Our Trip to Maine August 2016......Part 1

We took a vacation to Maine Summer of 2016 and here I am finally getting around to blogging about that trip.
Sluggy once again is really on the ball, huh? lolz

We left on July 30th actually.  While traveling through New York state we stopped to do a bit of genealogy business.

My 3x Great Grandparents as well as their children(among them my 2x Great Grandfather)are all buried together in upstate NY.
So we stopped at the Walkill Cemetery outside of Middletown NY where I thought they were buried.

Two hours later we find they are buried at a different Walkill Cemetery(same cemetery name, differnt town name)so we go there and found the massive headstone.

Information recorded and photos taken we jumped back into the car and head East to Massachusetts.

I had recently, back then, gotten in touch with my cousin, Mel.  Other than across the tent at our grandmother's funeral back in 1981, we really hadn't seen/talked to each other since we were little, around 1969 or so, when my family had stopped at her house on a camping vacation to New England.

I had told her we were heading to Maine and I'd love to stop by to see her and her DH on the way and she invited us to stay the night.  Mel also told her mom(my aunt), her siblings and various of all their kids we were visiting and quite a few of them showed up for what became a nice family gathering.

Me and my only Aunt(my father's sister).

Me and my cousin Mel.

Me and my cousin Tim.

Mel, Me, Aunt Marilyn and Tim's daughter, also Mel(for Melanie).

Me and Mel spokesmodeling her latest painting creation.

It was a great visit!

Sunday morning we said our goodbyes and headed out in the rain for Maine.  Bur first we got turned around on the local roads while trying to gas up the car and fuel up our tummies.  After some head scratching we got on the highway and 45 min. later we were in New Hampshire......

And 25 minutes after that we were crossing into Maine.

An hour after that milestone, we were at our first destination of the day, the Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse.

Actual there are two lighthouses at Cape Elizabeth.  The second one isn't really on the water and only the top part is visible from the road unless you drive up another private street.

You also can't get to the lighthouse from here(you have to wind your way down a different street)but here is a photo I snapped of Hubs with it in the background.

A shot of some interesting rock formations.

Me with the lighthouse.

Rocks and vegetation.

More rocks jutting out into the water.

There were about  200 foreigners(mostly Asian) walking on the rocks the day we were there.   Just seemed strange to encounter so many tourists there on that crappy weather day.  I didn't think this was a big touristy place to go and it was certainly NOT what I'd call spectacular scenery here.  It's just an ordinary ocean view like thousands of other's along the rocky New England coastline.  I guess it's one the first you come to by car traveling north into Maine from the NH/MA area so that might explain the crowds.

We stopped at the Lobster Shack at Two Lights for a quick snack as it was after noon.
I had a cup of Lobster Stew.  It was very runny so I dumped all the oyster crackers in the packet into it.  OK flavor but nothing great.  I can't remember what Hubs had and neither can he so it was likewise not a memorable dish. lolz

A nice shot of the lighthouse and the water.....

The rain held off as we drove up to Portland to one of the many craft breweries in that area called Bissell Brothers.

This place was so crowded and noisy!  I guess everyone in Portland goes to drink craft beer when it's a rainy, dreary Sunday.

Their website is HERE.  According to what I read there, I guess they are always crowded as the day we stopped in.

There seem to be a LOT of young children in the tap room.  I guess this is a "thing" with the younger folks, they bring their infants, toddlers and young children with them to drink beer?  I just wish these parents would also bring their parenting skills with them and actually WATCH THEIR FREAKING KIDS! while in a public space.
Geez!!!

Hubs wasn't blown away by their offerings and they were out of some types.  Not an auspicious start to our time in Maine.

A while later we drove North, passing this iconic food place, the beloved "Fat Boy" drive-in  on the way to our first motel stop.
Unfortunately we didn't stop here to eat this trip.  Our timing just wasn't right and we weren't in the mood for fast food stuff.

The first motel we stayed at was this one............

Cook's Island View Motel on Bailey Island in Casco Bay.
These environs are my old Maine stomping grounds from my Summers working Summer stock theater in 1980 and 1981 but I've never stayed on the island before.
It's a small old motel with about 12 rooms to let from Memorial Day to Columbus Day.  There is a small outdoor pool as well.

