We woke up to fog this morning. We have been watching the news about Hurricane Florence and where she will go next. That might affect the direction our trip will take. It’s a “wait and see” game. We got delayed a little with our departure this morning because of some business we had to take care of and we were waiting for the fog to dissipate, so we finally left the campground around 11:00. The fog had burned off and the sun came out. We took I-95 south to York and York Harbor so we could get there quickly. We would start our day in York and work our way north on scenic coastal Highway 1. The Interstate was busy, but the tree colors along the highway were beautiful.
We are still seeing these “moose” signs, but no moose.
We made it to York in no time and saw no signs of the fog there, until we got near the water.
We drove down to a park where we could get out and look at the beach. The fog was pretty thick here and we couldn’t see more than a couple hundred feet.
It came and went, so at times you could see better than others. I walked down to the beach to see if Bob could see me from the shore.
The fog was pretty thick near the water, but a few blocks away from the shore it was perfectly clear.
York was first settled in 1624 and has residential areas dating from the 18th century.
We drove a little further down the road to a marina. The tidal range in York Harbor is 9-11 feet. The low tide was earlier this morning, so the tide was running in when we arrived.
Most of the dinghies at the dock were Boston Whalers and lined up so perfectly.
The fog created an eerie feeling where it hung over the water.
We took a walk across the bridge to the Barrel Mill Pond Dam.
One minute things were hidden by the fog and a few minutes later it was clear.
It was built to create the mill and made with a special paddle wheel to handle incoming and outgoing tides. It could run backwards. It was built in 1780 and was used until it became obsolete. The fog kept masking the scene, but while Bob and I walked on the top of the dam, the area became visible.
We walked all the way to the suspension bridge where we could see evidence of the tide water rushing in. The tide was definitely coming in.
I walked across the bridge to discover some hiking trails in Steedman Woods on the other side. Bob stayed on the shore.
We walked back to the truck and continued our exploration of the area. When the fog lifted, we could see a harbor full of boats anchored there.
In the York area, we saw some beautiful homes perched on the hillsides.
Our plan was to take the scenic route, Highway 1, along the coast. We left the York Harbor and traveled north on Highway 1, towards York Beach. It was a pretty area with the ocean on one side and the seaside cottages lined up on the other with only the road separating them.
Long Sands Beach went on forever. At one point, we had to laugh to ourselves because there were people in the fog trying to enjoy the beach.
The air was chilly along the water even though the sun was out at times. The fog kept the air temperature around 64 degrees. This stretch of beach along the highway was popular with many people. Some were sitting in the fog at one end of the beach and others were lucky enough to have some sun on the other end.
 without the fog |
Shore Road took us to Cape Neddick and the turnoff for Nubble Lighthouse, sometimes referred to as the Cape Neddick Light. It was on my list of lighthouses to see. As we approached the parking area, we could see it was overrun by people and a tour bus full of more people. We were lucky to find a parking space right away. The lighthouse is 41 feet tall and was built in 1879. It is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Maine. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was shrouded in fog most of the time AND it was covered in scaffolding and a protective cover. (The lighthouse is the cylinder on the right.)
They were restoring it by sandblasting and then painting it. When the fog lifted a little, I could get a better view of what they were doing. I was so disappointed that I wouldn’t get to see it, but that’s how it goes. Hopefully we will, on another trip up this way sometime.
We continued on our merry way along Shore Road and happened to see a small market/deli in a residential area. Shore Road Restaurant had a large sign on the front of the building. It said “Lobster Roll $9.99.” We just had to stop!
We ordered a lobster roll to share. Our number was #3 and they would bring our lobster roll to us outside.
We went outside to wait for our order to be delivered to our table.
It came with homemade chips, a pickle, and big hunks of lobster. It was delicious and hit the spot.
With our stomachs full, we continued on our way towards Ogunquit on Shore Road. Just a block down the road, we saw the Lobster Pound.
I loved all the colorful lobster trap buoys hanging from the building.
We arrived in Perkins Cove in the town of Ogunquit.
Originally a small fishing community, the Cove is a quaint area that consists of shops, restaurants, and scenic outlooks.
