Scituate is a harbour town on the South Shore with two stories that people there tell with relish. The first concerns the War of 1812. In September 1814, a British warship was cruising off the coast, and two young sisters, Rebecca and Abigail Bates, who were alone in the lighthouse keeper's house while their father was away, are said to have grabbed a drum and a fife and hidden behind the dunes, playing as loudly as they could. The British, believing a company of militia was approaching, turned back. The story has been told so often that the sisters are known as the Army of Two, and the little lighthouse, built in 1811 on Cedar Point, is one of the oldest on the coast.
The second story is about seaweed. For more than a century, Scituate was the centre of Irish moss harvesting, a red seaweed that was raked from the rocks at low tide, dried in the sun and sold for use as a thickener in food, and the trade made a modest living for many local families. A small museum on the harbour tells the story of the moss gatherers, along with the fishermen and the shipbuilders. The harbour itself is busy and full of life, with lobster boats, draggers and pleasure craft, and a row of seafood restaurants and shops along the quay.
The coast here is flat and exposed, and the town has paid for it. Winter storms, especially nor'easters, have repeatedly overtopped the sea walls and flooded streets, and the blizzard of 1978 is still remembered for the damage it caused. Beaches such as Minot and Humarock have been rebuilt time and again. In summer, the water is cold but clear, and the long sandy shore at Peggotty Beach is popular with walkers and families. A walk out along the breakwater to the lighthouse is a pleasant half-hour, with views across Massachusetts Bay.
For riders, the roads along the South Shore are slow, narrow and winding, with Route 3A running along the coast and a mix of side roads through old farmland and marshes. Traffic is moderate, heavy on summer weekends. Scituate has five thousand residents and no shortage of stations, bakeries and pubs, so refuelling and a bite to eat are easy. Fresh fish and chips, fried clams and chowder are everywhere, and Irish pubs are plentiful in this heavily Irish-American region. Sea fog can be thick in spring and early summer, and the wind is sharp. The sunsets are worth waiting for.