Each room has a couple of Adirondack chairs on a wooden "porch" with pots of flowers interspersed about the decking.  It's cute and not too pricey for the area but there is no breakfast provided really, just juice and coffee each morning.

They started out putting us into the wrong room.  It only had 1 bed(full sized) and I had booked a 2 bed room.  So we lugged all our stuff halfway down the length of the building near the office into this room, with the beautimous "art" work on the wall......

Ummmm.....yeah!
So we get to unpacking and then went out to Captain Mike's Restaurant a local seafood place in Brunswick, Maine for dinner.
When on vacation eat local!

They even had their own private label root beer which I gave a try.

We went back to the motel to settle in for the night but other guests had other ideas.  Seems the manager put us in the room next to the room they used as a lounge for guests and there was a rather large group that wanted to party for a few hours.  And this is when we found out that the on-site manager leaves at 8 pm. and can't be reached to enforce rules.
I'll just say that the walls in this place are paper thin and we weren't happy about being kept awake past quiet hours. ugh. 

Not an auspicious start to our Maine stay but things improved greatly the next day.

Sluggy

The Great Summer Road Trip of 2013.....Day 9 & 10.....THE END

We woke up on Day 9 in the little town of AltaVista, VA.
AltaVista was a planned community, built around the turn of the 20th century, by industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers, at the point of convergence of 3 rail lines that carried bituminous coal from the hills to the sea port in Hampton Roads, VA.
The Lane Brothers Construction Company bought acreage to lay tracks for the railroad where 3 rail lines met and then had a town laid out surrounding this convergence and the town of AltaVista was born.
Incidentally, a John Lane purchased a box plant in AltaVista in 1912 and had his son Ed, start a chest factory in his manufacturing plant.  It grew and prospered and became known as Lane Home Furnishings.  They were well known for their cedar chests or "hope chests" which many girls growing up in Virginia were given as teens.
This one looks like mine.....

But I digress.

So what in heaven's name were we doing in AltaVista, VA?

Well it's in Campbell County Virginia near where my mother's father's family is from, the Phenix/Brookneal part of the county.
And it's the closest town to there with a motel.

First thing after breakfast at the motel, we went into town for a few things and to look around at the local Rose's store.
I found my daughter a lovely frock I know she is so sad that I didn't buy it for her......

A sleeveless jean dress with a chiffon camouflage skirt.
Can you imagine somebody actually bought and worn that......on purpose?!?!

 

Today was my day to spend some time at the Campbell County library, in their genealogical collection.

But first, we hit the cemetery of the Falling River Baptist Church in Brookneal.
Many of my mother's father's side of the family are buried here......

Grand old Magnolia tree in the center of the cemetery.

Here is my 2 x Great Grandmother, Mary Agnes Holt Tucker.....

There are lots of Tuckers, Harpers, Holts, Masons plus more of my family lines buried here.

I even found this stone, which may be of interest to LINDA ........

It was a horribly muggy, humid day and after about 40 minutes in the cemetery shooting photos the skies opened up and we had to leave.  Unfortunately, the rain didn't cool much of anything or any one off.

We went into Brookneal to search out some lunch.  Being the huge metropolis that Brookneal is(pop. 1,112), the choices were few if not at all.
So we went to the elegant restaurant my brother, when in the area on business, would take our Great Aunt Ollie and Uncle Warren to dinner, the Golden Skillet.

This chain began in 1964 in Richmond, was sold out to Dairy Queen in the 1980's and then sometime after that, they sold the brand to a franchisee in NC.  This is one of the few GS still in operation.
We got there at the tail end of the lunch rush so we missed their Fried Chicken Buffet. 
We had a lunch special(chicken-of course!lol, 2 sides and a biscuit)along with some iced tea.
It was good and filling but definitely not low-calorie.

On the way in I spied the local "watermelon man"......

This is a common sight during the Summer in the rural South.  Somebody taking their garden produce(or buying a lot of produce from a wholesaler or market)into town, parking in a store's lot and selling out of the back of their truck.
The lady on the right in the photo was none too happy with what this guy was trying to charge for his melons.
Highway robbery.....or rather parking lot robbery.  ;-)

I would have bought some myself except with weren't heading home for another day and we didn't have anyplace to put them to keep them fresh, short of turning out motel bathtub into a giant ice chest.

