We drove out the back gate of the base to the small town of Sandwich, established in 1637. We first stopped for lunch at Marshland Restaurant and Bakery, a place that Nick Russell mentioned on his website the Gypsy Journal. He’s never led us astray for good places to eat. I started off with a cup of lobster bisque and Jim had clam chowder. I then got the stuffed quahog (pronounced ko-hog), which is a large clam shell piled high with clam stuffing. It was excellent! Jim also liked his fried fish (haddock) and oysters combo plate. (Click on the pictures to enlarge)
My stuffed quahog.
With our bellies full we drove less than a half mile to the Sandwich Glass Museum.
The museum covers the history of glass making, and specifically the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, which was started in 1825 by Deming Jarves. They produced some of the finest examples of the glass blowing art ever made.
The museum is a lot bigger than it appears from the outside. There’s 6,000 glass pieces on display, created by not only Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, but many other different glass companies in Sandwich during the 19th and 20th centuries.
We enjoyed the demonstration of glass blowing by a lady who has been doing it for ten years.
Her goal was to make a vase, starting with a small glob of molten glass.
She shaped and re-heated it several times, adding layers and color.
Rolling and cooling
The glass changes color as it cools.
Shaping the opening of the vase.
We didn't get a picture of the final vase because during one of the final steps it crashed to the floor and broke into pieces. She was very calm about it and said it happens and you learn to get over it quickly. We caught her "act" again before we left and she again had trouble. Her vase collapsed on itself inside the oven so she made it into a paperweight and added a small swan on top of it. She was having a bad day! :)
There were several rooms full of glass objects. Here’s a few photos.
This picture is a little sideways, but it's a whole bunch of little swans. If we had a house I probably would have bought a few.
The detail on this was incredible.
I would have taken a lot more pictures, but the battery died in the camera and we forgot to bring the spare battery. This place is really worth seeing if you like looking at glass items like I do. We spent almost three hours there, and the time just flew by.
We have one more day at Cape Cod before moving on. We'll see what we get into tomorrow.
3 comments:
beautiful
I grew up literally next door to the Glass Musuem. My dad was also born and reared in Sandwich - he was born in the town when it was tiny - less than 1000 people in all the villages back in 1917. By the time my 8 siblings and I were growing up there, we had about 5000 people. Back then it was blue collar Cape Codders all year, and the rich Bostonians who came during the summer. Not as much traffic as now, but still bad getting over the bridge on a Fri or Sunday. We loved the glass museum, the water fountain at Town Hall, swimming in Shawme Pond, and diving off the boardwalk bridge at the salt marsh near the beach. Since my parents (93 and 96) still live on the Cape, along with 2 siblings, I still go up at least once a year. It has changed but Nauset Beach, the Sandwich boardwalk and the seafood are still wonderful. I rec you go back in the fall or spring when not so many tourists are there. Mosey along rt 6-A. One of my sisters worked at Marshland and Bobby byrne's is one of my parents' favorite restaurants.
Re-read your blog because, of course, I got homesick! The town began in 1637, 200 yrs before you noted! They will have a 375 anniversary party next year, mostly events in the summer, but some other times of the yr as well. So glad I am going back up Sept 24 - Oct. 8! The weather will still be pleasant but most of the crowds will be gone.
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