Bar Harbor, Maine

Our campsite near Bar Harbor has a gorgeous view; too bad Maine grows mosquitoes so gigantic! 








We really like the Bar Harbor area, especially the fresh lobster!  Charlie enjoys searching the tide line for sea glass and has had some degree of success during this trip.  In fact that's what he's doing right now as I sit in the Side Street Cafe writing this blog post.  This cafe has free wifi with a strong signal, but is very limited in handling large files like pictures.  But the music is great, the clientele interesting, and the waiters patient with me. 

The town of Bar Harbor itself is okay, but I like Camden better - our next stop.  So I'm not drawn to Bar Harbor's shops.  Nevertheless, it's drizzling today and the coffee shop is very comfortable, so I'm happy to let Charlie search for sea glass without me.  But I must find an occasion to wear my new boots!

I'd be remiss not to mention that I'm missing my girls and their families.  Love to all!

Vermont in the fall

We arrived in Vermont just as the leaves were changing.  Wow!  What a great feeling to see the change of the season. 

Quechee Gulch looks really beautiful with the addition of nature's fall colors.

We spent everyday of our time in Vermont by visiting Woodstock for at least part of the day.  What a
lovely town.  For those traveling without towing a camper like us, there are some amazing old hotels and B&Bs.  For those shopping for unique and beautiful crafts and artwork, there are many small shops to explore.  And for those who are content to window shop and walk the pretty streets (accompanied by many fellow baby boomers!), the streets are tree lined and pedestrian friendly.

Scotchie enjoyed himself in Woodstock too!

Maine -- Freeport and Booth Bay

We stayed in Freeport, Maine.  There really isn't much of interest to me in Freeport, but we did make the requisite visit to LL Bean store that started it all.  We enjoyed an awesome bowl of clam chowder there.  And Charlie struck a pose.



Leaving our campground in Freeport, we stopped for delicious cheeseburgers at a local restaurant.  They were great, almost as good as the home-made cinnamon-sugar donuts we had for breakfast!

And isn't this unusual?  I had never heard of a cattle pound.

We visited Booth Bay on our way to Bar Harbor. 

We were lucky enough to find the Booth Bay public parking lot virtually deserted, so we were able to easily park the Ford and camper.  It wasn't a particularly warm day, but to be on the safe side we decided to leave Scotchie in the camper instead of the Ford so he wouldn't get too warm.  So after some ado, we set out to walk along the hilly streets and look in the shops.  I bought myself a pair of rubber boots that seem perfect for Maine shores.  (And I think they're cuter than the ones at LL Bean.) 

We had a really nice time in the galleries and walking along the harbor.  Imagine our surprised when we got back to the parking lot -- back door of the Ford was left wide open! O M G!  Yet not one person had touched a thing.  I guess that is the blessing of sightseeing when everyone except other retirees is either at work or school!  Or maybe there simply aren't so many hooligans in Maine as in Maryland!  In any event, we vow to pay closer attention for the rest of the trip, since we also left our front door open when we left home!  (Thanks, dear daughter!)

This last picture is for our grandson who loves monster trucks!

Hello Vermont!

Enough of cemeteries for now.  We're on our way to Vermont.  We stayed at the Brattleboro KOA where I loved the wifi and loved the cable channels.  The weekend before our arrival, the KOA had hosted a vintage camper rally.  A few of the campers were still there.  Very cool, and very small.

The leaves are really changing here in Vermont, but there are still beautiful flowers in bloom.  Why do their blooms always seem to be most intense in the fall?  Special fun was stopping at a quilt shop i the cute town of Wilmington.  Since I don't have my sewing machine with me, I think I'll try my hand at some hand piecing in a crazy quilt manner.  It's fun on those nights when there is no wifi and no cable.

Spencers Towne

Charlie's mother was a Spencer from New York.  As with his paternal ancestors, his maternal ancestors arrived in North America in the 1600's.  We decided that during this trip we would drive to Spencertown, New York, to visit the place where his third, fourth, and fifth great-grandfathers lived.  Spencers Towne is now the borough of Spencertown within the town of Austerlitz.

Prior to our trip Charlie tried to connect via email with a Spencertown local involved with the historical society.  That didn't work out but our visit was more fruitful.  As we were exploring the area we came across the Malay Center, named after the town's Nobel Prize winning poet.  We were lucky enough to arrive at the center while an open-hearth cooking exposition was taking place.  Best of all, Charlie was given the contact information of the historical society expert to contact for information about the Spencertown's early settlers.

We walked through Spencertown Cemetery, circa 1760, located behind the Presbyterian Church.  We were only able to find one grave stone from the 1700's, that of Elizabeth Spencer who died in 1764.  I don't know what sort of stone her grave marker is carved from but it, and others from the same stone, has stood the test of time and remains easily readable. 










We stayed at a private campground nearby.  The campground itself was fine, but we were still irritated.  Firstly, we were told at check-in that it would cost us an extra $3 per day if we wanted to run our air conditioner.  Charlie asked and was told that even running a fan would cost the $3 fee.  I wonder what that works out to in dollars per kilowatt!  Then we awoke to a flat tire on the Ford.  Charlie changed it and we set out to find a local garage to fix the tire. 





We found a small garage owned by a fellow Charlie described as a gear head.  After the tire repair, Charlie toured the garage that held a fabulous collections of beautiful old cars, many of which were British sports cars - Charlie's favorite.  While he was doing that, I chatted with the nice woman who was busy detailing a car wearing cute wedge shoes and a fun necklace.  I liked that!

 They directed us to Dan's Diner, where we had breakfast.  The diner had been totally restored by Dan, right down to the ice box (now refrigerated).  We had a great time sitting at the counter listening to the locals gossip and joke with one another, even if my omelet was over-cooked.