Maine Coast

What a beautiful day!  We left this morning heading North up Route 1 along the coast.  Our first photo stop was York Beach.

That is the Cape Neddick lighthouse off in the distance.

Stu enjoying the beautiful sunny day, but not checking the temperature of the water!

The Cape Neddick lighthouse:  Congress appropriated $15,000 for the building of a lighthouse on the "Nubble" in 1876.  The 41-foot cast-iron tower, lined with brick, was first illuminated on July 1, 1879.

The lighthouse is still in operation but is not open to the public, as a matter of fact the only way to get to the island is by a little bucket on a cable or by boat.

I wish this blog had smell...I love the smell of the ocean.  It's kind of hard to get in Tennessee!

On to Kennebunkport with the Bush compound off in the distance.  

Vacation home of the former presidents... not too shabby!

 

Welcome to Old Orchard Beach!

Old Orchard Beach has been promoted as a tourist destination since 1631, when its first settler established a "Garden By the Sea."  In 1829 the first Public House opened, and in 1837 tourist paid $1.50 each to stay at a local farm.  Airplanes took off from the beach and auto races were held on the sand.  Over the years Old Orchard developed into a major resort. 

A typical beach town, mostly t-shirt shops and fast foods.

There is a seaside amusement park the Palace Playland, it dates back to 1902 and sits on four acres of beachfront property.  Palace Playland is one of the last old-timey oceanside amusement parks in New England.

We are on our way home tomorrow morning, bright and early...

South Bound...

When we left my folks place this morning, the sun was shining and we could tell it was going to be a beautiful day, and we were right!  I took these just up the hill from my folks place, love it!

We were on our way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire passing through Grafton Notch State Park.  We stopped at Screw Auger Falls, one of my favorites, to take some pictures. 

 

With all the rain we've gotten in the last few days, the falls were beautiful!

 

The water looked so nice and clear, but as you can imagine COLD!

We are currently staying at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.  Tomorrow "should" be sunny and 71, so we are going to take advantage of the nice weather with a drive up the coast and maybe a "lobsta roll" for lunch!

Together Again!

Wow, it's been a really long time since my side of the family has been together!  Thanksgiving of 07 was the last time...too long! Well, almost everyone, my nephew Patrick is on a submarine in the Navy (carrying on the family tradition, 3rd generation Stanczyc) and is currently deployed.  Friday morning we headed up to Upton, Maine but first a stop in Kittery, Maine just across the New Hampshire border for lunch at Bob's clam hut.  Great seafood, and it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives.

This was yesterday, now I know this is Maine, but it is the end of May...  The high yesterday was around 44 degrees and raining.  Which is why we are all huddled around the grills!  From left to right that's my oldest brother Frank, my Dad, brother Mike, me and Stu.

We went to visit with Mom and Dad's neighbor and old friend Ellie, she's a ball of fire!

This is Ellie's log cabin.

Me and my Mom.

My sister-in-law Lori and Mom.

Me and Lori.

My brothers Frank and Mike (in the red), Dad, me and Mom. 

Wednesday is Mike and Lori's 25th wedding anniversary, so "let there be cake"!

The happy couple!

I can't believe how terrible the weather has been!  So much rain and cold, as a matter of fact when we got up this morning, it was snowing!!  All the rivers/lakes are really high.

Me and Mike.

Mom and Dad with three of my nephews (Mike and Lori's), from the left, Nick, Mike and Harry.

The weather was rotten, but we had a great time anyway! We leave tomorrow for two days in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The weather is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's...we'll see!

Newport, Rhode Island

We headed out this morning with the intent of getting some exercise on the Cliff Walk.  It's a 3 1/2 mile walk (one way), with some beautiful views.  The ocean on one side and mansions of the rich and famous on the other.

I think this would look great at the top of our driveway....modest, right?  This is actually one of the entrances to the "Breakers", once owned by the Vanderbilt family, now owned by the Preservation Society.

It is foggy here, so unfortunately there was no view, but at least it's not raining.

Come on lottery....

We didn't get very far and found this...  rotten! 

But it was still nice.

This was on the side of one of the Salve Regina University buildings.  "but I, being poor, have only my dreams."  Kind of ironic, we thought...

Since it was right next to this...  This was a private home, but is now a University building.

 

Not sure who owned this one...

I thought we had some nice looking stone work, maybe we can work one of these in somewhere!

We stopped by Fort Adams but the tours weren't running at the time. The original fort was built in 1799 then redesigned and this larger fort was built in 1841.

Lunch at the Atlantic Beach Club.... olives, bread and olive oil, clam chowder and a stuffed quahog to start.

Back on base... this is the USS Saratoga (CV-60) or "Sorry Sara" as she was know.  Originally commissioned in 1956 and decommissioned in 1994, she has been here ever since.  In her day, she carried a crew of 5,540 men and between 70 and 90 aircraft.  If you can believe it with 20 years (and one week) in the Navy, I have no sea time. Stu however has been on more than he can remember, including this one. He actually designed the CHT (collection, holding and transfer) system on the "Sara".

 On our way up to Maine tomorrow for the weekend.