Forget about nightlife in Rockport; it's non-existent except for dining out. Rockport has been a permanently 'dry' town since the mid-19th Century. According to legend, there was a serious alcohol problem among the town's fishing families during that era. The husbands stayed home during the months outside of fishing season and ran up huge bar tabs while they waited to return to sea, creating all sorts of problems at home. The fishermen's wives cried on the shoulder of a feisty septuagenarian seamstress named Hannah Jumper, who led a midnight raid of 200 axe-wielding women on a rampage through the taverns downtown, smashing every barrel of liquor in sight. Since that fateful night, there have been no bars, no nightclubs and no liquor stores in Rockport, and the local police are camped everywhere with radar. At most local restaurants, though, you can bring your own alcohol and pay a modest set-up fee for the ice and glassware. Every now and then, the innkeepers and restauranteurs try to change this policy, only to be met with fierce resistance. As you drive around Rockport, you'll notice many cars bear a yellow bumpersticker that reads 'HANNAH LIVES!' No kidding!
Since there are no bars in Rockport, you can get a cheap flat-rate taxi to Gloucester. Please don't drive back to Rockport and risk getting caught by the police while traveling along the long, dark roads late at night!
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Theme: Live Music
Dress Code: Cape Ann is a very unpretentious place. When you see people overdressed, they are frequently wedding guests because people come here in droves to get married by the ocean!
Directions: Have a taxi take you to either Rocky Neck in East Gloucester (three bars close to each other right on the water) or Main Street in downtown Gloucester (you can barhop all you like up and down Main and
Other Contact: Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce at
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on Aug 26, 2002
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