Whale of a rebirth

Old fishing community rides a wave of youthful, arts-driven energy

October 18, 2006|Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

New Bedford is a down-to-earth city that has always gone down to the sea. Herman Melville memorialized its whalers in ``Moby-Dick," and Ahab , Starbuck , and Queequeg still cast long shadows on those Quaker streets of uneven granite paving stones. But today's stars of the waterfront are mostly Portuguese fishermen whose trawls and dredges haul the most valuable fish catch (mostly groundfish and scallops) in the country. The golden age of whaling, roughly 1820-85, has been captured in amber (or ambergris) by a national park, but New Bedford has a future, too. Preservationists have been quietly saving the handsome old downtown buildings for decades, and the Star Store campus of UMass-Dartmouth's College of Visual & Performing Arts has injected a critical mass of youthful energy, artistic intensity, and cockeyed optimism into the city. Ishmael's drizzly ``November of my soul" has been exorcised at last, as surely as the fog lifts ahead of the sweet breezes of a westerly.

Play

Some kids like boats -- big boats. When most of the fishing fleet is ashore on weekends, the waterfront becomes a fascinating forest of masts and cables. Along the wharves where vessels are berthed three abreast, crew members hop from boat to boat while other trawlers steam past with their birds up (the wing-like extensions used for stability in rough seas).

Other kids prefer pony rides, available on weekends for $3 (or $5 with a photo) at the Buttonwood Park Zoo (425 Hawthorn St., 508-991-6178, bpzoo.org , adults $6, seniors and teenagers $4.50, ages 3-12 $3). This gentle, low-key zoo focuses primarily on regional wildlife, including creatures that inhabit the zoo property, such as muskrats, mink, and songbirds. Even such old-fashioned exhibits as the elephant enclosure and the WPA-era bear pit emphasize understanding the captive animals rather than merely gawking at them.

Rest

Predictable roadside convenience is the strong suit of Days Inn (500 Hathaway Road, 508-997-1231, daysinn.com , $69-$129). It's near the intersection of Interstate 195 and Route 140, but more than 2 miles from the downtown and waterfront. Within strolling distance of downtown, lodgings in two former mid-19th-century whaling captains' manses offer more local color. The Orchard Street Manor Bed & Breakfast (139 Orchard St., 508-984-3475, the-orchard-street-manor.com , $125-$250) has just one single- room and two two-bedroom suites but elegant common areas, including a formal billiard room. The animal-loving innkeepers at Captain Haskell's Octagon House Bed & Breakfast (347 Union St., 508-999-3933, theoctagonhouse.com , $125-$145) welcome pets in the two guest rooms and one suite of two single rooms. And you might catch the blossoming of the night-blooming cereus in the Victorian conservatory.