Becky is down in NJ visiting ***Jenn|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/***, so I needed something to do to keep myself busy. I decided to take a mini road-trip in one of my favorite areas, ***Cape Ann|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Ann***.

First, I stopped at my alma mater, ***Gordon College|http://www.gordon.edu/*** in Wenham. Gordon isn’t technically part of Cape Ann, but it’s on the way, so bear with me. I hadn’t been to campus in a long time, and wanted to stop by. Being a Saturday afternoon in the summer, the campus was pretty much dead. I saw maybe four or five students while I was there. Probably the most interesting thing I saw was the new dorm, ***Chase Hall|http://www.gordon.edu/about_gordon/buildings_tour/chase.htm***. This monstrosity of a dorm was built over the site of old Sheppard Hall (commonly known as the “Nunnery”, it was one of the few female-only dorms on campus, and was also one of the places Becky lived while at Gordon). Alas, poor Sheppard! — ***View the Gordon College photos.|http://gallery.prwdot.org/gordon_college***

My next stop was at Rafe’s Chasm Park in Magnolia, a small village on the western edge of Gloucester. Rafe’s Chasm Park is best known for the “Cliffs”, a vast rocky shore directly on the Atlantic Ocean. The Cliffs were a popular destination for Gordon College students, and we could often be found taking trips there late at night, parking on the side of the road (illegally – it was supposed to be closed from 9 pm to 6 am) and walking through the woods to the ocean. If you’ve never been there, it’s definitely worth visiting. — ***View the Rafe’s Chasm Park photos.|http://gallery.prwdot.org/rafes_chasm_park***

From Magnolia I drove on into Gloucester proper, and parked along the street just after Stage Fort Park. I walked along the waterfront to see the Fishermen’s Statue and the Wives’ Statue, as well as the memorial to those fishermen who were lost at sea. Included on the list of names from 1991 is the crew of the ***Andrea Gail|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_gail***, made famous by the book and movie ***The Perfect Storm|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Perfect_Storm***. — ***View the Gloucester Waterfront photos.|http://gallery.prwdot.org/gloucester_waterfront***

Finally, I wound my way through Gloucester, Essex, and Ipswich to ***The Clam Box|http://gallery.prwdot.org/grab_bag/P1020885***, where I had an extremely unhealthy but very delicious plate of fried clams. Yum. After that, it was back home to Beverly… and I’ve been working on the photos and blog entry since!