Circling Bits: South Shore Coastal Loop

I took a longish ride today because the sun was shining and I wanted to explore more of the south shore by bike. My trusty Rubel bike map showed that the Norris Reservation in Norwell was a good starting point. Riding south, I quickly crossed the North River where a few people were out fishing.

Heading out toward Marshfield, there are a several hills, but it soon flattens out near the coast where there are... yes, marshes.

The Plymouth waterfront was next. Everyone loves Plymouth. Bus loads of people come from everywhere to learn about the settlers. Unfortunately, the storied Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower can' t occupy tourists for long. Inevitably, people busy themselves consuming the wondrous variety of tourist...ah, junk. My favorite is the classic I've-been-to-some-place sweatshirt. Thanks to the brutal yet insightful commentary of my friend Chris, the site of one now makes me simultaneously start chuckling and cringing.

This shirt proves it, I have been to Plymouth. In Massachusetts. There weren't any pirates in the area, but we were near the ocean so that's good enough. To be fair, Plymouth is really interesting, just not obviously so. Brewster Gardens is very pretty, historic buildings are hidden all over, and there are about a zillion amazing beaches down the road. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, so the whole thing cracks me up a little. If you do go to Plymouth, do stop in at Ziggy's and get a shamelessly large soft-serve ice cream. Just don't go too early in the morning like me - they don't start swirling until later in the day.

Moving along....
I continued riding south past the aforementioned beaches, arrived at Cape Cod Canal, ate lunch and road along the canal. There was a ridiculous wind blowing the wrong way, so that was fun. The route back to Norwell was simple and straight along route 58 through Carver where there is a perfect gazebo near the town offices.