Northern Maine

Last week we moved from Southern Maine (Old Orchard Beach) to Northern Maine (Trenton).  We are just a few miles from the entrance to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.  For the past week we have explored the National Park and spent a day in Bar Harbor.

Acadia is a beautiful park located right on the ocean.  The park contains Cadillac Mountain, which is the highest point on the eastern seaboard of the United States.  With this being the highest point it is the first place to see a sunrise so that is the big attraction.  We got up at 3:15am to make the drive to the park and the mountain to be in place for a 4:47am sunrise.  It had rained a few hours before and clouds were still lingering but fortunately most moved away in time for the sunrise.  Here are some pictures.

Here is a panoramic picture I took right at sunrise.  Because of the clouds it took awhile for the sun to rise above them.

Another attraction in the park is a place called Thunder hole.  This is where the ocean has carved a tunnel into the rocks at a point on the shore so that during high tide it creates a huge splash and a thundering noise. The park has installed a walkway onto the rocks but, from what I have seen online, the water will splash all the way up to near the road.  Here is what it looks like at low tide.

As you can tell from the picture we were not there at the right time.  You can see videos of it if you go to You Tube and search on Acadia National Park .  I had to laugh, when we were at Thunder Hole a lady walks up to me and asks “what are we looking at?”.

We did a 7 mile bike ride around Eagle Lake then went over to Jordan Pond where they have a restaurant that is famous for their pop overs, so we had lunch there. 

The town of Bar Harbor is just a few miles from the park as is a nice town to walk around.  It is right on the water but has lost its “fishing village” feel that I am sure it had many years ago.  There is a lot of new development on the waterfront that includes a hotel, restaurants and shops.  They still do have many of the old buildings remaining that comprise the shopping district off the waterfront.  Here is picture of the street.

We had a nice lunch at a pub with a view of the harbor.

Our last stop was the the other part of the national park, it is called Schooding Point.  It is a 27 mile scenic drive to get to it but it does have some very nice views.  The shore is comprised of granite and was very spectacular when we went at low tide.

Schooding Point

The expanse of granite

Next stop is St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine

We have finished up our stay in Old Orchard Beach and have moved on to Trenton, Maine which is just a few miles from Acadia National Park.  With the move let me get you caught up on our activities of the previous week.

The theme, for me, continues to be eat as much seafood (lobsters and clams) as possible.  We started our visit with a trip to Sanford, Maine.  This is where my parents were born, met and married.  We came to pay tribute to my two aunts who passed away within the last two years.  From Sanford we drove back to the RV park via the coastal highway which took us through some very nice little towns, specifically Kennebunkport.  It was Saturday and very busy in the town so we decided to come back during the week (read on).

As a child I had always heard my parents and other relatives talk about Old Orchard Beach.  In fact here is an old picture of my uncle (one on the right) and my future stepfather at Old Orchard Beach.

Back in the time my understanding is that this was the place to go during the summer and it does not seem like much has changed.  The main draw is the beautiful beach a small amusement park on the beach plus the shops and restaurants.

The beach

The pier

Lunch was at a famous seafood market, Bayley’s, that serves to go food you can eat out on their small pier.  I had a lobster roll with a to go order (for dinner) of lobster mac-n-cheese.  Only non-seafood item was a salad for Fran.

Our next adventure took us up to Freeport, Maine home to L.L. Bean.  The town is quaint with a bunch of shops and restaurants.  The L.L. Bean stores are huge and dominate the town.  Since their stores bring in so many tourists many of the upscale chain stores have come in. 

Fran at the L.L. Bean store

Lunch for this visit was at Linda Dean’s restaurant.  She is the grand daughter of L.L. Bean.  I had a Lobster Cheesen sandwich (lobster grilled cheese) and Fran had hot dogs and was taken aback when they arrived as the color was not what she expected.

Our last outing was back to Kennebunkport.  Many of you may recognize the town name as this is where the first President Bush has his summer home.  It is very prominent on a point just outside of the main part of the town.

Small town that you can easily walk around and stop in the various shops.  The original plan was to have lunch at the famous “The Clam Shack”.  However “The Clam Shack” is just a take out place that has some picnic tables nearby.  The non-seafood menu is limited to chicken fingers. 

It was just before lunch so the line had not formed yet.  Generally in the afternoon there is always a line at both windows.

