Marion and The General Store

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By Saturday morning, it is sunny again so we set sail up the West side of Buzzards Bay to Marion. The seas are still a bit choppy from the recent bad weather. It is only a short run to Marion.

Marion is a big harbor and a very small town. Unlike many of the small port towns in this part of the world, the Marion General Store is still open for business and it is a marvelous little place. So this makes Marion a Perfect Cruising Port.

There is a neat and comfortable marked anchorage just inside the harbor but it is a long row from there to the town dock. So we rent a mooring from Burr Brothers Boats, one of two boatyards here that rent moorings. There are lots of moorings here. We are assigned Mooring # 995. The whole mooring field is well protected by a small island that almost blocks the harbor entrance. In the late afternoon, lots of small local sailboats practice their sailing skills by weaving though "big" moored boats like ours.

The mooring field is over a mile long with the town dock and harbormaster’s office mid-way and Burr Brothers Boatyard right at the head of the harbor.

There are only a couple of restaurants here and our choice is the Sippican Cafe. The decor here is simple to the point of plainness and this somewhat cafeteria style is reinforced by the open diner-like kitchen. But the menu is varied, the cooking is good and you can eat at the small inside bar or in the outdoor seating area. This is clearly a very popular place for the locals to meet and hang out. Take-out business is brisk, too.

We do not make the half-mile walk into the center of town, where the Marion General Store is located, until Sunday morning and then find that we have miscalculated. The store is closed on Sunday. Ah, well! Our cupboard is bare, so we will simply have to dine at the Sippican Cafe a second time ... :-) The walk into town and back is very pleasant. This is a beautiful, long-established and wealthy little town that is home to a posh private school called the Tabor Academy. Apart from a sprinkling of students on the school’s extensive grounds, the town is very, very quiet. Everybody is either on their boat or in the Sippican Cafe.

This is where we have been for the “next” few days ...
Monday to Wednesday, Aug 12 to 14 - Provincetown Marina, Cape Cod, MA

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