Oct 13, 2012 - Portland

Yesterday the three of us (I feel like one of the girls now...."Road Trip!"....wheee!) drove to Portland to see the sights. First stop was the famous Shipyard Brewery where our new best friend Steve showed us how they brew beer, and then led us through a merry 45 minutes of beer tasting. It's like wine tasting only better, because if you say to Steve, "I really like that one." he pours you another glass. So after 12 or 14 tastings, Steve graciously autographs a case of beer that Mickey bought..("It's the very last one we have...there is no...

Sep 22, 2012 - Portland, Me

Taking the road less travel has been rewarding. Our drive down Maine's coast on highway 1 is worth the extra time. It was a foggy morning, but it made for some really cool views. We visited the second most tourist spot in Maine, Freeport, home to L.L. Bean. Now the No.1 tourist destination is Acadia NP. This is the outdoor enthusiast Mecca. It is a great walking town with Beans campus encompassing several blocks in the center of town. I really enjoyed the hunting and fishing store. They were having a hunting expo weekend with a free game...

Sep 21, 2012 - Portland # 2

Earlier on our trip we visited with our great friend Dave Clark in Portland Oregon. Yesterday we toured Portland Maine. It was such a nice day for touristy stuff and we did it up big. First we took the trolley tour of the city, an hour and a half guided tour of this historic town, waterfront and light house. Our guide was excellent and kept us laughing as he took us to all the parts of Portland which has about 65,000 people. One outstanding stop was the Portland Head Light House. They say it is the most photographed light house in Maine....

Sep 20, 2012 - Beans!!

LL Bean that is. We really didn't do much yesterday. We packed up and went to see the historic barn at the campground which had some interesting stuff. Then took the rig to park with other RVs in Freeport and off we went to LL Bean. This is the famous catalog store that has been around for 100 years. They actually have a campus of a number of stores and we went in them all. I must say they merchandise their items very well. The stores are quite appealing and the prices are generally good. Then we drove about 25 miles to Portland where we...

Aug 30, 2012 - Some cities in Maine

Today was a good day and a bad day. I’ll start with the good. We drove 200 miles today up to Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Wiscasset, Georgetown, Bath and some places I forgot. We saw some fabulous little towns, cute shops, and lobster shops and restaurants galore. We drove through the forests, we drove to the harbors. It was lovely. I will just jump to the bad real quick. No lighthouses, cause the ones we wanted to see were only accessible by boat, no shoreline and for half the day….no camera. My battery went dead! Yes, Lee Ann, I can hear you...

Aug 29, 2012 - Portland, Maine

Today was the 1st day of school, so we set our alarm to be sure to get their photos and to wait at the bus stop to send them off. They looked so cute and were so nervous. Lots of children, lots of parents..reminded me of sending Alex off to school. After the kids left we packed our bags, hopped into the truck and headed down I-95 to Maine. It was a 3 hour drive, going through Massachusetts and New Hampshire (briefly) to arrive in Portland, Maine, our first stop in the state. We stopped at a seafood restaurant and had the best fish and...

Aug 23, 2012 - Longfellow & Observatory

Jim and I headed out on our own today. On the trolley tour we learned Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home he grew up in is in Portland and open for tours. The home he was born in has been destroyed and actually the Shipyard Brewery building is in that location. The tour was very interesting. Part of our admission included an attached museum that was featuring Maine and electricity. Jim really enjoyed both. We asked at Longfellow's home for a suggestion for lunch and they sent us down the street to David's. Had a great outdoor eating area. It...

Aug 22, 2012 - BACK TO PORTLAND

Just up the road from the RV park is Len Libby Chocolatier. Well just had to check this out. We got to meet Lenny the world's only life size chocolate moose! Lenny weighs in at 1,700 lbs! Along beside him are 2 chocolate bear cubs. Hard to keep Jim from nibbling on Lenny's antlers!! We had the rest of our trolley/boat tour to do this afternoon at 4:30. Headed back into Portland. Stopped by Becky's Diner for lunch. It is right next to where fish are processed. Kind of a "fishy" odor outside. But what waited for us inside made up for the...

Aug 21, 2012 - PORTLAND

We headed down to the waterfront in Portland today. We've found if you can take a guided tour of the towns we're in, it gives us an idea of what the town has to offer. After investigating several options, we decided to go for the trolley and lighthouse cruise combination. Portland was voted "foodiest" small town by Bon Appetit magazine. So finding great places to eat is no problem. Charlie likes pizza and I'd found an ad for Flatbread Co. It offers all natural pizzas baked in wood-fired clay ovens. The ovens were right in the dinning room....

Aug 8, 2012 - Concord, NH to Portland, Maine

We started off the day just fine, ready to make it to at least Bangor, Maine. Then the bad luck struck again. We stopped for a picture of a town with an A for the ABC's of touring and my bike wouldn't start. I checked fuses, took the seat off and checked the battery terminals, even called my first class motorcycle technician at Myers Cycle in Kensington (Steve) for advice and there was nothing I could do on the roadside. At least we were in the shade (as the County Officer that stopped to check on us pointed out). I called HOG Roadside...

Jul 5, 2012 - Portland & Brunswick

We had set aside the day to visit Brunswick, which is a smaller, university town just 30 minutes north of Portland. They were having a farmer's market in the middle of town so we could have bought some very nice veggies if we lived there. At one point, we were seriously thinking of moving to Brunswick if Cape Town did not work out. I think we have both changed our mind on that score. It is a pretty enough town. The university campus is just lovely. But, the whole place just didn't grab us. And again, probably because it is on the ocean but...

Jun 20, 2012 - Lighthouses and Goodwill

Today was a busy day. We stopped by the Portland Head Lighthouse in Portland, Maine. Beautiful scene of the ocean and massive rock beaches. Then we had lunch at the Lobster Shack in Two Lights, Maine. We both had lobster boats, which consists of large chunks of lobster in a special roll that is about three inches thick, cut partially in half longwise, and spread to look like a boat. The restaurant is right on the ocean, with a view of the Two Lights Lighthouse which is just outside Portland. Great view, great food. We had been hearing...