Exploring Cambridge by Nancy Snyder

~~I think of Cambridge as one of those adorable little towns that can make you want to never see another metropolis again. It is to the soul like home cooking is to the tummy: soothing, relaxing, comforting, satisfying.
 
Picture a lovely old town near the mouth of a sizable river that divides into little arms of water that wend their way through the geography of the communities. Add some small, cozy, close-together frame houses near to town and some larger, statelier homes on the periphery.
 
The proximity to big water makes for the presence of marinas, sailboats, crabbing and fishing workboats, powerboats, and draw bridges.  Oh yes, there's the occasional cruise ship here since we're the only deep-water port in the area but, fortunately, they are just passing through. And where the big cities have gigantic stores, Cambridge has little, quaint, local stores.  And where the big cities have cavernous restaurants, we have intimate pockets of wonderful cuisine owned and run by people who live here. The shop keepers and restaurateurs and draw bridge tenders and crabbers and fishermen likely are all neighbors who know each other.
 
Add a big screwpile lighthouse replica, a visitor's center with a huge white sail, streets of historic structures, an old church with a scenic graveyard, and you start to get an image of Cambridge. 
 
Now, if you were an artist, wouldn't all of this attract your keen eye? Well, it has attracted some. On the Friday before Plein Air Easton!, a few of the competiton artists are coming to Cambridge for a pre-event event.  On Friday, July 11, the town will be dotted with artists!  Pretty exciting, don't you think?
 
Sure, it takes some work to put this together but we have some citizens who love doing this kind of thing. Wednesday Morning Artists (an eclectic group of local artists in many genre), Cambridge Main Street (dedicated to making and keeping the town vibrant), and Dorchester Center for the Arts (the hub of art in the county) have combined to make this happen. What a team!

Think I'll come out early, get myself a cup of coffee, find an artist to watch, cruise the wet paint sale, maybe buy something at one of the local shops while I'm around town, and at the end of the day, feel that I've had a soothing, relaxing, comforting, satisfying day.
 
It's perfect. The artists get to capture a wonderful venue and we get to watch!