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Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Fishing around for fun things to do? Use the South Coast commuter rail to explore New Bedford.
From the commuter rail station, you'll have to walk 15 minutes to reach Fisherman's Wharf. You'll pass the fish processing plants and cold storage facilities that support the nation's highest-grossing commercial fishing port. True to its name, Fisherman's Wharf is lined by vessels that range up to 100 feet long and tower above the mere human beings along the dock. The vast majority are rigged as scallop dredgers or groundfish boats, although offshore lobster boats, clammers, and deep-sea crabbers also call New Bedford home. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up According to the most recent Advertisement Plaques along the waterfront illuminate New Bedford's maritime history. David Lyon Advertisement That mentality was already part of New Bedford's cultural DNA. From 1830 to 1860, most American whaling ships sailed from New Bedford. Commercial fishing took hold when the whaling industry waned around 1900. Simply put, New Bedford had the infrastructure — why let all those piers go to waste? But the whaling industry has not been forgotten. The cobblestone streets, granite US Custom House, 'double″ bank building, and old candleworks recall that mid-19th-century heyday. Even the visitor center of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park occupies a handsome Greek Revival red sandstone structure. It was built in 1853 as a bank during the height of New Bedford's whaling fortunes. Stop in to pick up a map and get a swift overview of how whaling transformed New Bedford. Whale skeletons seem to float in the two-story atrium of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. David Lyon A block away, the This half-scale model of the whaling bark Lagoda is a prime exhibit in the New Bedford Whaling Museum. David Lyon On the museum's main level, a half-size model of the whaling bark Lagoda gives an idea of the complexity of a typical whaling vessel. An adjacent gallery holds the skeleton of a 48-foot sperm whale, the chief prey of New Bedford whalers. This 30-year-old male was found stranded on Nantucket in 2002. The toothed leviathan dwarfs the six-man whaleboat installed on a back wall in the same room. It is amazing that any whalers survived. Advertisement The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Visitor Center occupies a former bank building from the city's whaling heyday. David Lyon That sense of imminent mortality weighed on many a whaler. Central to the The Seamen's Bethel, established in 1832, offered solace and comfort to whalers and other sailors. David Lyon Herman Melville visited the Advertisement The Nathan and Polly Johnson House was a key location in New Bedford's anti-slavery struggle. David Lyon The Abolition movement burned bright in New Bedford, which had the highest percentage of African Americans in the Northeast. Among Rotch's neighbors in what is now called the County Street Historic District were Nathan and Polly Johnson, who owned a block on 7th Street. As free African American businesspeople, the Johnsons were leading anti-slavery activists. They also opened their home to harbor men and women fleeing bondage. On Sept. 17, 1838, they took in a fugitive who would assume the name Frederick Douglass along with his wife, Anna. The Johnson house at 21 7th St. is now owned by the The fried scallop plate at Moby Dick Brewing Co. comes with cole slaw and fried potato wedges. David Lyon From the park, it's only a 10-minute walk back to New Bedford's central historic district. Before leaving town, be sure to sample some New Bedford scallops. At If you go … One-way weekday fare on the MBTA commuter rail is $12.25 for adults, $6 for seniors and students. The MBTA offers a $10 Commuter Rail Weekend Pass for unlimited travel. On weekdays, 15 trains per day leave South Station for New Bedford (536 Acushnet Ave.) Advertisement New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center 38 Bethel St. 508-993-8894, Thurs.-Mon. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Adults $8, seniors and students $5, under age 12 free New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Visitor Center 33 William St. 508-996-4095, Wed.-Sun. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Check for schedule of tours. Free New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill 508-997-0046, Open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Adults $23, seniors $21, youth $13 Seamen's Bethel 15 Johnny Cake Hill 508-992-3295, Open Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Donation requested Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum 396 County St. 508-997-1401, Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., also Sun. noon-4 p.m. (closed Sun. after Oct. 13). Adults $8, seniors and students $6, ages 7-17 $3, under age 7 free Moby Dick Brewing Co. 16 South Water St. 774-202-6961, Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. noon-8 p.m. sandwiches and entrees $13-$45 The Whale's Tail Clam Bar Advertisement 52 Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 3 774-425-8980, Open daily 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. sandwiches and baskets $12-$28 Patricia Harris and David Lyon can be reached at . Patricia Harris can be reached at
TimesLIVE
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Amare brings the Med to Bantry Bay with winter feasts and trendy beats
