Kennebunkport

Saturday, Oct. 1st.  It rained most of the night and was raining this morning.  We drove down the coast about 30 miles to Kennebunkport.  The town has some beautiful old homes dating to the late 1700's Although the Bush's weren't in town that day, they were at their compound.  Barbara Bush had been honored with a sculpture in a bay-side park.  The town was very crowded with tour buses and other tourists (like us).  We walked around while it rained on and off and then had lunch where we had the best lobster we've had on the trip.  We also had very good clam chowder.  We returned to the motorhome and took Buster for a rainy walk on the beach (we're from Seattle...we're used to it).

The Nott House now a museum

Congregational church

Old Orchard Beach

Friday, Sept. 30th.  It rained last night...hard!!  We took Buster out for his evening 'constitutional' between cloudbursts.  As I was picking up his 'constitutional results' the sky opened up and we got soaked as we ran back to the motorhome.

The next morning the rain and all clouds were gone.  We had a two hour drive down to Old Orchard Beach.  Once we got settled into our campsite, we took Buster to the Beach.  It's a beautiful sandy beach which stretches for several miles.  Nobody was swimming because the water is very cold...55.

Di w/ L.L.Bean

Yes, this is a McDonalds

We took Buster back to the motorhome and went to Freeport, Maine, about 20 miles north of our campground.  Freeport is the home of L.L. Bean.  And there's outlets for dozens of other companies.  The L.L.Bean store(s) complex is huge with a clothing store, camping store, home store and a restaurant.  Even the McDonalds in Freeport was the most unique I have ever seen.  We finished the day with a wonderful baked Haddock dinner at a tavern in an 1800's era hotel.

The Maine Coastline II

Thursday, September. 29th.  It was an overcast day, but not raining.  We ventured thru the towns of Wiscasset and Bath and then down to the Reid State Park and the town of 5 Islands, all south of the Booth Bay peninsula.  Bath is quite a large town with a large and active ship building industry.  Wiscasset is on a large inlet off of the Atlantic and has lots of large old homes and an active fishing industry.

Reid State Park is at one of two points on a peninsula.  It features a long sand beach on one side of the point and a rocky shore on the other.

The town of Five Islands is a small fishing village that's been around a long time.  All of this is very representative of the Maine coast.

Booth Bay Harbor

Wednesday, September 28th.  Another sunny day as we drove about 2 hours down to Booth Bay.  There is a town of Booth Bay.  But the larger town is called Booth Bay Harbor.  It was founded in the early 1700's and was home to a number of ship captains.  Many of the old buildings have been retained and preserved.  They feature great porches orienting to the bay and the ocean beyond.  Their economy is based on 1) the sea and 2) tourism.  This is the first small town we've encountered that had pay for parking lots scattered around the downtown.  Reminded me of Seattle.  Even tho it's after Labor Day, the town was bustling with tourists.  Lots of galleries, shops and restaurants.  We wondered how the artists in the galleries could make a living, there being so many of them...not just here, but all over New England.  We speculated that maybe this is a post-retirement avocation allowing them a chance to market their hobby.

The area around Booth Bay Harbor is dotted with small islands and rock outcroppings.  Lots of lighthouses around and channel marker buoys.  And all over were the buoys/floats put out by the lobstermen and crabbers to mark their trap locations.  All  in all, it was very picturesque.

The Maine Coastline/Stonington Peninsula

Tuesday, Sept. 27th.  It was another sunny day and we took a drive west of Bar Harbor.  The shoreline is so jagged and there's so many inlets and islands.  There's many great views and places to see...more than we could possibly do in our limited time.  But we made the most of it and had a great time seeing the Stonington peninsula and other towns along the way.  And there was one picture I just couldn't pass up.

Bar Harbor/Sandy Beach/Acadia Nat'l. Park

Monday, Sept. 26th.  We awoke to another sunny morning.  We went into town to pick up our mail that Jamie had sent to us care of General Delivery in Bar Harbor.  We then walked around town.  What a difference from the weekend crowds.  We came across an old cemetery from when Bar Harbor used to be called 'Eden'.  Coincidentally, there were many 'Roberts' in the cemetery and there were graves dating back to the early 1800's.  Also, a monument to fallen sons of Maine who perished in the Civil War.

In the afternoon we took Buster to Sandy Beach in the National Park.  As the name describes, this one beach is an anomaly to the rocky shore all along the coast.  It's a very unique spot.

Acadia National Park

Sunday, September 25th.  We woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning that seemed more like summer than fall.  We went to the National Park to see the sights.  There's a 30 mile drive to see all the beautiful vistas.  It was very crowded as if this was the last summer weekend.  But it was well worth the congestion.  There were many places to see vistas of the Maine coastline.  We also drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which gives the best views of all.  We finished the day having our first 'lobster rolls'.  This is bread that's kind of like a hot dog bun.  It is stuffed with lots of lobster meat and comes with cole slaw and chips.  It was very good.