A Foggy Day in Maine...

Hey Everyone!

I think I lucked out today - there was some rain and lots of fog, but things cleared for about half of one of my stops today and it was great timing. The only real disappointment was that the ugly weather intensified before I could wander more cool rocks. But it's okay....there will be more!

First thing this morning I wandered around Perkins Cove in Ogunquit. It has the only pedestrian drawbridge in the country. Kinda cool, huh?! The pictures include: the cove, the bridge & its signs just for fun.

If only it hadn't been foggy, then maybe I could have been the adult operator of the drawbridge :-)

The big stop of the day was Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg (near Bath, ME). This beach is cool for at least two reasons: it's big and at low tide you can walk out to one of the islands and wander around. I planned my day so I'd arrive before low tide and have plenty of time to explore, but as you can see from my first beach pic the weather was NOT promising!

However, the fog began to clear as I wandered the beach and made my way to the island....how lucky!

This is the beach as seen from the island, followed by one more taken halfway between the island and the shore.

This mini lighthouse - in the Phippsburg/Bath area - was just too cute not to post.

By the time I arrived at the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse (1835) the weather had taken a permanent turn - rain and fog. The light sits on the hill atop these rocks, which are very accessible but not on a day like this. It would be stunning on a sunny day. We'll have to see if I can stop myself from trying again tomorrow....

Weathermen continue to predict sunny weather for the next few days.... Yay! Will write again soon.

Down East...

Hey Everybody!

The rain continued overnight and earlier this morning, but then a Maine miracle! No rain for a few hours. The rain has started again and will be heavy for about a day (so say the experts), but then another miracle starting Thursday: sunny and 70s for a few days. Yay!

What does this mean for you? More pictures of the beautiful Maine Coast. First stop - Two Lights State Park, which has no sandy beach, but rocks that a person could get lost on for hours! I spent about 2hrs climbing. In fact, I returned for more later this afternoon but the rain started back up. It also has lots of picnic tables and grills, and benches along the cliff. I highly recommend it!

There is another state park a couple miles away - Crescent Beach - with sandy beaches, but I would recommend Old Orchard if you want a sandy beach....it's much nicer.

I'm not sure if you'll be able to tell, but in person these rocks look like a petrified forest. It's very cool.

Near the top:

A bit further down:

Really close up.....

Nearby coastal homes:

So, Two Lights State Park is named in honor of the Twin Lights in Cape Elizabeth (1828), which are not located in the park. They aren't open to the public either. One is now privately owned and the other is automated. The lighthouses are near the edges of the picture, which I had to take from a small parking lot for an unnamed beach. Well, locals probably know the name...

Then it was off to the Portland Head Light (1791) - also in Cape Elizabeth. It is now part of Fort Williams Park, as is the Goddard Mansion (1858). Two pics of same place so you can see an old lighthouse in the distance.

The grounds are very nice - lots of green grass and a small, rocky beach. I haven't yet learned what kind, but these rocky Maine beaches have tons of spiders hiding in the rocks. It's a little creepy, but I assume they are harmless or surely they'd have signs! Right?

Because I just had to...I ran off to Portland's Art Museum. Yep, they have two Monets. I've lost count of how many I've been able to see so far, but I will not post pics this time :-). Except for this one mussel shell dress (artist is B. White).

Not sure what I'll do tomorrow as it all depends on that rain. But I will. E in touch again soon...thanks for stopping by!

Martha's Vineyard and Beyond

Hey Everybody!

First of all, I hope that those of you who are mothers had a good day yesterday - especially the two of you celebrating for the first time!

Secondly, there was no rain yesterday....none....not a drop! And the sun even came out for a while in the late afternoon. New England is so nice in the sunshine. I took advantage of the perfect day to take myself & my bike to Martha's Vineyard on the ferry. It is VERY expensive to take the car over - and even though it might be handy to have, it's quite easy to get around by bike and bus. If you opt for the bus, buy the day pass ($7) because each town charges a $1 for the bus. I was lucky that my bus driver educated me; I didn't hear another driver recommend that option.

