October 4, 2017. Bearskin Neck at Rockport, MA.

October 4, 2017.  Bearskin Neck at Rockport, MA.  No long narrative tonight other than what you see in the 22 pictures above.  Bearskin Neck is a half-mile row of old fish shacks near Rockport's harbor which have been converted to a commercial area.  We didn't buy anything; we just soaked up the color and the atmosphere.

The red fish shack is known as Motif #1.  It is recognized as the most painted (and some say, most photographed) structure in America.  I did my part.  I took scores of pictures from a variety of angles.  All told, I took nearly 100 pictures.

So, it is more pictures and fewer words tonight.  Tomorrow, we move to Brewster, on Cape Cod.  Goodnight.

October 3, 2017. Portsmouth to Rockport, MA. Yankee Clipper Inn.

October 3, 2017.  Portsmouth to Rockport, MA.  Yankee Clipper Inn.  We left Portsmouth this morning driving north back into Maine.  Kittery, Maine, is just a few miles from Portsmouth.  It is the oldest community in Maine, founded in the 1620s.  Fort McClary is just outside Kittery and is located on Kittery Point.  The fort was in service during five wars beginning with the American Revolution.

If you like lighthouses and church steeples, New England is the place for you.  There were two lighthouses across the water from Fort McClary.  There were steepled white Congregationalist churches in Kittery, Hampton and Newburyport, all towns on the Atlantic seaboard in southern Maine and northern Massachusetts.

We stayed on Highway 1 again.  The two-lane roads are the best way to see America.  The Interstates are nice if you are trying to get from one place to another as fast as possible.  However, the backroads are far more instructive on history and the institutions which make America the country it is.

And, so, we follow the blue highways when we have time to do so.  Today, blue highway number 1 brought us to the Yankee Clipper Inn in Rockport, MA.  The inn was built in 1929 after an earlier version of the inn was destroyed by fire.  There is another house across the street called the Bullfinch House which was designed and constructed in 1840.  Together the two dwellings have 15 guest rooms.

The Clipper has been a temporary home to celebrities like John Kennedy, John Lennon, Paul Newman and Bette Davis.  It is now a temporary home to Malachi and Annie Farkley.  I expect the Inn will want to revise its brochure after our stay to include the Farkleys among the other celebrities.

Rockport has a quaint and bustling commercial district.  We made a quick drive through this afternoon.  The small, colorful shops border a one-lane street with no sidewalks.  The picture of the Village Silversmith shop, above, is typical.  Customers walk in the street where the speed limit for vehicles is 10 MPH.  Tomorrow, after breakfast provided by the Inn, Annie and I will go back into town and visit some of the shops there.  I'll try to get some more pictures for you.  Don't expect any gifts.  Annie Farkley is too cheap for that.

Until my next edition, goodnight.

October 2, 2017. Freeport to Portsmouth, NH.

October 2, 2017.  Freeport to Portsmouth, NH.  We were back on Highway 1 today touring Ogunquit and York, ME before landing in Portsmouth, NH.  The overriding impression of the three towns is early America at its best.  This part of the country was settled in the early 1600s.  It is likely that some of the structures we saw were built more than three centuries ago.  Of course, there was no shortage of white churches with pointed steeples reaching to the deep blue sky.

Annie researched this part of our Maine tour and took us to Jake's Seafood Restaurant.  Jake's isn't much to look at from the outside.  However, the food was delicious.  We shared a seafood platter of shrimp, haddock, clams and scallops.  We'd just finished breakfast about two hours earlier or we might have ordered individual meals.

The lighthouse is outside of York and is called the Nubble Lighthouse.  It sits handsomely atop a cliff warning ships on the Atlantic of a rocky point.  It is a popular place for tourists.  The parking lot was filled with pedestrian picture takers.  I was not among them.  The picture above was taken through the windshield as I wheeled through the lot.  Not bad, huh.

The other pictures were taken in Portsmouth.  We spent much of the afternoon in downtown Portsmouth and the Old Harbor.  We liked the architecture and the energy of downtown.  After walking along the harbor, we found a sidewalk coffee shop.  We sat, sipped and people watched for a while.  One of the buildings was the colonial capitol of New Hampshire where the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to citizens on July 17, 1776.  Another building provided a balcony for President George Washington to deliver an address in 1789.

Tomorrow we will drive 70 miles to Rockport, MA.  We were there in 1992 and drove by the Yankee Clipper Inn.  We did not stay although it was highly recommended by a friend.  This trip, we will spend two nights there before moving south to Cape Cod.

I'll get  back to you from Rockport or Brewster, MA, on the Cape.  Goodnight. 

October 1, 2017. Bar Harbor to Freeport.

October 1, 2017.  Bar Harbor to Freeport.  We pulled out of Red Dog Cabin and said goodbye to Hamilton Pond this morning.  Our destination was Freeport, ME.

Highway 1 runs along the Atlantic coast of Maine.  As a major thoroughfare, it has been replaced by Interstate 95.  So now, it winds through sleepy villages which depend on the sea for their existence.  Many were thriving half a century ago.  Now, Interstate 95 carries ideas, commerce and tourists to their destination at a much faster pace.  Still, the charm of the villages remains.  There are several white churches highlighted by steeples in every village.

Red's Eats began selling seafood from a truck in Wiscasset, ME, forty years ago.  Annie and I were watching the local news night before last and saw a story about Red's.  The descendants of Red were celebrating the 40th anniversary by giving away food.  The line was several blocks long.  Wiscasset is on Highway 1, so Annie and I decided to take the forgotten highway from Mount Desert Island to Freeport.

We passed over the Sheepscot River and the traffic on the highway slowed to a near standstill.  My GPS told me that Red's was two tenths of a mile ahead.  Cars were parked along both sides of the street and the line leading up to the food truck was trailing down the sidewalk.  I didn't count, but I'd estimate there were 40-50 people waiting to order.  I circled the block to search for a parking place.  My route took me back to Red's Eats.  The line was no smaller, so we drove on.

A few miles short of Freeport we happened upon the Taste of Maine Restaurant on the Kennebec River near Woolwich, ME.  The restaurant has been there for only 39 years.  But, the haddock sandwich was good.  Among the many decorations were four monkeys; see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil were easily recognized.  The fourth monkey was a mystery.

Freeport is the home of LL Bean.  We spent some time and money there.  The Bean store is an anchor for dozens of other stores, mostly outlet businesses.  Tonight, we are resting in Freeport.  Tomorrow, we will drive the 70 miles to spend the day and night at Portsmouth, NH, on the recommendation of the Thurmonds.

That's all for today.  Goodnight.