Halibut Point State Park

A Beautiful Walk by the Ocean!
If you love open woods, fields, ocean breezes, and a bit of history, this is the park for you!

• Tucker's Rating: 4 wags (he didn't join us but would have loved it)
• Our Rating: 4.5 wags. Just too interesting a place to only visit once
• Accessibility: Good. Some steep paths, and rocky areas, but most navigable. Ramps to visitors center (which was closed) and clean, warm restrooms at visitors center, with chemical toilets near parking lot. During summer months they also provide guided tours with special assisted listening devices.
• Fees: In winter FREE! Parking fee during the warmer months
• Special Activities: Granite Cutting demos on Saturdays in summer.

We had intended to drive to Maine but decided to stay a bit closer to home and found ourselves driving out to Rockport, MA and Halibut Point State Park. We got a bit confused with our GPS directions and found ourselves winding through some amazing ocean front neighborhoods on the way to the park but still arrived just after 10 AM. In time to MISS the winter birding trip that was scheduled, but early enough to catch the trails without a ton of people wandering. This seems to be the type of park that people frequent all year round and we came across birders, moms with kids out for a picnic, and plenty of beautiful, wintery wood scenes... most of our pictures have that gray/taupe monochrome color but with the vivid blue sky in the background it was just beautiful.

Woods That Look Like Woods are Supposed to Look
What does that mean? You'll have to go and find out. Wandering vines, catbriar, bayberry, blueberry, arrowwood, shadbush and what we believe to be lots of Virginia roses which we seem to find along the ocean on every trip, create a very open, airy wood, minus the standard evergreen trees we're accustomed to. And everywhere you'll find slabs of granite. Halibut Point is located on slabs of 440 million year old granite... and at the end of the main trail you'll arrive at the quarry itself. Part of the Babson Farm Quarry and Rockport Granite Company.
Previous Occupants
We found the site very interesting, including the renovated WWII firetower that acts as a visitor's center (closed in winter) but previously was used by the military to protect both Boston and Portsmouth Harbors, the foundations of a coal burning power plant that the granite quarry workers used to power their equipment, and even the granite base of a railroad that was used to transport granite to the main lines for shipment across the country. The visitor's center features various forms of granite and equipment used to harvest the stone from the quarry. As you walk around the quarry itself, a self-guided trail map will show the various features leftover from the quarry's heydays.

Amazing Views
We walked all the way out on to the point which, according to the self-guided brochure, is made up of a mountain of waste granite. The view at the end is amazing. On the clear day we were there we could see all the way to Mt. Agamenticus in ME, and also Seabrook's power plant and Sandy Point Reservation on Plum Island (one of our first blog trips!). The water looked cold and the wind didn't help, so we'd recommend wearing something with a hood if you're heading out here in winter. But it was definitely beautiful. Looking down at the beach to the right of the point we could see many stone piles people have left behind. I don't think we've seen more in one place except for those we saw on Martha's Vineyard, and we can never resist taking photos. It just looks like a line of soldiers on the beach.

On the backside of the quarry we ran into some birders and chatted a bit about how many birds pass through this area in winter, including loons, grebes and puffins. We did bring binoculars but I think you'd have to sit for a while in one space for these types of birds to feel comfortable enough to come within viewing distance. The winter birding group had taken a different trail that led down to the beach and we decided that with all the wind and the amount of walking we'd already done, we weren't feeling like taking that additional route... plus, lunch was included in our plans, so we headed into Rockport and Bearskin Neck.


A Great Place to Wander and Shop
Even in Winter, Rockport is a great destination for anyone who likes to poke around in shops, buy jewelry, t-shirts, and fudge, check out some beautiful art galleries and just soak up the atmosphere of an ocean-side town. Motif #1 is one of the most famous sites in Rockport.... everyone has seen it whether or not they know what it is or where it is, and we chose to have lunch at The Greenery... a great lunch spot with a view overlooking the small harbor and Motif #1 sitting there large as life! It was like a painting come to life with gulls, and loons paddling around in front of it. We also made certain to stop at Tuck's Candy before heading home, for just a tiny piece of almond bark as dessert. There are so many things going on in Rockport year-round, and tons of little bed and breakfasts to stay in that this is a destination we'd highly recommend for a weekend getaway... but make it a long weekend. Otherwise you'll feel short changed. We know we're going back so we were okay with it just being a day. Rockport is a "can't get there from here" kind of location so plan for a nice drive out and back, and thankfully during the warmer months the park is open from 8 am to 8 pm so you'll have plenty of time to enjoy your day! We're definitely going back, and as with Blackstone this one is getting added to our list of favorites!

Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park

Now THIS is a park!
An awesome spot for a day in the country no matter the time of year.

• Tucker's Rating: 4 wags (no food but otherwise a place he would love)
• Our Rating: 4.5 wags (again, no food, but we're definitely going back!)
• Accessibility: Definitely. Nice flat trails, elevator in visitor's center and accessible restrooms
• Pet friendly - Yes. For dogs on leash
  
• Fee: free but we're sure they'd take donations and the park deserves it!
  

