I've just returned from a week's beach-intensive vacation just off of Cape Cod in MA--one town over, actually, from New Bedford. Founded in 1787, New Bedford was once the whaling capital of the world (back when the whaling industry was one of the global economic forces) and a major port, with nearly as much maritime traffic as New York, Boston and New Orleans. Herman Melville himself sailed on the whaleship Acushnet, which launched from New Bedford. The time he spent there--and particularly in the Seamen's Bethel on Johnnycake Street--inspired a little book known as Moby Dick. 

""In the same New Bedford there stands a Whaleman's Chapel, and few are the moody fishermen, shortly bound for the Indian Ocean or Pacific, who fail to make a Sunday visit to the spot." Moby Dick

With a bow-shaped pulpit and dozens of old cenotaphs honoring sailors lost at sea, this small chapel is a poignant memorial and an incredibly evocative reminder of Melville's masterpiece--which I read, in fact, during a weeklong visit.   This was so much more meaningful and immersive than seeing a filmed version of a beloved book (which can often be disappointing, filling in your imagination in an unsatisfying, they-got-it-wrong kind of way).  I can still smell the salt and taste the hardtack.