Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008 - Day 7

Alright, alright.  So the first stop on "The Battle Road" is a tavern.  Well, so it was for our minuteman and founding Patriots!  And you must admit, this was a must stop for a gal who is a Buckman!  And... We have John Buckman brewed Root Beer from Buckman's Tavern.

The Battle Road is a great little drive and does give a more tangible feel to the farmland, stone walls and basic neighborhood our "rebels" were fighting to defend from the British regulars and eventually gain independence.

We were most fortunate that a volunteer group of Regiment A Foot were re-enacting British soldier work at Hartwell's Tavern.  This shot (below) was a real prize (and lucky) of musket fire.

The Concord Bridge is not as imposing as it is the sixth bridge built on the site since that "shot heard around the world".  But the area feels like it has honor and the ghosts of those who fought on that site more almost 230 years ago.

Sunday we do Boston and most of the Freedom Trail.  Until then, good night.

Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008 - Day 6

Recognize this lighthouse?  It's the one on the state of Maine's quarter. And a popular jigsaw puzzle subject. Pemaquid Lighthouse south of Damariscotta, Maine.

This is the view from the top of the lighthouse where the 4th order, 1000 watt light with fresnel lens sits.  And yes, we all climbed it!  The spiral staircase is open from top to bottom with 37 narrow iron steps and a small ladder to get to the light deck!

This point has some of the wildest and dramatic rock formations and surf! We climbed around,

 got sea sprayed and got thoroughly drenched once.  I just didn't move on quick enough!  Tourists get carried out to sea from rogue waves here.  And while we were not that far out, those sneaky rogue waves come almost without warning.  As Evan remarked "that's cool! Scary, but cool!"  Good to keep him entertained without an Xbox being involved.

Tonight we are in Kennebunk, Maine.  Next to famous Kennebunkport.  No, George nor Barbara have called to invite us for drinks this evening.  As you might be able to tell, we got there late afternoon and took in Parson's Beach.  But we experienced a Maine coastal squall line so did not get a good beach experience. Nice sand. Very cold water!  But it is the North Atlantic, doh!

The homes, mansions really, to the north of this beach are fantastic.  We saw postcard coastal Maine.  And that is nice too.

It will be a quite night of resting up for adventures that begin tomorrow touring the Boston area and the cradle of our Revolution.  We're allowing 2 days to get our fill of minute men, taverns, battle fields and simply navigating Boston!

Then up to Cape Cod on Monday for a few days of whale watching, pilgrim retracing and beach fun.

So, from stormy Kennebuck, Maine, TGIF!

Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008 - Day 5

Greetings from one of the farthest points East in the U.S.A.  Certainly the farthest East we've ever been on our travels.  Bar Harbor, Maine.  Ok, we're not there now, but were earlier today, as evidenced in the photo of the whale sculpture and those two travelers.  Bar Harbor is quite the congested tourist destination.  But good food, great harbor and lovely little town.
Tonight we arrived at our destination of Belfast, Maine early.  A great mom & pop motel, the Bar Harbor Inn.  Got in some pool time and a walk around the point and ocean front about a 100 yards from our room.  Got a great Maine Lobster meal at Young's Lobster Pound.  And a great deal.  Two, one pound and quarter lobsters for under $30!  Folks sit on Young's dock, bring their own beer and wine, gather for great times and eat their fill of lobsters, steamers and clams.

On our ride down from Bar Harbor, we visited Fort Point and the River Light on the point, next to Fort Pownall, a French and Indian War and Revolutionary War era fort.  The lighthouse is a stationary light visible up to 10 miles.  The old fog warning bell and bell tower are still there.

The evening is a lit by a full moon and the temperature are near perfect for an evening.

We'll wrap up week one in Kennebunk on one of Maine's beaches.  Can't think of a better way to spend any Friday.  Some more real R&R before we hit the walking hard partaking in historic Boston and the surrounding points of significance.

Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008 - Day 4

Greetings from Bangor, Maine.  Finding lodging is getting more difficult and I had to succumb to actually getting reservations for the next three nights!  And all over $100 each.  But gas is stable at around $4.08/gallon and dinners are not costing too much.  Yet.  When the lobster eatin' kicks in, that budget will be blown!

Our travels today, Wednesday, July 16, my late father's birthday, took us from Waterbury, Vermont, a short tour of the Vermont state capitol building in Montpelier, a very nice sugar maple farm north of Montpelier and of course souvenir syrup!  Then over to Mt. Washington, New Hampshire.  But we were on the wrong side of the mountain to take the Cog Train up and all the road construction had it late in the afternoon.

