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maine 99


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maine

May 29-31 1999

We took a last-minute US Airways fare from DC to Boston. We rented a car in Boston and drove to Kennebunkport, Maine. Neither of us had been to Maine and we were interested. We stopped a few times along the way. We had lunch at Motion Pizza in Ogunquit, Maine. All the dishes were named after movies there. I had a Jaws--a white pizza with artichokes. Kim had a calzone with spinach. We ate outside in Adirondack chairs outside. The weather was a pretty un-Maine 80+ degrees.

Motion Pizza in Ogunqut

Here is the beach at Ogunquit.

Ogunquit beach

We stayed at the Cove House Bed & Breakfast. Barry was our host. This is a view of the front yard.

b&b

This is a view from the back yard with the Kennebunk River.

back view from B&B

This is one of the many water views from Kennebunkport.

bay in Kennebunkport

After the first day we decided to do things other than shopping. Kim saw a calendar that showed the locations of Maine's 63 lighthouses (another source said 65). Lighthouse viewing was on schedule for the next day. This is Kim on shore by first lighthouse.

Kim by shore

Sailboats off Kennebunkport.

sailboats

Kim fell asleep driving to the first location. I saw a sign that said to take Route 1 to go to Boothbay. Kim woke up as I was reaching for the map. I asked her if we should stay on 95 or take 1. She said to stay on 95 (a mistake). We finally reached Pemaquid Point after seeing more of backwoods Maine than we had planned.

lighthouse

There were some really interesting cliffs surrounding this lighthouse.

cliffs

Like many people, Kim once had a favorite animal: cows. Make no mistake, Kim is no longer the patron saint of the ursine. Send no cows. When she was in the middle of the cow-state, her favorite cow was the Belted Galloway. It appears to have a wide white belt on. We found a small family of cows living on Southport Island. Here is one (bull?) posing for us.

belted galloway

Here are all three Belted Galloways in their natural setting (behind electrified fence). The little one was pretty curious about my presence.

three belted galloways

Leaving Boothbay Harbor for the nearby Southport Island, we saw signs for a "swing bridge." We assumed it was a quaint New England term for something--like frappes for milkshakes. When we got there, however, it was really a bridge that swings open. This is two photos pasted together showing the same boat coming and going.

swing bridge

I asked an Inn owner in Boothbay about nearby lighthouses. She said there were two in Southport. When we eventually found Southport (really just a question of getting out of Boothbay's myriad one-way streets) we asked a Southport local where to go next. We had to follow a one-lane forest road to get to a very nice, but fairly undiscovered beach just next to the Hendricks Head lighthouse. This is now privately owned, so we weren't allowed to get very close.

Hendricks Head lighthouse

Back in Kennebunkport on the last day, we decided to take in the local flavor. One stop was the famed "wedding cake house." Legend has it that a sailor had to go to sea just after getting married. To make his hasty departure up to his bride, he built this house to look like a wedding cake, with a lot of intricate lattice work.

wedding cake house

On our way back to Boston, we stopped in Cape Neddick to see the Nubble lighthouse. This is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Maine. There was a rocky area where people would park, picnic and hang out. It was a beautiful day. This lighthouse was pretty well preserved because you didn't actually step foot on its peninsula.

Nubble Head

Sailboat off Cape Neddick.

sailboat at Nubble Head

Our last stop before the airport (actually before the gas station before the car rental office before the airport) was in Portsmouth, NH. We had lunch at the Stockpot (recommended), overlooking the Piscataqua. Portsmouth has a truss bridge that raises (unlike the swing bridge). We saw this tanker being pushed by tug boats under the bridge.

tugs in Portsmith

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