Maine pt 2

From Boothbay we drove along the coast to Ogunquit...another beautiful spot on the Maine coast.

Here is a view out of the harbor from the bridge.

Turning 180 degrees shows boats in the snug harbor.

Those photos were taken from the bridge.  What we liked were all the places to tie up the dinghy.

The Lonely Planet suggested lunch here, at the Lobster Shack, and their recommendations are usually pretty good.  However...we were a little out of season and the place was closed.  Lucky for us we did our lobster thing in Rockland.

Time to move on to Portland...if it were warmer, relaxing in this lovely spot would be irresistable.

 

We visited three lighthouses near Portland.

Portland was another nice town to visit.  We found little to dislike in Maine, would be such a great place to visit in the summer months.

Lots of boats...and plenty of seafood.

The sort of place that has you thinking about your next meal all the time.

Maine

The border guard at Jackson, Maine told us to expect snow as we drove back into the USA from Canada.  Brrr...we've left this part of our journey a bit late in the season, but Maine is a spectacularily beautiful place, well worth visiting.  I'd return at a warmer time of year and bring a kayak or canoe.  There is a myriad of waterways all over the state.  We stopped in Waterville, you can see from the below photos where it gets the name.  Apparently it is possible to kayak from here to the Atlantic ocean.

 

 In an antique store in Waterville we spotted this old child's car.  Chris said she had one just like it when she was about three yrs old...maybe it was blue.  Anyone remember it?

 The US election took place while we were in Maine.  I tried to vote with Chris, but neither of us were eligible...at this point Chris would like to rant, but I think I'll keep control of the keyboard and spare us all.

Maine is another great spot for lighthouses.  We visited several.

 

We cannot visit Maine without talking about Lobsters.  Once we got to the coast, we couldn't get away from thinking about lobsters.  They draw and paint and sculpt lobsters around here.

 Of course, they catch lots of them here too...all year around.  Not far from Rockland we went to a pier where they bring in the catch and you can purchase lobsters right there on the wharf.

Mostly...they eat them.  They make chowders and sauces, rolls and salads and all sorts of lobster tasties.

We chose the traditional steamed lobster.  We got to meet and greet the fellows as they came out of the tank.

 Poor lobsters...they came out of the kitchen red and steaming...but were they ever good!

 

Once we cleaned ourselves up, we headed down the road to a place called Boothbay, on the recommendation of a local.  Well worth the visit, we really liked this little town.  In summer, the tourists swarm, but early November is fairly peaceful, and a little too cold for kayaking on the picturesque bay.

We thought this was a unique pet store.

Around the back they had an assortment of dog houses, Phil and Chris thought they'd find something for me, but I didn't share their enthusiasm.

 

We saw a lot in Maine...what a terrific state, it is worth a trip back someday.  There is more to write about, but I'm hungry and need to find out if Phil and Chris have made some dinner for me.  Stay tuned for Maine, part 2.

 

Thanksgiving

We can only hope that all our American and Canadian friends enjoyed Thanksgiving as much as we did.  We had a terrific day with family and friends in Virginia, lots of great food and some wine.  A big thank you to everyone who made the day memorable.

 

Having been dissuaded from a hibernation plan, I started out the day by making stuffing and preparing the turkey.  

 I even helped Pat make the pumpkin pies.

 Once the turkey was roasting, I had some time to relax and enjoy a bit of wine.

 Much to the despair of Chris and Phil, I fell asleep with my head in the bowl...long before the meal.  These big celebrations always seem to get the best of me.

New York State and a storm

Before I start this post I need to comment on a conversation we had the other day.  As usual, Phil and Chris were berating me about writing blog posts and my alcohol consumption.  I'm kind of used to this theme now, and my skin is thicker than it used to be...however, let me remind everyone that I am a bear.  Twice already this fall we've been in snow and I want to...need to be...hibernating.  It is what bears do...just let me curl up in a warm place with a few bottles of red and I'll be good for a few months. 

Aside from hibernating, we visited New York State after driving over the border from near Niagara Falls in Canada. We went to the Finger Lakes region, where we camped in a National Forest.  This campground welcomes horses, as evident from the many hitching posts and a corral present.

Many hiking trails weave through the forest and around the lakes and ponds here in the Finger Lakes region. 

 We had a gorgeous, sunny fall day to explore the park.

 We surprised this grumpy turtle trying to sunbathe along a raised section of the trail.  He snapped at us as we tried to get around him.

 

The region has what is written up in a British Airways magazine as "one of the ten most scenic drives in the world". We had to see...and it was a pretty drive, but there were so many pretty drives in the area and some had better views than the road specifically suggested by BA.

 Plenty of vinyards along the way too...why aren't we stopping??

Amish and/or Mennonites live in the area and this sign was directly in front of the truck stop where we fueled up.  An interesting contrast in cultures.

 There is our little RV lined up with all the trucks.  Fuel was relatively expensive in New York...it was about US$4.40 per gallon.  Glad we aren't paying Perth prices.

 A big storm was forecast to hit the east coast.  We decided to turn North and visit Montreal and Quebec (as I mentioned in the Quebec blog).  On the way to Montreal we drove out to Cape Vincent, a little town on the St Lawrence mostly devoted to tourism.  It is well past the tourist season now, so facilities were fairly limited but we found a nice pub open for dinner.

 This is Tibbetts Point Lighthouse a little ways down the road from the town.

They build many of these pretty stone cottages up here.

 

 It wasn't Friday when we were here...I wonder how early you need to get in before this place closes.

 

 One of the nice things about out of season travel is the available parking!  No one complains where you park and when were stopped at the pub and asked about parking, they just said, "who is going to give you a ticket?"

We try hard to avoid this scenario.

Along the St Lawrence, in the 1000 Islands region, we stopped at a State Park and went for another hike.  We were hoping to camp here, but sadly, the camping is over for the season.

 

Eventually we worked our way up to Canada again.  We watched the storm hit the east coast on a TV in a bar one night and someone told us where to catch the train and where to get off in Montreal.  The next day our intrepid travellers found the train and made their way about 29 km to Montreal, changed trains and got off at St Catherine.  It wasn't quite where we expected, plus it was really rainy.

Prepared for the rain!

 How is this for confusing the navigation?

 This was another classic.

Aside from our train ride, and then a taxi ride (the taxi driver got lost) we ddin't see much of Montreal.  Quebec City is a separate post.