Today we drove down the Maine coast and ended up in a Boston suburb. After a fuel-up at Starbucks, we headed towards the Portland Head Light located in Fort William Park in Cape Elizabeth. It's Maine's oldest lighthouse, having been built in 1791. The park was full of folks on this crisp, October Saturday morning so we didn't have a chance to get out, but we certainly soaked in the sights and sounds. It was here, as well, that I received word from home that my best friends' beloved eldest dog, Banjo, had passed away. He had been declining for a while, and I said my goodbyes before I left, but it's still so hard when our furry family members pass on.
Near the light house, we stumbled upon an amazing neighborhood: older homes mixed in with new homes (which used old designs). Large fancy houses, and modest middle income houses. It was quite stunning. And nestled right in the middle was St. Alban's Episcopal Church. They had a very open, welcoming garden area so we parked and enjoyed the falling leaves and light wind.
We continued down Maine highway 77 and near Higgins Beach we came across these lovely maples at near peak color.
A bit down the road, we entered Biddeford and took a left to go out to Biddeford Pool, a large tidal pool and site of Maine's first recorded settlement. The homes now are a tad bit larger than those back in the early days. There was even an Episcopal church located in the middle of the golf course.
We are in the old stomping ground of our dear friend, Marilyn Rishkofski, and so she recommended we be sure to have lunch in Ogunquit, a village settled in about 1641. "With a three and a half-mile beach of pale sand and dunes forming a barrier peninsula, connected to the mainland in 1888 by bridge across the Ogunquit River, the village was discovered by artists. It became a popular art colony and tourist area. Particularly after 1898, when the Ogunquit Art Colony was established, it was not unusual to see both artists and fishermen working around Perkins Cove." We chose Barnacle Billy's as our lunching spot and were not disappointed! After, we took a small walk around Oarweed Cove before heading further south.
Our next stop was the Nubble Lighthouse in York. Marilyn also strongly recommended we visit and she was again spot on. "In 1874 President Rutherford B. Hayes appropriated the sum of $15,000 to build a lighthouse on this “Nub” of land. On July 1, 1879 construction was completed on what, at the time, was known as the Knubble Lighthouse with a 4th order light." The lovely weather and the fact that it's a holiday weekend (Columbus Day / Indigenous People's Day is a big thing up here), there were lots of folks here. The tour bus arrival brought even more.
As we continued our venture south, we were treated to some great sailboats going out for their own adventures.
We were soon in Massachusetts and hit Salem just before sunset. I was going to do a drive by of the Salem Witch Museum, but the traffic (both foot and vehicle) made that impossible. I've since learned. that going to Salem in October is a fools' errand as there are constant events happening. Our hotel for the night was in Waltham (on the west side of Boston) and near Lexington. We found a great Italian restaurant along Massachusetts Avenue and had THE best waiter ever. With full bellies we retired for the evening and will don our colonial hats tomorrow!
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