Mainely speaking

Mom and I flew into Portland, ME, 9/24/07 - the trip took most of the day. After arriving we got lost looking for downtown Portland, but not bad enough to lose out on some clam chowder for dinner.

Our first stop the next day was at L.L. Bean's flagship store. It's in Freeport, Me which is about the size of a postage stamp. We stopped just long enough for LL Bean to make out like a bandit. We headed north, hiked to Moxie falls.

And ended up in Jackman near the Canadian (Quebec) border. We were so close and the fall colors so good that the next morning we took the small drive to Quebec - just to say we'd been there. Not such a good plan. All went well at first. Canada was happy to have us as visitors. We only drove in a few miles as there were no towns close by. Entry back into the US was a different story. Apparently we looked pretty suspicious and we were given the third degree for some time before we were let loose again. Ask Mom to fill in the details.

Later in the day we were following what

From here we mostly enjoyed the Fall colors and driving in upstate ME. Our third night we camped (yes, tent and all) along the Penobscot River. Here we could see Mt. Katahdin (ask me how to say it - must be a Maine pronunciation) the highest peak in the state the top of which is the end of the Appalachian trail. Anybody want to take half a year and hike it - the whole trail?

Maine has lots of moose, at least we saw lots of Moose crossing signs along the road. This pic was probably one moose that didn't cross at the appropriate road crossing.

Then ya just gotta love this one:

We saw several light houses so must include one of them. This is Bass Harbor in Acadia:

An old friend from work had a vacation place - he called it the "boat house" that he let us stay at. We enjoyed sitting on the back deck looking out on Herrick Bay as the tide ebbed and flowed. The bay was fairly small, a mile or so across and when the tide was out the bay was half empty. We just enjoyed that and the birds that came including the gulls that would find something good, fly up and drop it on the rocks to crack it open and then retrieve the treasure.

High Tide:

Tide half-way out:














We spent some time in Acadia Nat'l Park. It has several completely different sections. When we arrived at the first it was all foggy. You could here boats and even some people off shore, just couldn't see anything. The day we visited the main part of the park the weather cooperated much better. It's a much different type of park than what we're used to. I can't imagine coming here during high season. I think the best part of this day was downtown Bar Harbor. We went for dinner and your mother nearly lost her teeth biting into some scallops that were a little rocky. They did give her the meal for free. Bar Harbor is a touristy waterfront town and we enjoyed walking up and down a few streets. There was a DelSol store and we thought of Carrie as this is a place where cruise ships lay anchor.















This blogging is taking far toooooo long. The pictures don't end up up where or how I want them. Does anybody know how this is supposed to work? I do know a little html and fix it up a bit. OH, I see, there is an "Edit HTML" mode and a "Compose" mode. Switchin' to compose!!!!

You'd think that Maine is a smaller state, at least by western standards. That may be true, but getting anywhere along the coast requires going inland far enough so you could go back out along a penninsula or something to get where you wanted to be. For example, you could see Acadia from the boat- house, but it was probably about 40 miles anything but as the crow flies to get there. Just a word to the wise for anyone who goes to Maine or some other coastal place.

We were off the beaten track one night and were told lobster was really high priced so didn't order it then. Two nights later more along the main drag and found a lobster special. Figured we had to try it since this is the place to do so. Marti had the real deal but they ran out for me. The did have what they called a "lazy man's" lobster (already to eat). That sounded better to me anyway. Marti didn't really like some parts of the lobster and it is kind-a messy. Guess we don't have sea-legs yet and will likely stay with burgers or maybe a little fish and chips from here on out. We did have fun watching some lobster boats pulling in their cages.

Found a place Bluejacket Shipcrafters. They have model ships you can build. Really detailed and accurate. Some ready to build kits are as much as $500.

On our way to Boothbay Harbor we had to cross a new bridge that just went into operation this past year. It has two main support towers, one of which was a 400 ft. tall observation tower. Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory - Superlative views:

Right near the bridge was an old fort. Velly intellesting. It is amazing what the early settlers did to survive and secure theirs freedom.

I had reserved B&B place in Boothbay Harbor (to surprise Marti). The B&B was terrific and Boothbay Harber was a great place to visit. Should have spent an extra day or two here. We were planing to take a schooner trip the following day. But, wouldn't you know it, it got all fogged in and that was the last chance we had for such a trip. As they say, there's always next year.

The "Wedding Cake" house in Kennebunkport. Story has it that a sea captain got married and didn't have time to do things properly including having a wedding cake for the ceremony. So when he had made his fortune he built this house for his bride. What we won't do for love.

One last one. Here's what is supposed to be George Bush's (the first one) place in Kennebunkport:

Well, I was told not to include scenery, so you missed out on all the beautiful stuff. And this takes far toooo long, so the reviews better be hmmmm, good, if ya want anymore.

P.S. We made it home OK!!!