NORTHEASTERN U.S. trip
June 13-18 2014
PART 7
This statue of a dog pooping graced somebody's lawn in Nantucket.
Bye Nantucket! You'll live on in my memory!
We took a ferry to another island: Martha's Vineyard. Martha's Vineyard and some much smaller islands nearby make up Dukes County, which was a part of New York until 1691. Martha's Vineyard is one of only 5 place names in America for which the United States Board on Geographic Names allows a possessive apostrophe. In 1977, the island seriously proposed seceding from Massachusetts and becoming the 51st state, but this planned state was deemed much too small.
As we approach the Martha's Vineyard town of Oak Bluffs, this is a view of an unpaved alley.
Lake Avenue at Oak Bluffs Avenue and Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs. Martha's Vineyard also had a surprising number of cars for its lack of road access to the mainland.
I have no idea what street this is. We're still in Oak Bluffs.
Oak Bluffs has a beach along Nantucket Sound. And it has this litany of Allowed Clouds. Because libertea, don't ya know.
The beach at Oak Bluffs.
And there's a bird! How cute!
And it's a little ducky!
This pedestrian crossing sign near the beach had received some artistic adornment. This is exactly the sort of thing my high school art teacher absolutely hated. Or at least he would have if I had done it.
A pay beach? Massachusetts is one of many states where navigable waters are public. Plus, Massachusetts beaches are public up to the mean low tide. Thus, most of this beach is public. So there. Nyeh. However, unlike other Eastern states, outdated state laws have attempted to privatize beaches above low tide. But the law allows public access for fishing. So intelligent swimmers often bring along a fishing pole so nobody can hassle them.
I guess this is Seaview Avenue along the beach. I assume the pier up ahead is the one that forms from Oak Bluffs Avenue.
I'm really not sure, but I think this is Circuit Avenue. And the signage at right is an old Usenet joke. You probably won't get it.
Back in Hyannis! It's funny the things you see just laying out in the middle of the street.
This is probably South Street in Hyannis. A THICKLY SETTLED sign is a novelty for out-of-state folks but apparently somewhat common in Massachusetts.
MA 132 (Iyannough Road) in Barnstable. I took this photo because there's one of these...
No. Just no. Never try using an Interstate shape for a U.S. route.
The US 6 freeway approaching the Sagamore Bridge from the east. But we leave this road at this exit.
MA 6A goes under the Sagamore Bridge. At one time, MA 6A between the Bourne Bridge and the Sagamore Bridge was westbound US 6, while eastbound US 6 followed the other side of the Cape Cod Canal. Apparently, however, both roads were two-way. This stretch would have been part of the US 6 split, because we've ramped down from the freeway.
Getting onto the Bourne Bridge, which carries MA 28 over the Cape Cod Canal and opened in 1935. This bridge has the only bike and foot access to Cape Cod, for the Sagamore Bridge has no walkway.
A plaque on the Bourne Bridge bears the construction date of 1933-35.
Looking west from the Bourne Bridge, you can see the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge. This vertical lift bridge also opened in 1935. It was once the longest vertical lift bridge in...the...world!
A view of New Bedford, Mass., from I-195. This city of 100,000 was the hometown of eccentric miser Hetty Green.
Busted, na na na na na na na na na na! (Sung to the tune of the Batman theme.) On I-195 between New Bedford and Fall River, Mass., state troopers have pulled over a speeding motorist. I-195 is a spur from I-95 in Providence, R.I., to New Bedford and beyond.
On I-195 in Fall River, things get mighty interesting again. Fall River is the birthplace of Sesame Street songwriter Joe Raposo and bubble gum enthusiast George Stephanopoulos.
I-195 goes under this tunnel in downtown Fall River. The building over the road is Fall River Government Center, which was completed in 1976 to house their city hall.
The Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge takes I-195 over the Taunton River. It opened in 1966. It was once green, but a blue color now conducts itself in an orderly manner.
Looking back at Fall River as we get onto the bridge.
Look downstream from the Braga Bridge, and you may see this 7 miles in the distance. This is the Mount Hope Bridge, way off in Rhode Island. It crosses the Mount Hope Bay below where the Taunton River emerges. This suspension bridge carries RI 114 and opened in 1929. It was once slated to become part of I-895, and a parallel span was proposed - but I-895 was never built because (you guessed it!) it was so unpopular. Although the bridge has narrow sidewalks, Wikipedia says that "pedestrians are strictly prohibited from using the bridge." Google Street View showed the sidewalks at one end needlessly and impassably blocked.