We headed out this morning with the idea of going both to this park and Roger Williams down near Providence, RI. Lillian wanted a drive so she joined us for the drive south, and a beautiful day it was but very blustery. It brought to mind Winnie the Pooh and his balloons! And even with the sun it was COLD! We took the scenic route based on notes from the website, but in our book it didn't qualify as scenic. The mill villages aren't readily apparent until you're almost to the park and we would have preferred more time at the park itself. But there is an amazing mill building complex just as you turn out of the center of town, that has been turned into housing and it is definitely worth checking out. We're wishing we'd taken pictures when we were there! Beautiful buildings and beautiful modern use while maintaining the historic look and feel.


Great Trail System!
We found the River Bend Farm Visitors Center easily. Nice and warm, clean restrooms, great maps, and a sign noting that this park is one of the Top Ten canoeing sites in New England. Seems kind of strange given all the places to canoe in the area, but with nice long canals and pools, easy put-ins, lots of picnic tables and bbq grills, we can imagine this is an awesome place to laze away a summer day. Lillian did not want to walk around in the wind and cold so she stayed in the car as we headed out across the bridge. We immediately saw the attraction of this park. Lots of nice flat, wide, open walking trails that run along the canal, and huge open fields. There is also a clearly marked Healthy Heart Trail at this park, and access to stamps for children keeping their Park Passports updated. The map provided is very easy to read and the people working in the visitor center were very helpful to point out nearby attractions that link to the trails including Blackstone Gorge, Millville Lock, the Stone Arch Bridge and various wildlife viewing areas. Some historic buildings are managed by non-profit groups in the area and there is a fee, but for most of this park all areas are fee free! We had hoped to drive over to the Gorge but time ran short so we wandered the immediate park and highly recommend it as a place to go when you've got a full day! The day we were there the towpath trails were busy with people walking their dogs or taking photos, and I even saw one brave person fishing through the ice. Not sure what he was catching in that fast flowing water, but he seemed prepared to spend the day.


Other Activities
The park features include maple sugaring and we saw the lines hooked up. Sugaring begins in March and the visitor's center had flyers for some events related to that. Check out the Blackstone Valley Sugaring Association for more information. There are also numerous places to put in canoes and kayaks, and along many parts of the canal it appears the current is slow enough for a leisurely paddle without actually going anywhere. Hunting is also allowed. We saw signs as we walked along the edge of one field, so wearing brightly colored clothing might be a good idea during hunting season. In addition, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing, is clearly available, although even in February there wasn't enough snow on the ground to accomplish any real skiing or snowshoeing. It also appears that the park may have canoes for rent. We saw a number stacked up behind the visitor's center, but they may be part of the interpretive programs the park runs so call before you go if you plan on trying to rent. The Blackstone River Watershed Association holds a kayak/canoe race in the Spring and also various events through the warmer months educating about the ecology of the river, and promoting enjoyment of this area. Check their activities out here.


Some History on this Site
The canals located here were originally developed to connect Worcester and Providence. Water from the Blackstone River powered the first successful textile mill, the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI. It was this mill and the related canals that spurred the movement in our country from farm to factory, so this is the birthplace of the other mills we've visited in Lawrence, and in the coming weeks, Lowell. The towpaths that are now hiking paths, were used by donkeys or horses to pull the boats through these sections of the canal.

A Boat Ride Too??
If you'd like to see the Blackstone River by boat, there are a number of options including the Blackstone Valley Explorer, a 49-passenger riverboat. It appears that on the last Sunday of the month in May, June, July and August they give FREE river boat rides. The boat leaves from two different locations depending on the time of year, and both are located in Rhode Island. There are also a number of canoe clubs and rentals in the area including the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club, and the Wampanoag Paddlers, so if you're looking for water fun you've found it here!

A Short Visit and We're Learning!
More and more we're realizing the amazing amount of history that's just around the corner from home! We plan on returning to this park when the weather is nicer, with a picnic and Tucker, and maybe a bike or a kayak in tow so we can really spend a traditional summer day in the country. When we started these blog trips we had the right idea by leaving in the early morning, but with winter and the iffy weather we've delayed our trips til mid-day and we're losing out! So with the longer days and hopefully warmer weather we'll be getting back on track and spending full days exploring!

An Important Point
I do have to say that while we saw this park as the essential "day in the country" kind of destination, on the way to this park we did not have the feeling we were going to "the country". As noted, we read the website and it recommended a scenic route to see mill villages along the way. Don't bother using that longer route. You'll drive through a lot of condominium construction, prefab housing, and very few places where you could stop for lunch or a quick coffee. So plan accordingly. On our trip we ended up driving back to Waltham for lunch at Bertucci's! The parks close at 4 or 4:30 so we didn't have time to drive further south to see the gorge or head to Providence but this is an area you could definitely head to for a weekend getaway and have plenty to see and do! We recommend it and will keep it on our list of local places we enjoy!

Hannah Duston Memorial

A State Park it is not!
But it does appear on NH's list of State Parks so we're counting it!

