Our Trip to Maine 2016.......Part 7

Part 1 of our Maine trip is HERE.
Part 2 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 3 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 4 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 5 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 6 of our Maine trip is HERE.

On our last full day in Maine before heading home we decided to have an unplanned adventure.
Well unplanned until I saw something about an event that day on the internet back in our hotel room.

We hit the interstate and drove North and then West.......

These folks had quite a long haul yet to get home to Nova Scotia

Passing something unusual on the interstate.....a Coast guard vessel......

The sky was beautiful that day.  45 minutes later we were in Skowhegan Maine.

Skowhegan was holding the end of their RiverFest that day!  Information on it HERE.
We stopped for gas and then Hubs dropped me off downtown and he hunted for a parking spot.
While waiting on him I saw these ginormous sculptures by a local artist Bernard Langlais.

The Skowhegan Indian is noted in Roadside America as being the tallest Native American statue in America.

He was created by Langlais, who attended the local artist school in Old Town ME, in 1969 for the 150th Anniversary of the the state of Maine.(Technically 1970 was 150 years since Maine gained statehood and separated from Massachusetts but let's not quibble.)
That's not some sort of scaffolding in front of him, it's a replica of a trap the Abnaki Indians used for fishing.

An art installation/child's playground also created by Langlais(though they don't want kids climbing on this any longer).

Hubs showed up and we wandered into the area cordoned off for the Fest.
The local fired department had a big engine there and were letting the little kids shoot the fire hose!!

A little further in there was someone leading dancing........


Another turn down to the left and there was a farmer's market set up........

Too bad we weren't going home that day(and didn't bring a cooler)or I'd have picked up some lovely looking veggies!

                                     
There was even a company selling soups and things made with maine products.
Cream of Fiddlehead soup anyone?!?

Hey!  There's another Langlais scuplture called "Seated Woman".

Sluggy posing for a photo by the Skowhegan poster.
Hubs got a Riverfest t-shirt there.

There was a large tented area with vendors.  We browsed but there was nothing calling my name.

I did however find some things to buy, all food related.
Some Marfax beans which are native to Maine since the Great Depression when the federal government sent some up to grow in the poverty stricken area of Washington County, ME.

I also bought these sauces from the folks of Silverton Sporting Ranch in Canaan, ME.  Besides having a guest ranch and a guide service they find the time to bottle and sell barbecue-like sauces.
We tasted and bought Apple Rum, Cherry Habanero and Honey Bourbon.

After we'd seen all there was to see at the Riverfest that day we got back on the local roads to head back to the interstate we stopped at this park along the Kennebec River.

The plaque talked about the history of the area/the river.

Nice scenery along the river.

I was surprised to not see any kayakers or boaters out on the water as it was a perfect day for that.

Benedict Arnold came through here on the way to surprise British forces in Quebec City in 1775.  That didn't end too well for our side. lolz

Hubs wanted to go to this brew pub so we headed back up to Bangor.

Geaghan Brothers Brewing and Restaurant.

They also bottle of their offerings and Hubs had picked up the Smiling Irish Bastard variety in the Topsham liquor store.

Hubs got a flight and I got their Roundhouse Porter and we had an early dinner there.  The food must have been "eh" since I can't for the life of me remember what I ate. lolz

After dinner we headed back to the motel in Augusta passing one of the ubiquitous signs of this area......

Never have seen a moose yet in Maine.

We took the interstate South to Portsmouth NH then took Rte. 202 West to Concord and then Rte. 2 across NH.

 An interesting street name in the backwoods of NH.

 Hubs wanted to stop at one of the breweries along this route in NH but we were too early so we stopped at a convenience stop with a sign touting that they had a large selection of NH craft bears.

 Well this one certainly wasn't from New Hampshire but rather Sweden.....lol

Oskar Blues Priscilla White Wit Wheat(try saying that 10 times fast)........NH by way of CO.
I can't see this beer can without thinking this......



Hubs did find a few NH brews....Henniker and Out.Haus Ales.
The world of craft beers love a good laugh and I love the labels for Out.Haus brewing......

Yep, that's an outhouse on the label. lolz

Back on the road and we stopped in Keene for lunch.  This building use to be a Red Lobster back in the 1990's when the kids and I stopped here for lunch once.  Then it was turned into a Ninety Nine restaurant but lo and behold it was now a sub shop........

Yep, the same chain that Daughter worked for in Wilkes-Barre briefly that she lovingly referred to as "a shit show".
The subs were 'meh' but I brought her home a card in case she wanted to get a job there again. lolz

We stopped in NY at a rest stop near Fishkill that had this historic marker.
Some day we need to see the Van Wyck Homestead/Museum there.

The usual interstate traffic in August but us back home around dinner time.

Besides the beer Hubs bought and some t-shirts for the kids, the sauces in Skowhegan, the goodies at Ocean State Job Lot and Reny's, plus some metal grilling skewers I found at that Goodwill we hit in Maine, here is the bulk of my "other" souvenirs.........

The tea bags, cereal boxes and granola bars from the breakfast at the hotel in Augusta.  Staying there 5 days gave me quite the haul! lolz

Thus ended our little trip to Maine in August of 2016.
Didn't take me long to get this written up or anything now, did it? ;-)

Sluggy