As it was, that last 40 miles or so was 40 miles of bad road!  We finally veered back onto I-89 and landed one of the last rooms in all of Bangor.  And I thought summer travel would be depressed this year?  You couldn't tell it by this trip.  Not out East anyway.  And prices are hanging high.

A nice Best Western on the west side of Bangor.  An older hotel, redone nicely with great eats from a 40 year old truck stop that sells seafood plus the standard truck stop fare.  But it was very good all around.  The family took advantaged of the hotel hot tub while Dad made reservations.

This day wound up longer than we had hoped, wished or planned for.  But we were in our rooms around 7:30p.m., so not too bad.

Thursday's  travels are planned short to account for heavy traffic and lots of sightseeing, ocean time and lobster and chowder!  A tour down to Bar Harbor just to check it out and then back tracking some to wind down Hwy 1 to Belfast, Maine.  Friday is just a 3 hour excursion through Thomaston to Kennebuck.  Saturday we are booked into Danvers, Mass, about a 2 hour ride.  From there, we will check out Buckman's Tavern and Concord/Lexington and Gloucester, perhaps the next morning.  Its over 3 hours out to Provincetown Cape Cod.  But we want to check out the whale watch tours.  And we want to tour Boston.  So we might stay at Danvers a couple of nights and out on Provincetown one night or two.

That will put us at the start of week #2, so we still have loads of time to extend our Massachusetts stay before heading down to see Newport, Rhode Island and continue heading west.  Perhaps through the beautiful mountains of northern Maryland and an old friend in Cumberland.

So long for now.  I hear lobsters screaming.

Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008 - Day 3

We find ourselves in Waterbury, Vermont tonight.  A nice Best Western, but too expensive.  Then again, intuition was our best friend as we began to search for lodging at Waterbury to find out that Montpelier, our original goal, was booked out.

Even though we're twice the price of the previous night, it is nice digs and had a very good meal in the hotel restaurant before settling in for an evening of Deadliest Catch and After the Catch II. What can I say, we're hooked.

Today's travel

s were great.  Early rise and on the road before

 8am.  Breakfast at a local diner in Dunmoore north of Scranton.  Then on to Albany, NY and a walk around the fabulous Capitol building of the Empire.

A few miles up the road toward Saratoga Springs and a stop for milk shakes, we headed into the gorgeous Lake George drive up Hwy 9N.  A delightful 35 mile drive as we dropped out toes into cool Lake George at Huddle Beach.

Then on to visit Ft. Ticonderoga.  

Our first encounter with American Revolution history.  It is fantastic to see th

ese towns and villages founded in the mid-1700's!

We continue our trek to Crown Point and cross into Vermont to Burlington.  Then down to the quaint town of Waterbury with a still active train depot serving both Amtrak and as Waterbury's Visitor Center, cafe and coffee shop.  There we discovered the dearth of lodging in the area and the importance of scouting and securing tonight's lodging as soon as we could.

Wednesday's travels will take us through Vermont's maple syrup tradition, New Hampshire's Mt. Washington and our goal - Maine.

Lobsters here we come!

Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008 - Day 2

We've completed a second day of travel, winding up in the rugged terrain of Scranton, PA.  A nice evening of dealing with a sub par Holiday Inn restaurant (aren't they all?)  A good soak in the pool and hot tub to relieve road aches and pains and now looking forward to great New England scenery.

Montpelier, Vermont is our next destination as we sight see through the Lake George area and visit Ft. Ticonderoga, home of the Green Mountain Boys.  I look for pictures to be posted after today.  My son has already begun snapping a few and we must attend to uploading them tonight.

This country is huge.  But we knew that.  Mass transit, on a national level, is so necessary and at a crisis point.  The roads don't seem to be able to take anymore and they are really getting dangerous.

But the scenery this country has to offer. Everyone should get out and see it.

Time for breakfast and onto upstate New York toward those Lobsters and Chowder in a few days!

Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008

The Lobsters and Chowder Tour 2008 is officially underway!

And this Wifi newbie is learning how to use Wifi in hotels and anywhere else on his new Apple Macbook.  All is well and works amazingly, but for I cannot send emails using my Time Warner Roadrunner server.  But the inquiries are in and I'll whip it before I'm through.

Watch this blog over the next few days for stories and pics from the road as we make a 4,000 mile journey from Kansas City, to Bar Harbor, Maine to check out the scenery and the seafood.  Then circle down to Boston and take in our early colonial and revolutionary history.  A visit over to Cape Cod is planned as is a romp through Rhode Island while working our way back west.

Until the next post - Cheers!