We left the Bar Harbor Campground heading for Belfast, Maine, to meet a college friend of mine for lunch. The original plan had been to leave about 10:30 and get to Belfast around noon, but we of course left a little late, and had to make a stop in Ellsworth to get Tom a new phone since his old phone had finally gasped its last breath and could no longer hold a charge. As we learned when we came into Texas in August, transactions at the AT&T store are not speedy, and while we were ultimately successful in getting the new phone, we didn’t leave until almost noon, and we were still over an hour from Belfast.
On this trip, we’ve made it policy that when a local suggests we do something, we do it. So, when Su suggested that it would be worth an extra few minutes to stop at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory because it was such a beautiful day, we did. And, of course, it was well worth it.
On this trip, we’ve made it policy that when a local suggests we do something, we do it. So, when Su suggested that it would be worth an extra few minutes to stop at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory because it was such a beautiful day, we did. And, of course, it was well worth it.
The observatory is at the very top of the tower.
The views were incredible, and we could see Cadillac Mountain, which we had climbed a few days earlier, in the distance.
We could also see the top of our camper, parked far below us.
When we finished taking in the scenery, we proceeded to Belfast, where we met Su at Young’s Lobster Pound, and had what I believe to be the best lobster roll of my life, along with steamed littleneck clams. And, it was a gorgeous day to sit outside on the dock at a picnic table to spend some time catching up on the past 38 years.
We left Belfast and headed to Freeport for a visit with Tom’s cousin Cathy. We also hadn’t seen Cathy in decades, so we spent the evening catching up as we sampled beer from The Maine Beer Company, and ate their delicious wood oven pizza. Cathy then took us to LL Bean, where we picked up a few things we had decided we needed on our journey. Tom took advantage of Cathy’s internet to get his new phone mostly set up the next morning before we headed out of Maine to our next stop in Manchester, NH, with a promise to at least make a serious attempt to not let decades pass again before visiting.
We made it to Manchester around dinner time and found our friend Emily at her home. We hadn’t seen Emily in at least 15 years which was, as Emily pointed out, before she was an adult. Tom and I have been missing Mexican food, so Emily and her boyfriend Chris took us to a local - and very good - Mexican restaurant where we spent another couple of hours eating, drinking beer (because we’re all adults now), and catching up. We had driven in rain for most of the day, and it was dark and still raining when we left. Our intention had been to go to the nearby Bear Brook State Park to camp for the night and hike in the morning, but as we got to the end of Emily’s street, just as I was girding myself for an unpleasant drive, Tom asked if I minded if we did the Walmart thing instead of heading into the wilderness. I found that to be a relief, so we found the nearest Walmart and parked for the night. Between being at the end of the runway for the Manchester airport, and being right off one of the interstates that passes through the city, and being populated with a variety of people with troubles, we didn’t get the best night’s sleep of the trip. But, we woke up in the morning and the sun had come out, so we packed up and headed for Bear Brook State Park in the daylight.
We followed the GPS directions to the park, and were very glad we hadn’t attempted it the night before in the rain. The park is 10,000 acres of undeveloped land, and winding country roads run through it. Even with the map we stopped to ask directions for where to park, and I’m not sure we would have made it to the campground the night before in the rain. The morning, however, was another story, and we found the main parking lot for a couple of the trailheads, and had a very enjoyable 5+ mile hike. The trails were very well done and very well maintained, and during the whole 5+ miles we saw only one mountain biker. It made us wonder if our National Park quest shouldn’t be turned into a state park journey since it was so nice to have the park virtually to ourselves rather than being part of a line of hikers, but we decided to continue with the National Parks and just throw some of the state parks in when we could.
We made it to Manchester around dinner time and found our friend Emily at her home. We hadn’t seen Emily in at least 15 years which was, as Emily pointed out, before she was an adult. Tom and I have been missing Mexican food, so Emily and her boyfriend Chris took us to a local - and very good - Mexican restaurant where we spent another couple of hours eating, drinking beer (because we’re all adults now), and catching up. We had driven in rain for most of the day, and it was dark and still raining when we left. Our intention had been to go to the nearby Bear Brook State Park to camp for the night and hike in the morning, but as we got to the end of Emily’s street, just as I was girding myself for an unpleasant drive, Tom asked if I minded if we did the Walmart thing instead of heading into the wilderness. I found that to be a relief, so we found the nearest Walmart and parked for the night. Between being at the end of the runway for the Manchester airport, and being right off one of the interstates that passes through the city, and being populated with a variety of people with troubles, we didn’t get the best night’s sleep of the trip. But, we woke up in the morning and the sun had come out, so we packed up and headed for Bear Brook State Park in the daylight.
We followed the GPS directions to the park, and were very glad we hadn’t attempted it the night before in the rain. The park is 10,000 acres of undeveloped land, and winding country roads run through it. Even with the map we stopped to ask directions for where to park, and I’m not sure we would have made it to the campground the night before in the rain. The morning, however, was another story, and we found the main parking lot for a couple of the trailheads, and had a very enjoyable 5+ mile hike. The trails were very well done and very well maintained, and during the whole 5+ miles we saw only one mountain biker. It made us wonder if our National Park quest shouldn’t be turned into a state park journey since it was so nice to have the park virtually to ourselves rather than being part of a line of hikers, but we decided to continue with the National Parks and just throw some of the state parks in when we could.
After lunching and showering in the parking lot, we headed for Concord, NH, our twelfth Capitol building. It was only about 15 minutes from the Bear Brook State Park, and very accessible - another New England capital that is barely a city.
We left the Capitol area and headed for the outskirts of Concord to meet another college friend so we could spend the night parked in her and her husband’s driveway. They visited us in Belize a few years ago, so we were looking forward to seeing both of them again, and we had a lot of catching up to do even though it’s only been four or five years, rather than decades, since we’ve seen each other. Judith made dinner while Tom and I gave their friends and neighbors camper tours, and we had a very nice evening chatting. In the morning, Judith made us breakfast before she had to go to work, and left us with brilliant instructions on where to hike before returning to their house to go for a shorter walk with Jim.
We hiked up Mt. Major, which gave us a birds’ eye view of Lake Winnepesaukee. We even watched a helicopter flying around below us.
Even though we spent most of our lives in the northeast, we’re finding ourselves fascinated with the abundance of fall colors we’re seeing. Put that on the list of things we didn’t realize we missed…
Jim and Judith’s house is on a lovely pond, and in the pond is an island with a bridge with a gate so you can take your dogs to the island, close the gate on the bridge, and turn them loose. Kiss, Ty, and Princh really enjoyed having a good off-leash run.
We left Jim and Judith’s and headed for Boston. We were traveling on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend and were worried about traffic, but we were heading into the city rather than out so the traffic was heavy but manageable. We drove through the narrow streets of Cambridge to get to Tom’s cousin’s house in Belfast, where we spent Saturday visiting, seeing the Capitol, and walking the Freedom Trail.