Essex County Day Trip

I started my day trip at 7:30 AM on Saturday, August 15, 2009. My destination was Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, MA. I drove up interstate 93 to interstate 95 north to Route 128 north to Rockport. I exited 128 on to route 127 west. This is the roundabout way to get to Rockport. I have never been on this section of route 127. I am glad I did. It is amazing.

Above is an image showing my route.

Just before I exited route 128 (near the first traffic circle) I pulled over to take the picture above. A true houseboat.

Captain Hooks restaurant. I have never eaten hear, I just thought the location, overlooking a small harbor was interesting. By the way, this is a pizza/sub shop.

Goose Cove, Annisquam, MA - This is a small cove, beautiful modest homes. Route 127 bisects the cove from the Ipswich Bay inlets.

It is now about 8:20 AM. The sun is very bright, even at this hour and it is starting to warm up. I haven't yet developed the knack for snapping pictures while driving. This road has very few places to pull over.

If you look closely.. oh forget it.. There was only one place to pull over on this stretch. The picture is of Lobster Cove. It is a beautiful inlet off of Ispwich Bay (which is to the west). It reminded me of the small hidden lakes/ponds of New Hampshire.

There was actually someplace to pull over here. It is a beautiful little cove. There is a small beach (resident sticker parking only). It was close to low tide and there was a lot of red seaweed. I should have walked closer and taken better pictures, but this one I think shows its cozy beauty.

I finally made it to Halibut Point State Park . There were 2 other cars in the parking lot. I had been here about 10 years ago in the middle of winter. Even then it was amazing. I plan on going back this fall as well as winter.

This is a picture of the guide book. I walked from the parking lot up to the quarry, scenic lookout (AMAZING) and then back around the quarry. It was beginning to get quite hot and there are not many big trees here. It was like being on top of a mountain, vegetation was low and slow growing... but the views... well worth the heat and humidity.

A granite carving made from stone gathered in the quarry years ago. There are a handful of large granite blocks lying around.

Picture of the quarry overlooking the ocean. It almost looks like an infinity pool.

Another view of the quarry.

View from the scenic overlook at Halibut Point State Park.

Two lobster boats pulling in their catch. There were hundreds of lobster bouys just off shore.

Where else could you get a shot like this? Atop a granite rock quarry overlooking the ocean.

The visitors tower overlooking the quarry.

Along the path exiting the park I cam across this dead tree. Thought it looked interesting.

These berry bushes are all over the place. No wonder the park is also known for bird watching. I did see several male cardnials, one oriole and lots of finches.

This concludes my visit to Halibut Point State Park. I would have taken more pictures but it was getting very hot and humid. I decided to drive down through Esses and Ipswich.

On Route 133 just outside of Esses, looks like a 3 tier chicken barn. No signs for eggs though. I can't imagine what else it could be, but then again, I'm not a farmer.

Russell Farms, on the road to Cranes Beach in Ipswich. They had pick your own rasberries and peaches. I didn't pick any. I went in to the store to see what they had for fresh vegetables. There was hardly anything. I guess their big draw is apple picking in the fall.

Russell's has many Guinea hens roaming the area.. constantly eating bugs, which they are known for.

On the way to Ipswich, west on route 133 I saw a sign for Marini's Farm. I had come across their website when I was surfing Essex County activities. I am glad I stopped. They grow 99% of what they sell. They only had tomatoes and peaches from western Massachusetts. I talked with an older woman who was putting out jalapeno peppers. Come to find out, she's Mrs. Marnini, the matriarch of the farm. She told me that this year has been tough due to the colder weather in July and all the rain. I asked her what she liked most about farming.. and she said "Seeing people come back time and time again for our produce. We here at the farm take pride in what we grow". They do not use chemical pesticides on their produce. I bought 4 ears of corn (which they allow you to shuck right there, so I did), along with a small bag of pickling cukes. I sliced up the cukes with some sugar, vinegar and freshly ground pepper when I got home.

I continued west on route 133 until I hit route 1 in Ipswich. Too much traffic, too commercial. I turned around and drove east on route 133 in to Gloucester where I turned south on route 127 and drove through Manchester. I then got back on route 128 and headed home. This was definitely a great first day trip for me. I plan on doing one of these every weekend that I am not on Long Island visiting my Mom.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about and seeing the pictures I've taken.

I turned around in Ipswich and drove east on 133 again in to Gloucester. What a zoo. Traffic was at a standstill. I didn't mind, it gave me a chance to jot down some notes on my trip today.