As it was such a nice day we found a nice restaurant, Tia’s, with an outside upper deck that overlooked the town.  We were glad we stopped, it was a great lunch with a nice view.

 

Lobster for lunch, of course ($13.95).

Father’s Day

We have moved from Littleton, MA to Old Orchard Beach, ME.  Just one more stop in Maine then it is into Canada for our 5 week tour.  We did a little driving around the area on Saturday and today, Father’s Day, is sit around day.  My beautiful wife actually got up when I did (and I get up early!) to make me breakfast and then tonight a great dinner is planned.  My three daughters tracked me down and had a package of gourmet cookies waiting for me when we checked in at our RV park.  All in all it looks to be a great day. 

Let me take a moment to reminisce on Father’s Day and tell you about my family. My father was taken way to young but I did have 16 great years with him and cherish those moments.  Here is a great picture of him with me.

For the last 35+ years I have been fortunate to have a great step-father. 

But what makes this day so special is my beautiful three daughters and my wife.

Happy Father’s Day!

Boston Area

We moved from Cape Cod to just outside Boston so we could be closer to explore Boston and the upper part of Massachusetts.  We are staying in Littleton which is about 30 miles from downtown Boston.

Our first adventure was getting our rig into the space at the RV park.  The park we are staying at is beautiful set amongst some very large trees.  The roads are very narrow and the space we were assigned was a blind back-in site.  It required backing between two trees up a small hill.  Fortunately the campground host escorted us to the site then guided me in with backing directions.  It would have been very difficult to get into the spot without his assistance.  Once we were in I had to check to see if the slides would clear the two trees.  We just made it.

In between some major rain storms we have been able to get some sightseeing in.  We took a scenic drive up to Cape Ann which took us through some small New England towns that take you back in time.  We had lunch at little restaurant in Rockport, MA then made our way to Salem (the witch town).

A view of the harbor and town of Gloucester.

We were surprised with the size of Salem.  It is a fairly large city and very busy which made it a little difficult for us to find a parking spot for our large truck.  They have set up a line on the sidewalk you follow that takes you to all the major sights of the city.  It was about an hour and half walking tour.  The disappointment is that only one structure, the judges house, remains from the famous witch trials. 

Fran was caught and punished!

The only structure that remains.  Dates back to 1630.

Pretty cool, they have a statue for the TV show Bewitched.

Yesterday, Monday, we made our way into Boston.  We made two stops for the day.  The first was the JFK Library and Museum.  This continues our plan to see all the presidential libraries.  The library sits near the campus of the University of Massachusetts on  Columbia Point.  The view is spectacular as is the library building.  We were disappointed with contents of the museum as it seemed to be lacking any real substance, but it was still interesting.

View of Boston across the bay from the library.

Library and museum

JFK’s favorite sailboat.  He got it when he was 15 and sailed it his entire life.

Our second stop was a tour of Fenway Park.  It can be very costly to see a baseball game at Fenway so this is the next best alternative.  For $16 they take you into the stands, onto the “Green Monster”, along the upper deck, into the media room and end at the Red Sox museum.  I would highly recommend this tour, it was informative and fun.

The “Green Monster”

The stands

View from the press box

I have been to Wrigley Field and now Fenway Park, the two oldest parks in baseball.  I would have to say the Red Sox’s have done it right.  The park has been totally upgraded but has the old time feel and history to it.  Wrigley has been upgraded but not to this extent.  The coolest thing they did at Fenway was to add seats to the top of the “Green Monster”.  These have to be the best seats in baseball.  They are in such demand that they hold a lottery each year for the seats.  They get a list of over 100,000 people trying to get just 4 tickets for one game in these seats at $165 per ticket!

We are in this area for the rest of this week then into Maine for two weeks before we begin a 5 week tour through eastern Canada.

Lobsta, chowdah and beeyah

We finished up our stay on Cape Cod and now have moved to Littleton, MA, which is just outside Boston.  Let me bring you up to date on our final excursions on the cape.

As the title indicates I have been getting my fill of seafood as we move up the east coast.  It was crabs and crab cakes in the Outer Banks, Delaware and Maryland and now in New England it is lobster (lobster rolls), clam chowder and fried clams.  We have been eating out a lot, mainly lunches, as we do our sightseeing.

On our last weekend we drove through the Cape Cod National Seashore.  They are still recovering from the storm so the beaches were not open as there was no stair access from the parking lots.  I can see why people do love these beaches, they are just beautiful. 

