Stan suggested we drive to the nearby towns of Newburyport and then to Essex to have lunch at another famous landmark restaurant in Massachusetts called “Woodman’s”. We had never heard about it. Turns out that in 1916 Chubby Woodman was making a living selling homemade potato chips and fresh clams he dug himself. Business had turned bad and a friend suggested he try frying one of one his clams like he did with his famous potato chips.  Chubby fried the first clams in the USA  and created a business that exists today after 100 years.

Newburyport was first settled on 1635 as part of Newbury plantation. In 1764 it became the town of Newburyport and had a population of 2,800. Today it is home to 17,416. It sits on the shores of the Merrimack River, near its entrance to the Atlantic Ocean. It was popular with pirates, fishermen and whalers during the 18th and 19th centuries. Boat building was also another big industry here. Newburyport is the site of the first US coast guard station in the nation.

The downtown area is one of those old industrial areas that was saved from demolition in the 1970s and is now home to small shops and restaurants.

I had been suffering from a headache the last few days (which I never have had). Because the pain was eminating from behind my left eye where I had had a detached retina 30 years ago I was somewhat concerned that maybe the headache was connected to a new problem there (even though I was not having any current vision problems). Yvonne suggested I try to see an eye doctor while in town to have my eye checked.  As we stood on a street corner studying a local pamphlet trying to determine if a doctor might be in the area, a gentlemen stopped to ask if he could help. He told us of an optometrist located only a few blocks away. We walked there, explained what the issue was and the staff graciously checked with the doctor to see if he could fit me into his schedule. Dr. Kevin Gasiorowski gave up some of his lunch period to throughly examine my eyes and assured me there was no major problem that he could see. He suggested that maybe it was due to eye strain (writing this blog?) because my prescription reading glasses needed updating, or I was eating too much lobster (high sodium content).

Relieved, we rejoined Stan and Cindy who had been shopping to go to Woodman’s for lunch. Woodman’s is definitely a “hoot”. It has grown from a tiny shack to a major establishment with both sit down and take out service. The menu is definitely not what you would classify as being healthy as most of the menu is fried food served with french  fries and onion rings. Fried clams and clam strips dominate the menu and is what made them famous.  Both Yvonne and I agree that the clam strips were outstanding-tender and tasty!

As all well known restaurants seem to do Woodman’s has a large gift shop and Stan and I are now proud owners of a Woodman’s tee shirt.

Essex is noted for its antique stores (26 in one mile) so we briefly shopped for Stan and Cindy, who are dedicated antique “pickers”, to see if there were any items that called out to them. Unfortunately these shops were not air conditioned and the temperature was close to 95 degrees so the search did not last long and we retreated to the coolness of our SUV and returned to our hotel rooms for a rest.

Because of our large, late lunch we agreed to simply have a light dinner at the Emerson Inn where we met for a farewell drink and dinner on the patio. After dinner Stan and I walked for a short while along the public path at the ocean’s edge while the ladies finished packing.

 

The trip is nearly over and we are headed home. I will drop Stan and Cindy at the airport tomorrow morning.  We will spend the night in Boston, having dinner with a retired A.O. Smith executive and his wife,  and head home to Miller Bay first thing Thursday morning.