not done with new bedford

January 6, 2002

Today's Reading
The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-yun by translated by David Hinton, A Window Back: Photography in a Whaling Port by Nicholas Whitman

Last Year's Reading
2001 Book List
(Haven't started this year's list yet.)

Photos

Orchids on the back of Angelo's Orchid Diner

Angelo's Orchid Diner

Shawmut Diner

Jake's Diner

Jake's is known as the Times Square of Fairhaven

Del's

Classic Gull Pose

Gulls on Ferris Wheel 1

Gulls on Ferris Wheel 2

Gulls on Ferris Wheel 3

Lighthouse/Swing set

Some Diner Links:

Diner City

Discovering US Route 6

Evidently we're not done with New Bedford yet. Either that or there's something really interesting in Portuguese sweet bread French toast 'cause we just had to go back there this morning. The plan was to have brunch at Angelo's Orchid Diner again because we liked it so much on Friday. However, we had this notion that Angelo's closes at 2:00 PM . Oops. They close at noon on Sunday and since we didn't leave Providence until 12:30 we ended up disappointed. Well, at least we got a good parking space so I could get some pictures of the murals on the back and of course a picture of the classic 1951 O'Mahoney diner. Fortunately, New Bedford is rich in diners as well as whaling lore, and we already know we love the Shawmut Diner, also a classic 1953 O'Mahoney and also serving sweet bread French toast.

By the time we got to the Shawmut Diner it was getting near their closing time too. The Portuguese sweet bread French toast was delicious and the coffee was strong and flavorful.

Del's Lemonade is a Rhode Island thing, but apparently it is popular in New Bedford. Lemons with fins and tails being chased by a whale. I love it. It's so New Bedford. This Del's is just down the street from Angelo's Orchid Diner. Nancy begged me to take a picture of the sign, so I did. Somehow, I don't think that's Moby Dick. Moby Del maybe?

We hang around the waterfront looking at gulls. And Ferris wheels. Is there a law that all past-their-prime New England waterfronts have to have Ferris wheels? The gulls seem to like it.

It's gray and gloomy and some weather is expected tonight. The playground with a great view is empty except for a couple of people walking their dogs.

We decide to hang out until dinner time, hoping the weather won't come until we're safely snug in our beds. And so a delicious dinner at Not Your Average Joe's next door to Baker Books, where we browse for ages and come away with a small pile of books. My favorite purchase is A Window Back: Photography in a Whaling Port by Nicholas Whitman. It's full of beautifully printed historic photos from the whaling museum's archives: portraits of whale men of a variety of ethnicities (New Bedford was diverse before diversity was invented), boats, buildings, people... I balance the book on the tiny table at Not Your Average Joe's and try to avoid getting ravioli on it...