2016 7th Stop: Andrew Wyeth and The Olson House

We have enjoyed our impromptu approach to this vacation, exploring coastal towns and stopping where something caught our eye.  But Charlie did some research and planned for us to visit The Olson House where the American artist Andrew Wyeth painted some of his beautiful works.  Perhaps most famous is his 1948 painting entitled Christina's World.  The Olson farmhouse and surrounding land has been registered as a national landmark.  The docent for our tour of the house was very good and has inspired me to do more reading about the life of Andrew Wyeth and his paintings.

Photo of dormer painting

Photo of painting

Kitchen rocker

Photo of door in Olson House

Photo of painting

Floor stenciled by Betsy, Andrew Wyeth's wife

 

 

2016 6th Stop: Camden and the like

Charlie and I think of Camden as the quintessential Maine coastal town.  The town just seems kind to me.  Make sense? Walked around and looked at some beautiful artwork in the many galleries.

Enjoy these pictures of Camden and some of the surrounding area where we explored the coast line.

2016 5th Stop: Booth Bay, Wiscasset, Pimaquid, and Southport

The campground at Booth Bay was great.  Look at this picture and you can see that our site looked directly over a picturesque inlet from a lovely wooded lot.  We had our first campfire because the weather was cool and pleasant.  (Sorry to my friends back home in Maryland suffering through 105 degree heat index readings!)

We walked around Booth Bay Harbor that has lovely little shops and a tempting assortment of restaurants offering seafood.  We settled on a bowl of chowder (Charlie had clam chowder and I had lobster chowder) at a little place looking over the harbor.  The dirty martini made it perfect!



The next day we drove to Damariscotta and visited the little shops and galleries and then stopped in Wiscasset to do the same.  Of course, when in Wiscasset it is mandatory that you stop at Red's Eats for a lobster roll.  As you can guess from the picture, there is a continuous line at Red's during the six months of the year it's open.  Why, you wonder?  Because each lobster roll contains more than a pound of fresh lobster served with warm butter.  Oh my.  And like every other Maine eating establishment, they offer homemade cake loaded with wild blueberries.  I have to say that Maine wild blueberries are the sweetest I've ever tasted.

Pemaquid Lighthouse sits high on a granite point.  The Coast Guard offers tours of the lighthouse itself, the keepers house has become a museum, and the ubiquitous Maine art gallery shares the grounds of  Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park.  The location is lovely, with breezes to cool visitors who are climbing the rocks or having a picnic lunch at one of the shaded picnic tables.  Charlie searched the shoreline for sea glass to no avail which I enjoyed the company and the view from higher grounds.








One of my favorite things is seeing cairns in our travels.  Charlie came upon these on Pemaquid Point beach.  Can you spot them all?

Our excursion to Southport gave us the opportunity to take in more of the beauty of many coves and inlets of the Maine coast ...and to enjoy a haddock sandwich and clam chowder.

2016 4th Stop: Kennebunk & Kennebunkport

 We drove through Kennebunk, ME, on a pretty sunny day that really showed the town's flowers to full effect.  So pretty!  At entrances to shopping centers, in front of homes, at street corners, in front of service stations, and on light poles, the floral displays paid testament to the planning and ongoing care given by their owners.  Something about Maine, the flower beds and window boxes just seem more vibrant.  Maybe because the growing season is short?  I love it.

Next destination, Kennebunkport.  I'm sure we located the Bush compound, despite the lack of any sort of signage other than those forbidding parking of any RV's or busses at any of the nearby scenic viewing areas and the manned guard shack at the closed metal gates.  I get it completely.  Anyway, it is so nice.  Big and secluded and overlooking a beautiful waterview.  I'm sure the Bush family has made good use of the serene vistas to escape world issues and politics, and instead focus on family and the things most important.  (Forgive me if I have misidentified the Bush property.  If they don't own this piece of heaven, they should.)

Nearby there is a beautiful old church that the Bush family has attended and supported.  Reminded me in many ways of some of the churches I have visited in Europe. 

Very nice and offering a wonderful view of the coastline.  We sure don't get these kind of views from the church parking lot in Maryland very often.

2016 3rd Stop: Wells, Maine

When Charlie planned Wells as a three-night stay, I thought "Wells?"  What a good choice!  We started by visiting the Wells harbor; pretty but a rainy mid-afternoon. 














