Last Day in Falmouth: Started and Ended on Main Street; Spohr Gardens; Highfield Hall and Gardens, Shipwrecked; Bird Sanctuary

Thursday we stayed around Falmouth, not wanting to drive too much that day. Our morning walk was along Main Street once again because there was so much to see and we loved it so much. 

This lighthouse-themed mailbox was interesting, complete with a real moss roof as we made our way down a beautiful tree-lined street toward the water.

We loved walking down this street, but had a very unsettling experience walking the opposite way on the same street to get back to the road. 

We saw a man walking our way who had a very intent look on his face. Glen and I both smiled and said good morning to him as we passed by him, and he didn't even look our way or acknowledge us at all. 

He kept his steady pace with his determined eyes looking straight ahead. He continued walking right past us as though he were a zombie. Or an ax murderer!? Or a serial killer!?

Either way, I kept turning around to see where he was going to make sure he hadn't turned back around and was coming to do harm to us. It was a very creepy feeling we had. 

Great experience for the Halloween season...?? 

We took a short ride to visit Spohr Gardens. Charles and Margaret Spohr lived and worked there for 40 years. Margaret took an interest in the evolution of the gardens and how each section was laid out. 

Charles was particularly fascinated with what he called "the decorations"--the anchors, millstones, cobblestones, chains, lanterns and watering troughs which he acquired and integrated like sculptures among the flowers, trees, and shrubs of the Gardens. 

As a boy, Charles started to collect small anchors. He was particularly interested in early anchors; their design, age, places of origin and their evolution into modern anchors.

Thirteen historic anchors now rest along the retaining wall on Oyster Pond.

He also has two bells on display--one from a church in Dedham that burned down, and this smaller bell by the water.

Charlie also collected 75 millstones from around the country. They range in size from 6 inches to 8 feet. Several weigh tons.

He located them by researching old town records and seeking out old mills. He then purchased and removed them from their original settings, extracting them with a hoist which he designed for his truck.

Forty millstones are embedded in the patios around the house. Other, larger millstones are scattered around the Gardens "catching the eye of admiring visitors."

Sure helped bring to life the scripture in Matthew talking about a millstone. 

Another short drive took us to Highfield Hall and Gardens. We took a tour of the Hall. 

An artist's work of painted waterscapes was featured all throughout the building. 

We walked around the gardens and out into the woods.

There was a storybook trail that had different activities to appeal to children, like this musical spot.

Glen became a tree hugger for a moment.

We decided to have an early dinner (because we hadn't had our usual ice cream lunch snack) at one of the few restaurants in Falmouth that hadn't shut down for the season. 

We had seen Shipwrecked on one of our morning walks. We enjoyed eating seafood there while looking out the window at the beach.

Another short drive took us to Salt Pond Bird Sanctuary. 

All the birds must have flown south for the winter because we could see plenty of birdhouses, but no birds in sight. 

We found a paved trail nearby and enjoyed walking on that for a while before turning around to go back to the sanctuary.

We ended our fun day exploring more of Falmouth right back where we began that morning--on Main Street. We got our last view of that area when we went to buy some fudge, candy and get an ice cream treat.

It was a little bit nostalgic for us knowing we were leaving Falmouth and the Cape Cod area in the morning. We had grown quite fond of the place.