Tourism in Gloucester

As soon as I got off the commuter rail in Gloucester I asked the first person that I saw for directions. To my surprise it was an old friend who had never been to Gloucester before either. After chatting for a few minutes I went in the wrong direction for the Cape Ann Historical Museum but was there in a few minutes anyways. What a great collection! The Fitz Henry Lane Gallery has so many oils by this artist as well as decorative arts and a nice ambiance. On the top floor there was a special exhibition of Fitz Henry Lane and Mary Blood Mellen. She was a very talented pupil of his. Lots of oils of ships, waves, harbors, sunsets etc. It is pretty grand and there through September 16, 2007.

I had a good tour of the Sargent House Museum and it would certainly fascinate anybody interested in early American feminist authors. Judith Sargent Murray, for whom the house was built, self published under a pseudonym in the late eighteenth century. Of particular interest to me were oils and watercolors by John Singer Sargent and some drawings of his from as young as five years old. That was worth the trip alone. John Singer Sargent and his relatives had contributed items when they heard of the establishment of the Museum.