A Wee Glimpse of New England

After leaving Jean Paul and Celine we drove to Houlton, Maine where we boondocked at the Walmart for the night. We needed to exchange the few Canadian dollars we had and pick up our mail that we arranged to have forwarded to us. The next day we drove to the Black Bear Campground in Salisbury, Massachusetts where we were greeted with hot (98) and humid (98%) weather that had us holed up in the AC for a couple days. It was pretty difficult to take after a summer of very comfortable weather. The temps did moderate and we did a little exploring in the area.

There are thousands of boats in the harbors in every little town we visited.
We visited the Salem Maritime National Historical Site where they trace the seafaring history of this once important port. Salem ships played an important role as privateers during the Revolutionary War and brought riches from the Far East. The importance of the port declined when bigger clipper ships, which were too deep for the harbor, came into use. The ship, Friendship, is a replica of a typical merchant ship of the time.

This is the last of thirteen Custom Houses built in Salem to collect taxes on cargoes imported into the country. The oldest dates back to colonial times. The tariffs were the largest source of income for the early US government.

The Derby House, built in 1762, is the oldest brick house in Salem. It was the home of sea merchant, Elias Hasket Derby, Americas first millionaire.

This is the home of Salem native and author Nathaniel Hawthorne. He worked at the Custom House while struggling to become an author. Through his friendship with President Franklin Pierce he obtained a more lucrative job as a Surveyor. After Pierce's party lost the election Hawthorne lost his job and eventually turned this ordeal into his first novel, The Scarlet Letter.

The House of Seven Gables was owned by his cousin when it became the setting of Hawthorne's second novel. The tour of the house is very worthwhile with its secret stairs and hallways. No interior pictures were allowed.

One reason we wanted to stop in this area was to see Gini and Bob Huntley, our neighbors at the Rose Parade HOP. We visited their lovely home then went to dinner and had an enjoyable evening sharing tales of our travels. It was the third time this summer we met up with RVing friends on the road.

The Man at the Wheel statue was originally dedicated in 1923 to celebrate Gloucester's three hundredth anniversary. It is now part of a memorial to the more than 5000 Gloucester fishermen who have lost their lives at sea. Among the more recent names are the crew of the Andrea Gail who were immortalized in Sebastian Junger's book, The Perfect Storm. It is chilling to see so many names of those lost at sea from this one small town.

An old plant in scenic Gloucester Harbor.

Another town we "tried" to visit was Rockport, MA. It is another picturesque harbor town filled with shops and restaurants. Unfortunately it was so busy we were unable to find a parking spot after driving through the town three times when we finally just gave up. Despite the heat we had a great time here and plan to return in the future during the fall season in hopes of cooler weather and smaller crowds to take in more of the many, many historical sites.

Campobello Island

The plan was to drive to Calais, ME, stay at the Walmart, do some shopping and fuel up with cheap American diesel ($3.00/gal) before crossing the border into Canada the next morning. We saw that Campobello Island, New Brunswick with the summer home of the Roosevelt family was just a few extra miles out of the way and, after a call to see if there would be room to park the rig, we decided to go for it. This also gave us the chance to pass through Lubec, ME the Eastern most town in the US. Since going on the road we have now been to the four most distant corners of the contiguous states. Of course, we had to go through customs to get on to the island. For the first time in many border crossings over the years the authorities searched our vehicle from top to bottom. All this for a two hour visit to a ten mile long island with one bridge in and out. We even had an on board but less through inspection by American customs on the return. Go figure?? This little hassle was well worth it as the home and visitors center were very interesting.

This is the 34-room Roosevelt summer "cottage" that the family purchased in 1883 when Franklin was one year old. FDR spent ever summer here until 1921 when he was stricken with polio while there at the age of 39. After that he did not return for twelve years and then only for brief visits in 1933, 1936 and 1939.
The home did not have electricity or central heating, but was very modern for the times with indoor plumbing and hot and cold running water. The three bedrooms are a guest room, Roosevelt's master bedroom and one of the children's rooms. Bottom is the sitting room that looked out to the bay, the laundry room with the coal stove designed to hold and heat the irons and the kitchen with a Presidential model coal cooking stove.

The visitor center has an excellent timeline of Roosevelt's life from his early years here through the Great Depression and WWII. You can listen to short excerpts of his speeches and fireside chats on the old radio. I listened to "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and thought that the statement still applies today.