The highway through the National Seashore leads you to the town of Provincetown which is at the tip of Cape Cod.  This town is famous for being where the Pilgrims originally landed, signed their declaration and then moved on to Plymouth.  There is a nice monument erected for this event (puts Plymouth Rock to shame). 

Monument for the Pilgrims landing

Lunch at a local restaurant (lobster Panini)

In more recent times the town has become more famous as a place for gays and lesbians to live and visit.

On Monday it was rainy and colder so we took a drive to Plymouth to see where the Pilgrims settled and then came back via Highway 6A, which takes you through many of the small towns on the cape.

Ok, as a child you learn early on about the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock and never do I remember seeing a picture of it in my textbooks.  I envisioned a large rock on the coast that was sort of a landmark. Well, see for yourself…

About 5 foot by 3 foot.

It is enclosed in a little monument near the shoreline.  From what I have read this is actually only half of the original rock as it was split many years ago and people took pieces of it.  Sometime in the past the year 1620 was carved into it.  Really, from sea the Pilgrims saw this rock and decided this is where they wanted to land!  I don’t think so. 

We have been busy

It has been a couple of weeks and we have been really busy on this leg of our trip.  It is evident now that we did not allow enough time at some of our stops here.  When I left you last we were in Connecticut our first week.  We stayed for one additional week taking us to just after Memorial Day.  Activities during that last week included visiting Hartford, CT where we toured Mark Twain’s home.  This was where he was living when he wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Another trip was to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.  This is a living history museum.  It is a recreated village from the 1830’s with people recreating the lifestyle and tasks at the various buildings.  It was a beautiful day and a great stroll through this town.

After Memorial Day we left for Cape Cod arriving in Eastham, Massachusetts.  This is down the cape, as they say.  Since arriving we spent the first full day hanging around the trailer as it was cold and rainy, but then the storm passed and it has been sunny and very hot.  First stop was a trip to Nantucket.  This required a drive, 28 miles, to the ferry terminal and then a ride on the high speed ferry, 1 hour, over to the island.  Round trip for two adults and two bikes was $128.00!!  We had been told that it was best to bike around on Nantucket as it is a small island and really only has the one town.  The issue we found is that at times you have to ride on the roads which can be treacherous and it was a little hilly.  Riding in the downtown area is almost prohibitive because of the cobblestone streets and the requirement you must walk you bikes on all one way streets, which most are.  The island was nice and the town of Nantucket was quaint and fun to walk around but it was not what neither of us expected.

View of homes from the bike trail.  All homes have to be built with shingled siding and roofs, so all are grey and white.

A view of one of the streets in the town.

A close up view of the cobblestone.  These are boulders!

On Friday we drove 50 miles to the ferry terminal in Woods Hole to take the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard.  This is a 45 minute ride on a slower ferry but only costs $16 round trip.  We did not take our bikes as this island is much larger with 6 towns so we decided a tour bus would be the better option. 

We arrived in Oak Bluffs (one of the towns), which is one of the tourist hot spots on the island.  This has a nice wharf with restaurants and bars, the famous gingerbread cottages in Camp City and the circle of homes around Ocean Park.

Here are some of the gingerbread cottages in Camp City.  This was originally a tent city for a religious group that became these small ornate cottages. 

Hopefully you can make this out but this is the circle of homes that have Ocean Park in front of them.  They all face the ocean.  The prominent home in the circle is owned by Peter Norton (Norton Anti-Virus creator).

One of the most beautiful stops on the bus tour was the town of Aquinnah which is on a cliff with a great view.

The Cliffs of Aquinnah

As Jaws was filmed on this island the tour guide pointed out all the places that were used in the filming.  The town of Edgartown was the setting for the town of Amity. We did not get to spend much time in Edgartown but we both agreed that if we come back this is one town we want to see more of.  We also did not get to spend any time in the other tourist area, Vineyard Haven. 

After the 3 hour tour, lunch and walking around Oak Bluffs there was no time left to go back to any of the spots we saw on the tour as we needed to catch the last ferry out of Oak Bluffs.  We definitely needed more time to enjoy this island.

Before we leave here we still plan on seeing the Cape Cod National Seashore, Provincetown, Plymouth Rock and possibly a whale watching boat tour.  On Tuesday we leave to Littleton, MA (just outside Boston).