• Tucker’s Rating – a definite 2 wags. He had fun running around and sniffing
• Our Rating – 1.5 wags, and that extra half wag is only in honor of poor Hannah. An amazon of her time who murdered her captors and escaped with two others to return to her family and friends… back in 1697!!!!
• Pet Friendly – Yes
• Accessibility – Steep walkway and access across a railroad bridge so not the best for a wheelchair or when the way is covered with ice.
• Fees – Totally free. It's in a park 'n ride, how could they charge?
  
  
  While it’s listed under NH State Parks, the Hannah Duston Memorial is not a park. There is no signage except a plain brown sign stating “Path to Memorial Statue”, no separate parking, no State Park sign or even memorial sign to tell you WHAT memorial you’re seeing… and when you get off the highway there are no signs directing you as far as which way to go, or where to stop! Not that any of those things denote a State Park, but we come to expect a certain amount of information to be provided when we're heading to a park, and with this one we were sorely disappointed.

A Lonely Woman Isn't Hard to Find... or Is She?
We knew the statue was near the river, and we knew to drive towards Boscawen…. We saw Hannah Duston Drive and pulled into a Park ‘n Ride just past that street, and there at the back corner was a break in the metal lot barriers, and the lone brown sign at the top of an ice covered path. We walked down the path past what looked like a transfer station (piles of sand, trash, trucks, etc) and came to a walkway that led up a hill and towards the river. People had dumped trash next to the path but we saw footprints in the snow so we walked up the hill… nice view of the river, but no memorial… back to the path and Beth saw a bridge to the left… OK, it’s actually a railroad bridge with a narrow walkway along the side so we headed over and not too far beyond the bridge we came upon Hannah’s statue. Quite an imposing one actually, although sad that it does include graffiti, and someone obviously broke off Hannah’s nose which has since been replaced with a darker color granite. So there she stands, looking ferocious all alone in the woods next to a railroad track and a river. The NH State Parks website refers to the area as a pretty picnic site… it’d need to be a sight cleaner and have an actual picnic table to qualify as this in my book. No special signs to explain who she was or what she did or why there was a statue set up in her honor either. We did a bit of research on that and found conflicting stories…. But our summary:

Hannah's Story
In Haverhill, MA on a night (or early morning) in March 1697, just a week after giving birth to her twelfth child, Martha, at the age of FORTY (who says women only had kids in their teens back then, and were considered old when they hit 30?) Hannah Duston’s home was attacked by a tribe of Abenaki Indians. She was in no condition to run, so she sent her children and husband to the local garrison to safety and stayed at the house with the baby’s nurse, Mary Neff. Both Hannah and Mary were kidnapped along with Martha, but because Martha was slowing down the progress of the group, the Indians took the baby and smashed her head against a tree to get rid of her (gruesome and this story has haunted me since I first heard about Hannah Duston many years ago). A family group of the Indians then took Mary, and Hannah and a 14 year old boy they’d picked up in Worcester about a year and a half earlier and headed north along the Merrimack River. They stopped on an island (presumably the one where the statue now stands) and in a few days Hannah, Mary and the young boy Samuel plotted to kill their captors. One night, when all were sleeping, they had their chance. In a matter of minutes Hannah, Mary and Samuel attacked and all the indians were killed. The threesome stole one canoe and scuttled the rest… they headed out on the river for home, but Hannah realized no one would believe their story (and because Indian scalps brought a reward) she returned to the site and scalped them all, keeping the scalps safe in a piece of cloth. They traveled by night and hid during the day along the river. Eventually they arrived in Hudson, NH and were reunited with their families. Interesting to note that Hannah’s husband went with her to Boston after her return, to request a special payment on the scalps that she had collected. A bounty had been set on indian scalps because of all the problems settlers were having with the indians. Some records show that the bounty had been reduced before the event, but when her account of the capture was revealed, including the fact that they had killed her child, the courts decided to pay her 50 pounds for the scalps.

Other Resources, Other Versions
There are many sites that go into far greater detail about this event including Wikipedia, one sponsored by Hannah’s own descendents, and one written by a guy out in Seattle. His approaches Hannah's story from a totally modern perspective, and had us laughing out loud! Not that her story is funny, but the modern twist really paints her like a comic book hero, including her in the "badass of the week" list!

There are actually two statues of Hannah. The one in Haverhill, MA is a bit different and provides more detail. It is supposedly the first statue in the country commemorating a woman and was originally erected in 1874. The Garrison House the family escaped to is also still standing in Haverhill, MA and there is a museum which may be located in the garrison however we couldn’t tell this from the website. If we have a chance later this year, we’ll make a visit to Haverhill to tie all these pieces together!

We’d recommend this location as one to stop by if only for curiousity. It’s definitely not a destination park and doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to see, but if you’re on your way up to the Lakes during the summer, spring or fall, or going to a concert at Meadowbrook, it’s worth a stop on the way. This isn't really much of a park for winter.

We continued our day with a drive to Laconia to visit my friend Nancy and had a great lunch and chance to catch up! Not the most eventful of Park trips, but it's another one to cross of our list! If you've been to this memorial and have additional notes to add, please feel free to contribute!