This is a photo from the ferry before leaving Woods Hole - gotta love the two-story houseboats. At least I'm assuming that's what they are...

And, some views of MV:

The West Chop Lighthouse

The East Chop Light

I already know what you're thinking! Something along the lines of "those are some scary ass horses," right? I thought so too, but I looked at the official postcards and the eyes look this way. So, it wasn't me :-) Anyway, this is America's oldest operating carousel.

These are two of the 300 or so "Gingerbread Cottages" in Oak Bluffs. The community is built around a central tabernacle and used to be one of several open air Christian Revival summer camps in the country.

As I am used to riding my bike on flat roads I must confess that after about 3hrs of biking with some hills I parked the bike and took a bus the 18 miles up to Aquinnah Cliffs. People ride up there...I am not one of those people!

The Gay Head (Aquinnah) Lighthouse and beach. The cliff beaches are closed, at least between Sept-June. Bummer! Most of the remaining Wampanoag Indian Tribe lives in Aquinnah - part of which is designated tribal land.

One last Cape Cod photo taken this morning before sitting in traffic FOREVER (more than 90min to go about 2mi) because the Sagamore Bridge is under repair. Boston was a breeze though....so grateful for that! The Three Sisters Lighthouses (Nauset) - a site marker says they are a rare surviving example of a triple lighthouse configuration.

The rain has started again...and is forecast for a couple more days, but I have made my way, at last, to Maine. I already love the coast - rain, rocks and all. Here are a couple pics till I explore further.

The Cape Neddick ("Nubble") Light in York - on it's own little island and a close-up.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll write again soon.

A Sunny Day on The Cape....

And I'm pretty sure all the gull at the top of the head is thinking is: "Go get your own whale!"

Explored the Cape Cod National Seashore a bit this morning on the way to Provincetown to go visit some whales. The whales that feed here mate off the coast of the Dominican Republic (Silver Bank), which means it's possible that I swam with some of these whales 2 yrs ago! I won't know until I compare the fluke photos, but I love that it's possible! But we'll get to the whales in a minute...

What I have seen of the National Seashore so far is very nice - great sand dunes, long empty beaches, and lots of lighthouses:

Pond behind one of the Nat'l Seashore visitor centers - according to a sign aboust shellfish, red tide is an issue in this area right now:

Too calm for surfers:

The Nauset Light:

The Cape Cod Light:

Provincetown from the boat:

Back to the whales....the Humpbacks come here to Stellwagen Bank each spring to feed in the nutrient rich waters. While I wasn't impressed with the tour operator overall - more expensive than Monterey, too many people & the trip is only half as long - it did give me the opportunity to see the best example of bubble feeding that I've ever seen. And besides, any day on the water hanging out with whales is a good day!

Here's a better view of the baleen....this whale kept his head up for an unusually long time. Appreciate that!

Two feeding whales:

Last, but not least....art along the wharf in Provincetown.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. More soon.....

What a Day....

Hey Everybody!

I started out early today for an oil change and then breakfast at Sugar & Spice in Mendon, VT. I recommend this place for the pumpkin pancakes. I could smell the pumpkin before the waitress even got to my table. If you like pumpkin bread, cookies, and pie....you will love the pancakes. I was hesitant to put maple syrup on them, but it turns out that makes them even better!

More importanty, I wore sunglasses for the first time since Monday. And I hiked a bit of the Appalachian Trail where it joins with the Long Trail (Rte 103, Shrewsbury, VT). Here are a few pics.....one of the coolest things about this detour is that despite being so close to the highway it is immediately calm and peaceful when you hit the trail. Amy....for you! :-)

The AT/LT South:

The AT/LT North:

You might have to click on the pics to see them....this blog app just updated and it's doing weird stuff! Sorry....

Next I head south and east... I had planned to make a couple stops along the way, but 6.5hrs for 200 miles (or less!) resulted in a change of plans. I would like to amend my previous statement about Boston traffic not being bad....it was TERRIBLE this afternoon!

Now, my fingers are crossed that the sun returns tomorrow... It's been forever since I've seen the coast!

Have a good weekend. More soon from Cape Cod....