From Newport we drove west to New Bedford, only about 40 miles away, from the rich and beautiful to the hard-working fishermen and millworkers, but first stopped for a (longer-than-expected) tour at Battleship Cove in Fall River (pic), a conglomeration of mostly WWII battleships and a Maritime Museum. Battleship USS Massachusetts is the largest one, in operation from 1942 to 1946 on different battlefields, then there was the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, the USS Lionfish submarine, launched end of 1943, which causes a pretty creepy feeling, a PT Boat and the "Hiddensee", an Eastern German battleship.
Passing by a winery without having time for a tasting or a tour, we arrived to New Bedford - in the sunshine! - and our first stop was the Whaling Museum in the middle of historic downtown. This museum (see pics below) with it's whale skeletons, an original whaling boat, half-scale, very artistic scrimshaws (whale bone carvings), historic and maritime exhibitions and artifacts is an absolute must!
New Bedford is the town, where Melville’s fictional Captain Ahab who battled Moby Dick was "invented". Herman Melville shipped out aboard a whale ship in 1841. In the 19th century the city had gained worldwide reputation as the greatest whaling port and the richest city per capita in the world. The industry was secured by Portuguese and Cape Verdean immigrants (experienced whalers and fishermen as well) and even today, there is a large Portuguese community, having their own festivals, restaurants, traditions and language.
Melville was one famous character, Frederick Douglass another one. This famous Afroamerican orator, writer and reformer, found his freedom and his voice here around 1840 after having escaped slavery in Maryland. Quaker families in town helped the black people and supported the Underground Railroad, an undercover system for fugitive slaves. Many black families settled in "Abolition Row" (pic below).
Whaling was followed by the textile industry and cotton manufacturing became the leading industry. At the turn of the century there were more than 70 mills, employing over 40,000 workers in town. Still nowadays, there are some of the old red brick buildings to be seen and in some of them antique warehouses and shops are to be found. The city is considered one of the best antique towns in New England!
The waterfront is considered one of the largest fishing harbors, bringing in the biggest quantities of seafood and fish, I believe, in the U.S. Fishing vessels are rowed up along the waterfront, bringing in all the delicacies, e.g. highly-rated scallops, big and juicy.
After our tour in the Whaling Museum we had a park ranger tour through the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park with its historic buildings, murals and seamen's institutions like the "bethel", a non-denominational church and educational/social institution in one. Later,after hotel check-in, Dagny, the local tourism rep, drove with us to South End, which offers beautiful views towards the shoreline, sandy beaches, a walking trail on top of the flood wall, and through popular Fort Taber Park. We saw the secured harbor with its closeable hurricane wall, before we had dinner in the Moby Dick Brewing Company. Got a tour in this new microbrewery and met with the owner, before we enjoyed their great beers, good conversation and some more seafood, this time, scallops, monkfish (me) and fish & chips (Peter - on pic below).
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