Writes of Passage

350 High Street,
Middletown, CT

This house was designed by architect Ithiel Town (1784-1844) and built in 1828 for Sam Russell (1789-1862) of Russell & Company, the American firm in the China trade. It’s within the Wesleyan University and used by its Philosophy Department.

Cross street and near by

^{Conservatory of the Arts}

339 State St.
Springfield, MA 01105

Springfield is a rather large city in the middle of MA with nearly 700,000 inhabitants.

It has a downtown on the eastern or NE side of Connecticut River, Springfield Armory, NBA Hall of Fame museum (wiki), graffiti, community music school, and an awesome looking Conservatory of the Arts.

568 Main St,
Hudson, MA 01749

This museum is all about history of military, from the American Revolutionary War of 1775 to terrorists in 21st century. On Collings Foundation ground, it opened in 2018, is 26 miles west of Quincy Market in Boston. Admission is $20. I recommend this museum.

Driving through New England, I get the sense of community. The New Englanders are just bit more polite, and provincial. They’re full of history. New York has history but the Big Apple is loud and a melting pot.

Coincident, there is an event going on. This gentleman in the wheelchair said he was at the Normandy Landing, which was the D-Day on June 6th, in 1944. Thank you!

The exhibits are mostly from the two world wars, WWI and WWII because of Jacques Littlefield (1949-2009), the world largest private collection of military tanks and vehicles.

The Trench Experience is the first exhibit we attended: highly recommend. WWI’s artifacts, scenes plus a little Disney: the shaking ground when the bomb hits.

WWII followed the Trench Experience.

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what do do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” General George Patton.

German made tanks were far more elegant and refined than the Russian’s, but with low quantity and difficulty of repairing. Reportedly, one or two kick to the Russian machine was all the repair it needed.

… and Leonardo da Vinci

It’s also coincidence that today is PLA-Day, People’s Libration Army  中国人民解放军建军纪念日, established in 1927 in Nanchang. Next, we visit Springfield Armory.

1 Armory St #2
Springfield, MA 01105

After the American Heritage, we visit this armory in Springfield. It was the main location to produce firearms since 1777, and closed in 1968. It shares the ground with Springfield Technical Community College.

This location was crucial during the Civil War. Their production was 32 times more than the South. The weapons coming out of this facility between 1794 to 1968 were called Springfield muskets and riffles.

Fairhaven Town Hall is at the end of the block of Walnut St and Center St

Millicent library

Harrop Center

Unitarian Memorial Church, since 1819. It has many enchanting floor tiles, some are like Chee Hsin’s.

39 Walnut Street
Fairhaven, MA

The Delano Homestead Bed and Breakfast is diagnose from the NE Maritime Institute. The house was built in 1832 by Delano in historic Fairhaven. The 3,800 square foot transitional / late Federal / Greek Revival architecture has 10-room but only three are for rental:

1. The Warren Delano Room
2. The Sara Delano Room
3. The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Room

We called the night before for July 29 check in, the rate was $210. Unfortunately, we couldn’t cancel our reservation elsewhere. Oh well, next time.

Next door neighbor was the sailmaker Benjamin T. Taber, which was built around 1844. Directly cross the street was Joseph C. White, town assessor’s house that was built around 1840. It has an exquisite tether, with a horse head. The Riverside Cemetery is just a little over a mile north. The house at Newburg (cut off by DreamHost) Newburgh …

32 Washington St.
Fairhaven, MA 02719

According to its web site, this is America’s Premiere Private Maritime College. It’s not open to public. 

Manjiro Nakahama (1827-98) who was credited to have helped opening up Japan, is honored here.
“Only those who risk going too far will ever know how far that they can go”

14 Bearskin Neck
Rockport, MA 01966

39 Bearskin Neck
Rockport, MA 01966

Here we’re again. Same guys and busier than in September when we last visited. I raved about it: the fresh seafoods and handsome store bakers/cookers. This time, I see many Asians. At one point, nearly every table are occupied by Asians, many speak Chinese.

Beverly is a small town in MA. It used to be a kid sister (Bass River Side) to the port town Salem, 3 miles to its south.

There are a few houses worth visiting.

Cabot House at 117 Cabot Street, was built in 1781 by/for John Cabot. Since 1892 it’s the headquarters of Historic Beverly.

Hale Farm @ 39 Hale Street, was built in 1694 by/for Rev. John Hale. Witchcraft was practiced and or involved. The descendants of Hale then Bancroft owned the house till 1937. Since then the owner is the Beverly Historical Society.