The area was brimming with people–shopping, eating, and just taking in the sights.
Parking was at a premium and the parking lot was charging $15. We thought that $15 for an hour or two that we might spend there, wasn’t worth it. We decided to drive through the throngs of people lining the streets and see what we could see from the truck. This is the view from our truck of the street after many people moved aside.
We saw cute shops and restaurants and if we had more time to spare, I might have enjoyed wandering around, but not today. We had more places to see. As we left town, we saw this sign–SLOW–Lobster Crossing.
At the intersection of coastal Highway 1 and Highway 9, we reached a gridlock of traffic.
We would be taking Highway 9 to Kennebunkport.
Traffic was heavy and people were everywhere as we slowly made our way into town.
There were lots of shops and restaurants. People were walking everywhere! These pictures don’t even show the number of people that were walking in town.
I did see this cool horse and buggy giving rides.
We passed the marinas in the harbor where the Kennebunk River comes into town.
I could see a lot of boats from where I sat. I knew that Bob would enjoy seeing them too, but he had to watch the road and watch out for people crossing the street. So I suggested we turn around and try and find a place to park near the harbor. We found a place to turn around, but finding a place to park on the main street was impossible. We decided to give up the idea of parking and pulled into a gas station to fill up and turn around. While Bob filled up the tank, I snapped a picture of this cool silver whale tail near the Whale Watching Tours office.
As I was standing there waiting for Bob, I looked up and saw a sign for Federal Jacks Restaurant and Brew Pub.
It just so happened that Patti had told us about this place when we were camping with them and suggested we check it out when we came to Kennebunkport and….there it was! It must have been fate. I told Bob that we could stop at Federal Jacks for a beer and that would also give us some place to park so we could check out the boats in the marinas. He thought it was a great idea! So after filling up, we drove down the next street to Federal Jacks and the valet parked the truck for us. Parking in Kennebunkport is at a premium.
We climbed the stairs to the second level where we found the restaurant.
We decided we would get a beer and sit outside on the balcony overlooking the marinas.
Bob went to the bar to order. I went to use the restroom. When I came out, I thought it would be fun to send a selfie to Patti and Mike to show them where we were. All of a sudden, I saw Mike and Patti sitting at a table right next to the bar! OMG! What are the chances?
They were there having lunch with Patti’s mom, Audrey. It was so nice to finally meet her. Bob came over and we drank our beers while talking with them. They had finished their lunch, before we came over, so they were ready to head out. They had about a 50 minute drive to get home, so we said our goodbyes….again… and headed out to do some more sightseeing. Mike gave us directions on how to find President George W. Bush’s family compound which was on Ocean Dr. very close by.
Ocean Drive was very scenic with huge homes on bluffs and along the seashore. There were many more, but these were only a couple of the ones I could actually get a picture of through the trees.
We drove along the coast looking for the compound which is located on Walker’s Point.
Mike said it would have a guard house at the end of the driveway. The road wound around some very large homes and we were so busy looking at everything that we breezed right by it. We had to turn around and go back and look at it again. The guard came out of the guardhouse and probably wondered what the heck we were doing. We turned around in the driveway across the road from the compound, took a few pictures, and drove off. We didn’t look suspicious, did we? Too bad it was so foggy. There were cameras and wire fencing all around the perimeter.
The ride back was very interesting with lots of huge homes sprinkled in the woods and on the tops of hillsides.
Once we got past the town of Cape Porpoise and into the wooded countryside we were out of the traffic and crowds. We had 14 miles to get back to the campground and once we got onto the Interstate, it took no time at all. We arrived at our campsite around 3:30. The sun was out and away from the water it was warm. We sat outside for the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and the solitude. The campground had filled up a bit since we left. It seems there is a huge car show at The Pier in Old Orchard Beach tomorrow. It draws quite a crowd and they close off the streets to display all the cars. Tonight there was a parade with the cars, but we were too tired to deal with the crowds. We had chili for dinner and all 3 of us took a walk around the campground to check out all the new campers that had arrived. We watched a little TV and made plans for tomorrow. It would be our last day in this area and we wanted to make the most of it.