If you want a taste of sunshine in Cape Town as the rainy winter sets in, the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant Amare in Bantry Bay promises that. A culinary antidote to what Herman Melville calls the 'damp, drizzly (winter) in my soul'. With starters such as grilled white anchovies, there is no need to travel to Mozambique or Portugal to find this fresh, authentic flavour. With a DJ playing her set in the upstairs cocktail bar Artisté and the hint of the ocean across the street, Amare attracts patrons beyond residents of the wealthy suburb. Invited by Amare to do a review, I was accompanied by a friend whose talents, unlike mine, include gourmet cooking. The waiter let us pick a table among the many open, but the restaurant filled up fast as the evening went on. The conversation of diners young and old, perhaps enhanced by the extensive wine list (every option was not, however, available that night) gave the uncluttered style of the restaurant more of a festive atmosphere. South African craft gins were among the spirits listed and I chose one of the Cape's first, the Inverroche Amber, while my friend had a glass of the Pincushion sauvignon blanc from Lomond estate. We relished the anchovies with marinated lemons and smoked almonds, and colourful Panzanella tomato, basil and olive salad with croutons we had to start. For mains we ordered the Amare signature spaghetti all'Assassina, and chargrilled sea bass with capers, confit tomatoes and herbs, with side orders of white beans with Parmesan and herbs and fried green beans with sesame seeds. Our over-enthusiastic waiter arrived with the charred spaghetti, sea bass and bean dishes before we were done with entrées, giving our table the look of a Roman feast with dishes competing for space on our table. Undeterred we took our time and found the pan-cooked spicy pasta, a dish from southern Italy, stood out for its almost crispy texture and unusual flavour. The sea bass was delicious and the white and green beans complemented the heaps of pasta on our plates. Ideal comfort food for a cold day. Choosing a dessert took time given the alluring selection. Nostalgic about summer and unable to resist anything with lemons, I ordered the lemon posset with mint and lemon grass granita, which was outstanding. Even the coconut lime pannacotta with roasted grapes couldn't compare to it. While we enjoyed our mains, we felt the starters and desserts were the most memorable. *Claire Keeton and her friend were hosted by Amare. Amare, which is open from breakfast, is offering winter specials valid until August 31. Diners can choose from two- or three-course meals. The two‑course price is R 380 (or R 550 with wine pairing) and the three‑course price is R 500 (or R 750 with pairing).
New York Times
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A New ‘Billy Budd' Is a Pressure Cooker of Gay Desire
Billy Budd is a beautiful mystery. He is young, with a smooth and feminine face, but he doesn't know his background; all he can say is that, as a baby, he was found in a silk-lined basket, hanging from the knocker of a door. One thing is certain in Herman Melville's novella 'Billy Budd': This handsome sailor is good, gentle by nature and loyal to his shipmates, who call him Baby and find peace just by being in his presence. To Billy's 'good' Melville adds allegorically pure evil in the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggart, and unbending virtue in Captain Vere. Like the legs of a stool, those characteristics hold up the drama of 'Billy Budd,' which was left unfinished at Melville's death in 1891 and wasn't published until the 1920s. The story of Billy Budd, stammering and precious, then sacrificed to a strict idea of justice after he accidentally but fatally strikes Claggart, has intrigued readers ever since with its opacity and open-endedness. E.M. Forster called the novella 'an easy book, as long as we read it as a yarn.' But tug at the thread, and it unravels into a pile of unanswerable questions: about desire, about morality, about the microcosmic world of a ship at sea. Perhaps that is why adaptations of 'Billy Budd,' onstage and onscreen, have been so different. Each is as much an act of interpretation as translation, adopting a specific perspective, examining Billy's tragedy through a particular character or idea. The latest version, a sexy and ingenious one-act called 'The Story of Billy Budd, Sailor,' ran at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France earlier this month. It's an adaptation of an adaptation: a chamber treatment, by the director Ted Huffman and the composer Oliver Leith, of Benjamin Britten's 1951 opera 'Billy Budd.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Vogue
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
032c Spring 2026 Menswear Collection
Maria Koch has been on a health kick. She's not alone—everywhere you look these days there's a wellness tip awaiting. 'I feel like I'm the last to the party, but I'm so into a healthy body right now,' she said, calling in from Berlin, 'not as in skinny, but strong.' Koch put a protein tracker on her phone, and she said she feels and looks much better. Which explains the hoodie emblazoned with the word 'Protein' across its chest. 'I think it's a cultural thing right now, the need to feel strong,' she said, 'perhaps because of the environment and everything that is happening.' Koch titled her collection 'I would prefer not to.' Not to what, exactly? It's a phrase that applies to anything from exercising to reading the news, and speaks to the privilege of being able to opt out. Koch also selected an epigraph, written by Herman Melville for his 1853 short story 'Bartleby, the Scrivener': 'Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance.' In the story, a Wall Street lawyer hires a scrivener, Bartleby, who is initially hyper-productive but eventually refuses to make any copies, replying to any request with 'I would prefer not to.' Bartleby's is a sorrowful story about refusal and choice, yes, but also about the prison of productivity. Koch said that she was fascinated by the idea of going against the grain of fashion—constant novelty at breakneck speed. Because she would prefer not to, Koch opted out of doing a show this season, explaining that 032c—editorial operation included—is going through some change and restructuring, so it made sense to step back. The collection models a similar kind of restraint; a lineup of 032 basics, it includes cool leather separates, workwear, and some proper tailoring, a category that's looking better and more identifiable each season here.