We chose Fisherman's Catch for dinner on the recommendation of our front desk clerk.  What an excellent recommendation!  Waited 30 minutes for a table although it was early, but every minute of the wait was worth it.  I had a lobster roll, something I had not had since the last time we were in Maine; it was so good!  Connecticut-style (melted butter) not Maine-style (mayonnaise and celery - yuk).

A sign of the times.  Check out the chocolate dipped bacon!

The next morning we decided to do some more exploring of the area.  But first, just a double blocks from the campground we discovered the world's best doughnut shop ever.  It was soooo good, we were forced to indulge the next day as well!  A must stop if you are in Wells.













We then ventured to Wells Beach.  Who knew that all of Maine's shoreline are not rocky and often inaccessible?  Wells Beach is long and wide and sandy!  We spent an hour sitting on the beach and just enjoying the waves (until our parking time expired).  It was really nice.

After more exploring, we decided to stop at a restaurant we spotted along the way.  What a find!  Small and casual and friendly.  And offering a delicious lobster roll!  Noticing a trend?

2016 2nd Stop: Haddam, Connecticut

From Philadelphia we traveled to Connecticut.  Have I mentioned how much we hate the George Washington bridge??  Between the traffic there and on I-95 ...ugh!










Charlie's 7x great-grandfather arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630's as part of the great migration of Puritans from England and was a founding settler of Haddam, CT.  Our plan was to visit the Haddam Historical Society to find out what information they might have about his 6x great-grandfather Nathanial.  It was a good plan except that the historical society office is only open on the weekend. Sigh.  But we did visit an impressive monument to Charlie's relative Major General Joseph Spencer who served with General George Washington during the fight for independence.


At the same park is the preserved school house where Nathan Hale taught before serving in the Revolutionary War.  Nathan Hale was a spy for the Continental Army under the command of General George Washington.  He was captured and was hung by the British.  His last words before his death on September 22, 1776, were "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country!"  Courage.

We finished up our stay in Haddam by searching the local cemeteries for ghosts and enjoying my best cup of coffee ever at Higher Grounds.

2016 First Stop: Philadelphia

We started our trip where our country was born, Philadelphia.  There is so much of the early history of the United States here.  Our first stop was to see the Liberty Bell, a beautiful symbol of liberty and a reminder to let freedom ring.
 

Maybe the crack in the bell is to remind us that our country has survived through fractious times before over issues such as slavery and civil rights for African Americans, Native American property rights and autonomy, and voting and reproductive rights for women.  Indeed, civil rights issues are revisited still today with attempts to limit minority voting rights, to change the process by which a resident becomes a citizen, and to limit unregulated access to firearms, to name a few. I believe in one country indivisible, so I have faith our democracy will endure.

 Our next stop was Independence Hall.  History is heavy in the air where our first representatives argued over but then adopted the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States of America.  As the National Park Service ranger described, many of the men who had gathered there in 1776 did not originally intend to declare independence from the British.  But the impassioned discussions of how best to respond to rising taxes and the British refusal to give the colonies representation in establishing taxes resulted in the truly courageous decision to declare independence.  Courage.

But these men knew that talk was not enough; there needed to be a framework established to set out how this new country would interact with foreign countries, how it would finance the revolutionary war, and how it would govern itself.  So they next developed the Articles of Confederation to establish the responsibilities of the general government.  Subsequently, the Constitution more explicitly established the principles upon which this new government was based and expanded its responsibilities and authority.  An especially personal connection to these proceedings is that one of Charlie's relatives was a delegate to the 1779 Continental Congress from the state of Connecticut.  As the NPS ranger described how the civil war tested these principles, especially that all men are created equal, I have to say that I believe the 2016 presidential campaign is also testing the commitment of our countrymen to our founding principles. 

Our next stop was Reading Terminal Market.  Boy, that was fun!  Interesting and delicious foods everywhere, all beautifully displayed.

The next day we went to the Benjamin Franklin museum.  That man was so brilliant!  He was always thinking, always inventing, always moving forward.  We need to make sure that we encourage and sponsor all the Ben Franklins of the future.  Can you tell I was again impressed by him?  Just awesome.  Not perfect.  But still awesome.

We capped off our short visit to Philadelphia by searching out, standing in line, and eating a delicious Philly cheese steak at Geno's.  It was fun and good, especially the cheese fries that were great!  Yum.