstream loaches for $19 each!
This place is deffinately well worth a looksey if you’re in the area and wanting some healthy fish. Although they did have some tanks and supplies this place was mostly just live fish – catering to a crowd who already is in the aquarium game.
I lived not far from Worcester for a few years and always heard these faint whisperings about the city’s unofficial mascot, something that had caused so much local speculation that it continues to divide the innocent from the cynical. Officially it’s called the Burnside Fountain which is topped with a statue titled Boy and Turtle. Colloquially it is often referred to as just Turtle Boy. It is a piece of art so contentious in its form and so muddled in its creation that it leaves audience both scratching their head and giggling. One of my deepest regrets of moving out of the area was the fact I never found the time to see the inspiration for so many lewd jokes, unsolicited commentary, and less than honorable mentions. When I found myself once again in Worcester helping a friend run errands I knew what I had to do. I had to find Turtle Boy.
I’ve seen photos online but nothing quite brings it home like seeing it in person from all sides. It leaves little to the imagination, which is a bit shocking considering it’s a publicly displayed piece of art adorning the park in downtown Worcester. The more Puritanical residents maintain that it depicts a boy riding a turtle and is supposed to imbibe, “innocence, joy, and rebirth.” Those of us less adept at cognitive dissonance are of the opinion that it depicts a far less savory subject matter. In fact in online forums it’s gotten some notoriety as “The Turtle-Fucking Boy” where one local has gone so far as to call it Worcester’s unofficial monument to bestiality. This is a life-size piece and if you visit it you can look the turtle directly in it’s anguished face. As one internet commenter lamented, “That is not the face of consent.”
While visiting it I couldn’t help but melt into a puddle of my former twelve year self, giggling, and pointing, and yelling. “OH MY GOD!” No matter how you decide to look at it, and what it may or may not depict, you can’t help but wonder whhhhhhy does it even exist?! The story of Turtle Boy is a long one, filled with gaping holes of knowledge, that will leave even the most adept historian deeply unsatisfied. On the other hand, if you’re one for a sideways glance and a bit of dry humor, it could make for an entertaining read so here it goes:
Samuel Burnside was a well known lawyer in the town of Worcester whose family became quite well respected for their humanitarian efforts. After his death his daughter Elizabeth Burnside gave $5,000 to the city to create a drinking fountain in his memory. It was 1905 and the purpose of the fountain was not to satiate the needs of humans but rather to keep local horses and dogs well hydrated on their rounds. The water bowls on the basin are made in two heights for the ease of these beasts of burden. What Elizabeth probably neglected to mention as she was commissioning this work was that it really oughtn’t depict anything particularly racy, in case, God forbid, her father’s memory be forever linked to the carnal lust of one teenage boy for sea turtles…
The fountain was designed by Henry Bacon, the same guy who later went on to make the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, but the bronze atop of it was left to Charles Y Harvey who enthusiastically took the job believing it’d be his masterpiece. And that’s where this story takes a delightfully dark New England turn. You see he only got to work on his masterpiece for approximately a week before he claimed to hear voices commanding him to kill himself. Some claim these voices came from the work itself, perhaps even from the traumatized turtle’s defiant beak. And on January 27, 1912 he was found on the banks of the Bronx river having slashed his own throat open with a razor. He did not survive. Sherry Fry was then asked to finish the piece, “According to Harvey’s original design.”And so he did. Or didn’t. It’s really hard to say because I can’t for the life of me envision anyone sculpting a scene of such vibrant turtle rape. Personally my suspicion lays on him – did he in fact create the vision of Charles Y Harvey, which could have been deeply disturbed to begin with, or did he apply some less than proper poetic justice for some other reason? Perhaps he knew Harvey, or the guy the fountain was dedicated to, and wanted to embarrass them after their deaths or maybe he was pulling and elaborate stunt on the city of Worcester. Or maybe it was some sort of inside joke… in the end it doesn’t matter because everyone involved in the project still managed to get the statue set up and displayed to the public but there are more than just a few rumblings to suggest that they too saw what we see today – one such clue is the fact the statue never had a public ceremony when it was installed. Instead they probably put it up in the dark of night and left it there to see what would happen. People may have whispered and muttered but the statue was allowed to stay and in fact started to work its way into local folklore. It even was moved once to a more populous location and was even stolen in 1972 by unknown vandals who later returned it.
It’s an uncomfortable work and an even more confusing story behind it. Perhaps this is why it’s not only dry and out of use it’s also rotting without any plans on restoring it. After one hundred years it still stands, oddly victorious, sending some sort of message to someone… but we’ll likely never what that message was or to whom it was meant for.
And to end my little story here is me – unable to maintain a straight face as I pose with the strangest monument I have yet to see.