This is looking from Campobello Island across the water at the Eastern most town in the US, Lubec, ME. There are other cottages that can be toured and many more things to do on the island. We missed the lighthouse, the many eagles that nest here and did not get to see any whales that inhabit the nearby waters. Once again, this is a place that we could return to when we are not on a mission.

We stopped at the marker showing the 45 parallel which is half way between the Equator and the North Pole. I wonder how much colder it is going to get as we get closer to the North Pole on our way to Newfoundland?

Acadia National Park

Our next goal on the way up the coast was Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor. The Hospitality Woods RV Park in Ellsworth is a good jumping off point to explore the park and towns of Mount Desert Island. We have been here before but Acadia is a place you can return to often and never tire of the scenery. The park exists because of the efforts of Charles W. Eliot who formed the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservation which acquired 5000 acres in 1901 then turned it over to the government to become the first national park east of the Mississippi. It is a real gem that rivals any of the parks we have visited.

The drive north was through forested land and fields of wildflowers, especially lupines. There are many small harbors that can be seen from the highway. For the most part, the road was plenty wide except in the little towns and villages where cars often lined both sides and there were some very rough patches here and there.
The best way to see Acadia if you are only there for a short stay is the 27-mile Park Loop Road that hits all the diverse areas. Above is Sand Beach, the only beach in the park. Swimming is not for the faint of heart as the water is only 50 degrees BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

The rocky shoreline changes around every bend with the hills, ocean, rocks and trees providing an ever changing view.

A normal highlight is Thunder Hole but, as you can see, the smooth seas were not producing any waves so there was no thunder.

In the interior of the park are many lakes and ponds. Above is Jordon Pond where we hiked the Nature Trail. There is a 45-mile system of historic carriage roads that were built by J.D. Rockefeller. There are carriage rides or the roads can be used for hiking and biking.

The high point of the park is, literally, 1530 foot Cadillac Mountain, the highest spot on the Atlantic coast. The mountain is the first place the sun hits the US for part of the year. We did not see the sunrise as it was at 4:45AM. Above is the Egg Rock Lighthouse and some of the many islands in the surrounding waters.

We and this gull were enjoying a "birds eye" view of Bar Harbor, the bay and islands.

The Bass Harbor Lighthouse is at the southern most point of the park on Mount Desert Island and is well worth the drive to this little out of the way spot.

Ah, as often happens on these lively summer trips to New England, girl meets buoy.

Maine's Midcoast

We moved on to the Saltwater Farm Campground on the Maine Coast in Cushing. The campground over looks the St. George River. This is a great area with many wonderful views of the islands and ocean along the coast. Our main interest here is the Farnsworth Art Museum in nearby Rockland.

This is beautiful Camden Harbor. They have daily windjammer cruises and we have put that on our to do list. We heard rumors that John Travolta has a home in the area and frequents the local restaurants.
This is the view of Camden from Camden Hills State Park. The park looks out over Penobscot Bay with its many islands and Acadia National Park in the distance.

I enjoyed my first Maine lobster dinner. Places that sell lobster are more common here than pizza places in WashPA. It was excellent and very reasonable.

In Rockland we walk to the end of the mile long breakwater to see the lighthouse. Unfortunately it is only open on the weekends so we just relaxed and soaked up the sun and scenery.

In Thomaston is Montpelier, the home of Henry Knox, a Revolutionary War hero who served as Washington's Secretary of War. The home is open for tours, but that will have to wait for another visit. According to the 1840 census this little town was home to three of the nations seven millionaires. There are many outstanding homes that attest to the towns bygone wealth.

The main reason for our stop was to visit the Farnsworth Art Museum. The museum has an excellent collection of American artists, including one entire building dedicated to three generations of the Wyeth family artists, N.C., Andrew and Jamie. Photographs of their work were not allowed. The museum was originally funded by Lucy Farnsworth the daughter of a local businessman who left her million plus fortune to the town to build a museum/library. The home (above) is a great example of a wealthy merchant's home in the late 1800's. All the furnishings are exactly as Lucy left them when she died at 97 in 1937. The only change was the addition of electricity.

A few of the works at the museum that we could photograph.

To anyone familiar with the work of Andrew Wyeth, you will recognize the Olson house in our rendition of Nancy's World. The home is a very typical of Maine with the carriage house attached to the home. The home is open as part of the museum, but in a rare happening for us we were too early and did not get to tour the inside. This is another reason we will have to return here someday.