I’ve really enjoyed walking around Woods Hole during the time I’ve been here. I’d visited here once before coming to SEA Semester, but it was only in passing since I came to catch a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. Although it’s a small town, there were a lot of fun things to see, and it was only a short bike ride away from campus. Unfortunately, a lot of things were closed for the winter, but the things that remained open were still cool to look at.

One of the things I’ve appreciated most is being near the water - there were docks and beaches everywhere! I’ve never lived this close to the beach before, but it was really relaxing to be able to bike there whenever (unfortunately, we were in class for most daylight hours, which made it difficult to come by often - still grateful nonetheless)

Some housemates and I walked to Racing Beach on a nice sunny day
More sunny beaches
Lots of docks around Woods Hole
WHOI's (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) research vessel Armstrong


Sculpture made from old boat parts - spotted on the WHOI dock

And with lots of water and boats, you get lighthouses!

Nobska Lighthouse

Also caught a nice photo of Falmouth’s downtown area…

Downtown Falmouth - not quite Woods Hole, but it's nearby

There was also a small aquarium with some cool looking fish on display.

Lionfish & anemone in the Woods Hole Aquarium

Woods Hole is also home to the Marine Biological Laboratory, which had a library with some really old books in it. During one of our field trips, we got to see books from their special collections, which included some one-of-a-kind illustrations, handwritten journals and logbooks, and books that were printed using a printing press.

Text printed by a printing press - in person, you could feel the imprint of the text into the paper

I’m definitely going to miss seeing all of this, but I’m also super excited for the next part of our journey. Before flying out though, I do want to bike around Woods Hole one more time since I don’t know if/when I’ll get the chance to again. Just added it to my calendar for tomorrow afternoon!