Los Angeles Times
26-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
It's time to escape to California's Gold Rush towns for postcard charms and swimming holes
You could argue that Nevada City peaked 170 years ago, along with Charles Darwin, Herman Melville and Queen Victoria. But we're still talking about them all. And Nevada City, 60 miles northeast of Sacramento in the Sierra foothills, is reachable without a séance. In the 1850s, it grew from a miners' outpost into a Gold Rush boomtown of 10,000 (heavy on the bars and brothels) before anyone got around to naming that other Nevada as a territory or a state. Today it lives on as a tiny town with a lively arts scene and a liberal bent, home to about 3,200 souls. Advertisement Perhaps because there's so much to escape from these days, Nevada City and its larger, more middle-of-the-road neighbor Grass Valley have been drawing more visitors than ever lately. Nevada County's hotel and vacation rental tax revenues have doubled in the last five years to a record high. Planning your weekend? Stay up to date on the best things to do, see and eat in L.A. 'A lot of people are coming up from the Bay Area and settling up here because Nevada City is in a lot of ways like the Bay Area,' said Ross Woodbury, owner of Nevada City's Mystic Theater. 'It's a very blue town in a very red region.' If you're from elsewhere, it's easy at first to overlook the differences among these Gold Rush towns. Once your feet are on the ground, however, the distinctions and fascinating details shine through — as do historic rivalries. 'Nevada City thinks it's a little better than Grass Valley and Grass Valley think it's a little better than Nevada City. I don't think that's ever going to change,' said restaurateur John Gemignani, standing by the grill of the Willo steakhouse in Nevada City. Advertisement 'That's never going to change,' confirmed his wife, Chris Gemignani. Nevada City's intimate size, upscale shops and throwback 19th century architecture alone are enough to win over many people. Its downtown is a 16-acre collection of more than 90 historic buildings, cheek by Victorian jowl. Say you have breakfast at Communal Cafe, lunch at Three Forks Bakery, dinner at Friar Tuck's, a drink after at the Golden Era. You haven't even hit 1,000 steps for the day yet, unless you've been dancing to the live music that often fills the area. (One night, I stepped from Spring Street into Miners Foundry — an 1856 landmark now used as a cultural center — and found about 200 locals gathered for a community sing, a chorus of Beatles-belting Boomers.) For those who seek higher step counts, forested foothills and miles of trails wait outside town, along with often-perilous springtime whitewater and summer swimming holes along the South Yuba River. And in surrounding hill country, the Empire Mine and Malakoff Diggins, once the major employers (and polluters) of the region, now serve as state historic parks. The Beat Generation poet Gary Snyder (95 years old and well represented on the shelves at Harmony Books on Main Street) still lives on a ridge outside town. Meanwhile, four miles down the road from Nevada City in Grass Valley, changes are afoot. The Holbrooke Hotel (statelier sibling to Nevada's City's National Exchange Hotel) reopened after a dramatic renovation in 2020. Soon after, spurred by the pandemic, the city closed busy Mill Street to cars, making it a permanent two-block pedestrian promenade full of restaurants, bars and shops. About This Guide Our journalists independently visited every spot recommended in this guide. We do not accept free meals or experiences. What should we check out next? Send ideas to guides@ Still, if Los Angeles moves at 100 miles per hour, Foggy Mountain Music store clerk Pete Tavera told me, 'Grass Valley is like 60.' Advertisement Both towns preserve their mining heritage, and when you stroll through them, you can just about hear echoes of those raucous Gold Rush days. Here's a little more of what I learned during a three-day visit: In the early days of the Gold Rush, most of the area's mine workers lived in Grass Valley while the owners, bosses and other white-collar people built their upscale Victorian homes in Nevada City, the county seat. The Great Depression of the 1930s never really reached this corner of Gold Country, because the big hard-rock mines kept on producing gold. In 2024, when a company tried to restart gold mining at the nearby old Idaho-Maryland Mine, residents of Nevada County, which includes Nevada City and Grass Valley, rose up and the county board of supervisors shut down the idea, citing environmental risks. These days, it seems, Nevada County wants to remember gold mining, not live with it. Because everybody needs a break now and then, here is a closer look at 15 essential spots, starting in Nevada City, continuing with Grass Valley.
