Week Two: Scituate Harbor

In the interest of full disclosure, I have always loved Scituate Harbor. It's the perfect New England downtown right on the water. It's a great downtown because it has a lot to do: movies, bowling, restaurants, and shopping all in a very small area. It has that great feeling of getting away to an island, but without leaving the mainland.

I went to Scituate on Saturday evening with a friend to get a drink on the outdoor harborfront patio at T.K.O. Malley's. But I forgot my camera, so I wasn't able to document anything for my blog. Sunday morning, I went back down to the Harbor with my mum and grandmother to take some pictures, and I ended up having a second VERY pleasant experience in a short period of time. So, today I will write to you about Sunday morning in Scituate Harbor instead of Saturday night.



First stop... The Quarterdeck.



This is best described as a curiosity shop in a teeny-tiny shack right over the water. They sell everything from jewelry (all of my jewelry for most of jr. high, high school, and early college came from there), to vintage post cards, and neat antiques.

This store just has a very eclectic collection (as this photo of the side of the building would indicate), and an amazing view. I could poke through the stuff in that store for days.



Next, I stumbled quite by accident upon the Front Street Book Shop (http://www.frontstreetbookshop.com/). As I was walking away from the Quarterdeck, I noticed a shop across the street had the door open, and had inviting yellow chairs in the front yard, so I walked over and right in. I think I might have gone in before they opened (after reading their website, they didn't open until 11), but the woman working in the store was very friendly and allowed me to shop anyway.

This bookshop is one of those great local bookstores that are disappearing (the one in my hometown disappeared about 3 years ago). And it's perfect because it's almost right across the street from the water, AND, it has seating right in the garden on the lawn so you can check out your new reads right away!



I went back to find my mum and grandmother enjoying one of the benches along the harbor (which I will attest are perfect for enjoying ice cream and cups of tea depending on the weather). So we sat and enjoyed the sun and some conversation before returning to our otherwise busy days.

I have every intention of spending another Sunday morning in Scituate Harbor soon. When I come back I will probably hit up the Quarterdeck to pick up odds and ends for different people, and finally head over to the Front Street Book Shop to pick up a new book, then pick up a cup of tea either at Coffee Corner or Dunkin' Donuts, then over to a bench along the harbor to read for a little while before going home. If I had more time, I might go for a walk down to the Lighthouse (but I'll save that for another blog entry).

The perfect thing about going to Scituate Harbor is that it is just far enough away to feel special, but close enough to be an easy diversion from reality. It's funny how quickly I sank into vacation mode while I was there, and as you know, I just lov ethat feeling and want to evoke it as often as possible.

Happy travels!