I Suck At Abbot Hall

after today, i am considering a career change. i am thinking that i should work for the post office. after all, "neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this carrier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds." in this case, my appointed rounds is the marblehead walking tour.

(in case any of you are curious, the above quote is from the greek historian, herodotus. it is not the official slogan of the postal service. the us postal service does not have an official slogan. apparently, the reason the quote is associated with the post office is because the new york city general post office has herodotus's saying engraved all around it... and it just stuck.)

anyway, i started my walking tour around the town of marblehead during my lunch break. even though it was raining, i was not going to let the weather stop me. all right, so maybe i was not thinking correctly when i decided to go walking in the rain. it wouldn't be the first time that i got caught in the pouring rain during work hours. i was just so excited about learning about the town of marblehead that i was determined to see the sights. too bad i began the tour by getting lost through the mean streets of marblehead.

when i finally found my way, i ended up at abbot hall. now, i suck at abbot hall. i've never been to abbot hall... in part because i've never been to the town of marblehead up until my new job there.

according to my friend wikipedia, "Abbot Hall contains the original of the widely-reproduced Spirit of '76 painting by Archibald MacNeal Willard, the deed to Marblehead from the Nanapashemet tribe of Native Americans (dated 1684), and a number of other historical artifacts." one of the other intriguing things about abbot hall is that it has a huge clock tower with a functional clock that is wound weekly.

(pictured below is the famous spirit of '76 paining... also known as yankee doodle.)


i must say... the painting... is ginormous. it takes up almost the entire wall of the room. the painting really is quite patriotic (which i suppose it is meant to be since it is commemorating us indenpendence). i believe the model for the old man in the picture is willard's father; the fifer a friend and civil war veteran hugh moser; and the drummer a military school cadet from cleveland named harry deveraux. there is actually a painting of general deveraux also in the room. unfortunately, i forget how he is related to the town of marblehead (other than being the inspiration for the drummer boy).

anyway, after abbot hall i had to return back to work. (i spent too much time wandering around the mean streets of marblehead looking for the starting point of the walking tour in the rain. i realized i was headed in the wrong direction when i noticed i was exiting the entire town of marblehead.)

needless to say, i'm looking forward to continuing with the rest of the walking tour. i'm hoping to learn more about the town of marblehead.