Today we walked the cobbled streets in New Bedford, Massachusetts to visit the whaling museum . I really was amazed to discover all the uses for whale oil. No wonder it was such a needed and valuable commodity. The whaling ships would go out for a couple of years and did not come back until they had barrels full of whale oil. Most of the oil was rendered out of the blubber but the whale's skull had an entire cavity filled with oil which was the most valued. Whaling was a dangerous and demanding job although they had lots of time between hunts where they engaged in folk art such as scrimshaw. The need for whale oil was replaced when it was discovered that petroleum oil could provide many of the same products.
After our visit to New Bedford. We drove out to Cape Cod. This, unfortunately, did not work out so well. The torrential rains that had been predicted came and we really could not enjoy the views at all. I guess we will have to do this drive again -- in better weather.
David loves the skeleton with the boat picture. He said he would like to go there too.
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