Hello there!
It’s been a bit of a break for me, but we were away on a great big road trip! Fair warning: this is a long blog post!
You may already know that I have a serious case of Wanderlust. I have a hard time sitting still, and I doubt I ever will – not when there are so many places to discover and see. Growing up, we lived all over the world. Once we started a family though, travels became more local in scope. There are still some states that I have never been to, and Maine was one of them. The New England destination began to develop.
We packed the car, our senior dog was left under the good care of my Dad (who even set his alarm at 2:00 a.m. each night to take him out), and then we were off on our adventure! The best part was that we had no agenda. We made our hotel reservation for that night that very afternoon. We had no idea where we would stop first, we just drove….in the pouring rain. If you’re on the East coast, you know the kind of rain we had this past week! We made our first stop in New Jersey, where I mentally paid homage to favorite singer, Bruce Springsteen. 🙂
We drove through New York City in the pouring rain. The rain did not diminish the kid’s excitement to see the Statue of Liberty for the first time, or to drive up 5th Avenue and see the Empire State Building. They were hoping to find a Lego store, but we didn’t brake for that one. We did whatever it took though to find parking for PIZZA….what’s a trip to NYC without NY-style pizza??
Our stay in Newport, RI was memorable. Maybe it was the torrential downpour, to the point that I couldn’t take any pictures – now that just about broke my heart. While running in to the post office, my husband was asked by a 93 year-old nun if he would drive her back home to St. Joseph’s parish. She was a originally from England, and was now caring for a 99 year-old sister. Our time with this special woman was brief, but she left a lasting impression.
If you’ve ever been to Newport, you know just how beautiful this town really is. Newport holds special meaning for us; my husband proposed to me right there on the Cliff Walk. He was a new Naval Academy graduate, and I was a graduate student studying social work in Richmond, VA. He made the drive down south to visit me weekend after weekend. My father and brother have ties to Newport as well, both went through Officer Indoctrination School. Later my husband was stationed in Newport after our tour in Monterey. I don’t think we realized just how good we had it then, living in tourist destinations! So on this trip, we decided to take the kids to see our old house on base housing in Portsmouth – and we were shocked to see it was gone! The housing was still there for the most part, but certain houses were now just grass and trees. This made us feel a bit old – you know that sensation when you return somewhere to relive a childhood memory, only to find that house or school has been torn down. Here’s a view of our former house – through the rain….
Massachusetts…. we probably spent the least amount of time here as we were really just traveling through. On the way home, we made a point to drive by the Boston harbor. On the way up, we stopped at this nice antique mall (of course you know antiquing would make the “to-do” list!), the Sturbridge Antiques Shop. I think the nicest ladies ever worked in this shop – all so professional and helpful. I picked up some old 48-star flags for my collection, along with vintage jewelry pieces and lace/trim.
The famed Brimsfield antiques show is coming up in a few weeks – one day I would sure love to attend!
I had never been to Maine. My parents drive up to Maine a couple times a month presently, they love it so. I couldn’t wait to visit myself. I wanted to see the beautiful coastal towns, the shingled homes that once belonged to sea captains, the lighthouses. We were not disappointed, in fact, I think it is safe to say both my husband fell in love with this state. Now granted we weren’t visiting during a cold winter month, but we quickly saw that there was something interesting to see or do at every turn.
Kennebunkport was our first stop – home of the Bush Compound. I was able to take a few beautiful shots of the the Bush family retreat, a one hundred year old-plus mansion, which sits along the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped in a few antiques stores just outside of town and I purchased the focal for my dear Bead Soup Blog Party partner, Riki Schumaker. 🙂
The kids had fun climbing the rocks at Cape Porpoise. I had more fun with my camera, so excited that the rain temporarily stopped and I could shoot pictures of the lighthouse and sailboats. One of the boys tried a lobstah roll here. Another family first.
While at the lobster stand, I met a Philadelphia-area woman who told me we should visit Biddeford Pool. There are many beautiful summer homes here, built along the water with spectacular views of the ocean. This very woman advised us on where to go and try Maine blueberry pie. We followed her advice and also tried the blueberry pound cake and 7-layer bars!
Heading north towards our main destination of Portland, we made a stop at Old Orchard Beach. I braved a touristy general store, and bought a few beach towels/bucket/shovel. We were then off to experience a Maine beach! No clouds in the sky – the rain had finally stopped. We searched for driftwood and skipping stones. This was one of my favorite memories of the trip.
Freeport was a great stop in our travels, and home to L.L. Bean. Did you know those famous “Bean Boots” were first created here by Leon Leonwood Bean? The town has many outlet stores, and a very special BEAD store… The Beadin’ Path! I left the guys in the car for this stop, and enjoyed perusing around this electic bead shop. It sure has it all from vintage lucite and metals to a great selection of beading books. There was something missing though – Heather and Ashley, who I met at B&B. They were gone on vacation.
Could it be? LOBSTER ice cream? We didn’t try this one. We did however try custard at a place up RT. 1 called Classic Custard. The custard came highly recommended by one of the helpful gentlemen at L.L. Bean (and you know it’s a good idea to take the advice of locals). It happened to be classic car night, which was fun.
A visit to New Hampshire was a must on our return trip home. I made a few visits here back in my sister’s Dartmouth college years. This our destination was the old town of Porstmouth. I guess it’s quite redundant to describe these towns as old! Founded in the early 1600’s, Portsmouth is home to the country’s oldest naval shipyard. Paul Revere rode here to warn that the British were coming in 1774. The house below is known as the “Oracle House” circa 1702. It is available, and on the market for $1,495,000.
We’re fond of the little town of Mystic, CT. We had been here several times before while living in Newport, and this time we wanted to take the kids on a walking tour. We acted like true tourists, and ate at the reknowned Mystic Pizza. This pizza parlor was put on the map with Julia Robert’s movie, Mystic Pizza. Anyone remember that one? I only saw pieces of it back in the late 80’s….but now I had my chance. The movie was playing on a screen continually.
There it was, my husband spotted it first. A pumpkin, and a rebellious one at that! Growing between the white picket fence of a beautiful waterfront home, we saw one of the first signs of fall. Just as our New England road trip had to come to an end, so too is the summer – all too quickly. We cherished the days though, and I have a heart full of memories to reminisce over when the dreaded cold weather comes.
Thank you for sticking with me through this long, long post. I’ll go back to my shorter posts now. 🙂
-Cindy
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