This past weekend was possibly the most gorgeous of the year so far. If you like temperatures hovering around 85 in the shade, which I do, and if you like glaring, searing sunshine, which I do. At around 10:30am on Saturday, Chopper, Frenchy, and I left Goondocks Castle on a trip to beautiful scenic Gloucester, MA. Chopper and I on our Leisurenaughts and Frenchy on a hybrid that has seen better days. Here is our approximate route:

View Ride to Gloucester in a larger map

The first half of the journey was a tiny slice of Hell. Revere, Lynn, Swampscott…. these are not communities set up for pleasant cycling. However, we did not receive one death threat during the whole 30+ mile jaunt. I count this as a total win. We celebrated our escape from the gridlock of Greater Boston with some margaritas and lunch at the Edgewater Cafe in Salem, MA. From that point on  it was pretty smooth sailing up 127, though if you ask the guys, it was all choppy seas and huge rolling waves. Once we got to Gtown we discovered, sadly, that the place was overrun by tourists for the Waterfront Festival. We blew up Dadoo’s cell phone and met him at the Blackburn Tavern, which was mercifully empty at 4pm. After refueling with a few beers, Frenchy parted ways with us and the three amigos went on to boat to Lighthouse Cove, off Eastern Point. Lovely, clear water and entirely empty of people, this beach was total paradise. We swam for a bit and then went to dinner at the sketchiest hotel restaurant in the world. I can’t remember the name but there was a fiberglass cow standing outside, and the only dining area was outside on a back porch overlooking the marsh. Bugs a-go-go, but after a couple glasses of wine, we didn’t care. And then, home again on the train. Why the last train into Boston from Gloucester on a Saturday night is at 10:08 I have no idea. You’d think they were trying to strand people in the boonies, or something. Anyway, first thing that happens while we’re riding through Cambridge back to the Goondocks – you guessed it, we were honked at and menaced. Ahh, home sweet home.

Tags: leisure, tourish, weekends

This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Adventure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.