First we visited Seamen's Bethel, a historic non-denominational church for sailors. Because New Bedford was for many years the home of so many different seamen of different cultural and religious backgrounds, the church served as a common place of worship for people less accustomed to the land-lubbing life. This included Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, who featured the bethel in his classic fictional novel. The Bethel includes a plaque in tribute of Melville as well as a number of plaques honoring the many, many sailors who have tragically passed away at sea.
We then went to the New Bedford Whaling Museum, which is one of the most famous and extensive whaling museums in the world (yes, there are a lot and yes, this one is awesome.) We watched a short movie about the history of whale hunting, specifically in New Bedford and the Cape Cod Bay; then, our tour guide Tom led us around the museum. Some highlights included a room full of scrimshaw craftwork (the medium of choice for artistic...or just bored...whalers) as well as a complete whaling ship , built to half scale, that the cadets could get on and walk around inside.
After being on land, we came back to The Lady Marland and enjoyed our time docked to the land by playing games like Wah and Big Booty.
Can't believe that the trip is more the halfway over!
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