The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 13 - Cape Cod, MA

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Drive Report: None - We’re too busy seeing the sights to move The Rig

The reader may recall that we had plans to go see an exhibit of mostly antique Harley Davidson motorcycles here in Dennis Port today - but we are nothing if not flexible here at The Thin Blue Ride.  Today was a prime example.  Last night when we started looking at other interesting places to go locally, we came across Plymouth.  We were halfway there already what with all the Pilgrim talk at Provincetown yesterday, so it seemed only natural to head over to Plymouth and see where they decided to set up shop after rejecting Provincetown.  Besides, the Ancient and Royal Society of the Alleged Sons and Daughters of All Pilgrims (ARSASDAP) was holding its weekly secret meeting and Susan caught wind of it.  Katie bar the door.  Turns out that Susan’s Great Uncle Milo Cary was a member - having done the requisite genealogical work to qualify, then taking the secret oath.  Don’t doubt me on this one.  Turns out the society assigns one a number after you’re sworn in.  We’re gonna go on the hunt for this number in the near future, since having it is kinda like that whole "legacy" thing universities do.  I hope she can get in.  I wonder if spouses can attend the meetings?  I wonder if I’ll have to work on my Boston accent?  Will I get to wear a Pilgrim outfit to the meetings?  Will Susan acknowledge me as her spouse at the meetings?  All these questions remain unanswered at this point.  But more on this later.  There were also dead people to walk past, a big rock, an old white car and a foot pursuit involving the National Park Service.  Oh - and I still got to see an antique motorcycle.  It just wasn't a Harley.  Well, technically, I got to ride it.  But that needs to remain hush hush for now.  It looked like this...

This, readers would be Plymouth Rock.  Yes - that Plymouth Rock.  My apologies for the shadow, but the reader will note that the portion of the rock covered by said shadow is engraved "1620".  This would be the date of the Pilgrim's landing at Plymouth.  I looked for Susan to have her stand by the rock for a pic, but she was too busy planning our heist.

We got this shot of the fancy garage they built over Plymouth Rock as we fled with the Park Service hot on our heels.  Listen, those guys are fleet of foot, it wasn't easy gettin' this pic for you all what with her (Hey - they have lady Park Service guys) breathing down my neck.  In the first couple of shots her hand was reaching out to grab me, but I finally got one without her hand in the way.  Apparently one is prohibited from taking chunks of the rock with ya when you leave.

This was the cause of all that Park Service consternation.  Susan talked me in to jumping over the rail and "retrieving" a piece of Plymouth Rock for her.  She was quite specific, "Get me the piece that has 1620 engraved on it."  We smuggled it out of town in a used pie box from Marion's Pie Shop where we went the other day.  I think she's gonna use it to impress the folks over at ARSADAP when we get there later today.

After we shook off the Park Service we ran across this.  I don't know the year or model but would guess it's no newer than the late 60s to early 70s based on the fact that it has front drum brakes.  Check out that boxer engine.  How cool is that?  It was also quite timely to run across it as the Park Service was looking for two thieves on foot.  Susan hot wired the Beemer here and off we went.  This completely threw off the APB they put out on us.  Sigh - the things I do for love... 

This is Susan in front of the Mayflower Society House.  Turns out I was just a little off with the name - it's the Mayflower Society.  It's a really nice house, the Park Service will never think to look behind it for the Beemer.  Anyway, we hoped to inquire about her Great Uncle Milo, but the administrative offices were closed.  But we know who to talk to there now when we check with them later.  The ladies who give the tours were all wondering why we were out of breath.  We just told 'em we were so excited to get here we ran all the way.  Hey - that's mostly true.

Then we wanted to go look at some old churches.  It was kinda like Mission Impossible to get there what with the Park Service flooding the area with Rangers, so when this Rolls Royce stopped at a red light, we jumped in and got a ride to... 

We got out here.  This is the Church of the Pilgrimage.  We didn't get to go inside this one, but I thought it was so cool that it warranted inclusion in tonight's post.  But we did get to go inside...

...this one.  This is the interior of the National Pilgrim Memorial Meeting House.  check out those beams supporting the roof.  There are no pics of the exterior because it was covered in scaffolding as it is currently undergoing extensive restoration work.

This is the lectern from which the faithful hear the word.  Check out the engraving on that thing - impressive.

And just inside the front door was this poster.  It depicts all the Mayflower Pilgrims.  The individuals depicted in light grey didn't survive the first year.  The dark forms survived and descendants have been identified.  The one you see here is Samuel Fuller, whose parents both died in the first year.  His Uncle (also Samuel Fuller) is to the right.  This kid is Susan's ticket to fame - or at least admission to the Mayflower Society.

Right behind the church is this graveyard.  This is us whistling past the graveyard.  There's a lotta dead people in there!

But we went in anyway.  It's actually on a big hill behind the church - note the grave of William Bradford, Mayflower Pilgrim and mayor.  The views from up there were amazing.  Ya just have to watch where ya walk...

Susan and I both kinda like perusing old cemeteries.  The Park Service never looks there.  And as an added bonus, some of these old tombstones are pretty interesting.  You can even hide behind the big ones - should the need ever arise.

Still in the cemetery.  Check out the two houses built on that sand bar.  Yowza.  Who gets to make the milk run when ya run out

Once things cooled down a bit, we headed back to the scooter and saw this 65 (I think) Mustang Convertible.  This is a sharp looking car.  Susan asked me if I wanted it.  Given our day thus far, I said no.

When we made it back to The Rig we ran into these folks.  Meet John and Barbara.  They're retired from baking (him) and education (her) for 10ish years now.  We chatted with them for a good bit.  Turns out they're here weekends throughout the season.  Sounds good to me.  We had a chance to fill them in on how we ended up on the east coast (the ride).  They were quite interested and Susan regaled them with stories of our adventure - she left out today.  Susan also asked them if the Park Service had happened by.  They looked puzzled, but said no.

Tomorrow we head North to the coast of Maine.  Unfortunately we gotta make it either past or thru Boston somehow.  Since we just heard from John and Barbara that they prohibit vehicles carrying propane from entering tunnels and since tunnels are on the route tomorrow, we've yet to figure out how we're gonna pull that off.  We don't want to end up violating the law.  The last thing we need is to get pulled over by the Propane Police what with the Park Service APB and all.  More on this later.

Till next time.