Before we leave Brookneal let me just add this funny footnote--
Just to prove that I come from a long line of agitators and rebels......it is said that on August 23, 1852, Brookneal & it's citizenry succeeded from the United States of America for a couple of weeks.

The President sent 2 dozen armed soldiers to convince the town to rejoin the Union.  After hours of "peace talks", the terms of the compromise the town's mayor agreed to let the town return to the country and the Republic of Brookneal was given $2,000 and a rifle to every citizen of the town.
Of course, I have no doubts that 9 years later, most of those guns were drawn against the Union on the home front or in battle.  ;-)

See?
I come from true American non-conformist stock. 
But take this story with a grain of salt since I can't confirm it besides one online source.  ;-)

After lunch, Hubs took me to Rustburg(the county seat)and let me spend 2 hours going through books I can't get access to except in person.  I took my camera and was able to photograph many pages of potentially useful information.  I must say that I still haven't gotten around to actually reading all those pages but in the next couple of months I WILL read them.
We ran out of time to get to the courthouse next door to do some record searches there so that will have to wait until another visit.
I did get to see some town history books and some handmade family genealogy booklets.  The books had some great photos of assorted family lines I hadn't seen before too.

 

That guy is most probably my 2nd cousin 3 x removed from the little digging I have done on him.  (His grandfather was the brother of my 3x Great Grandmother.)  He was killed working on a bridge and his wife ended up in a mental hospital in 1930.

That evening we went out for dinner at this place we saw along the highway......notice the Kudzu swallowing up the trees behind the place.....

We figured the lot was full so it must be good, right?
It was pretty much a dive type place inside, so I felt right to home. lol
The adult beverage selection was excellent and the food was good....not great but good.
And the a/c was going full blast(it was late August)so it was all good for me.  8-))

We parked next to a big bush and look at what was hanging out on it......

The bush was covered in butterflies!  Wish I had a better camera and more time to shot them but Hubs was hollering for me to get a move on!

When we got back to the motel I suited up and went out into the motel pool.  It was still beastly muggy so that water felt good.  The skeeters kept away long enough for me to get a swim in.

Back in the room, I opened a bottle of wine and took a nice hot bath.....funny how our 1st room & last room on the trip both had a big ass tub in them.....

That sliding glass door opened the bathroom up into the motel room, so I slid it open and sipped wine in a plastic cup and watched TV while lounging in my hot bath.

Day TEN

The next morning we hit the free hot breakfast in the lobby HARD!(Kim hits her sewing hard but I hit breakfast hard. lol)then checked out and started the 8+ hour trip home to PA.

Some interesting sights on the road......

Here's a closer view....anybody remember this brand of soda?
Incidentally, you can still buy this stuff in some South American, Central American countries, as well as Pakistan and South Africa.

Too bad it was too early to stop for lunch when we passed this place......

We took a smaller road through the Rockfish Valley, up toward Waynesboro.  Kept seeing signs for a place called Saunders Brothers Farm and Orchard along the road, so we turned off to check it out.
It's a high falootin' farm market, crawling with mostly what seemed like tourists and people passing through bound for yuppie towns like Charlottesville.  At least that's what the prices were reflective of.
The veggies and fruits were pretty but the prices were like what you'd find in Whole Foods and such.
And they had a large selection of supposedly home canned condiments, salsas, relishes, jams and jellies and spreads with quite the high sticker prices to.
No thanks.
And I didn't even feel the need to take any pictures even though some fruitcake of a fellow kept following us around the market and kept trying to get us to talk to him about melons.
???
That was our cue to split.

Instead of jumping onto I-81 at Waynesboro, we decided to take a detour.......




Yep, we took the long meandering way through here.....

Now for some gratuitous photos along the Skyline Drive......

And here's another video......music to drive through the mountains of Virginia by.....



Here's some more info on Jim Lloyd and The Skyliners....



After we left the Skyline Parkway(we only drove a portion of the whole thing),  we stopped at a liquor store in Elkton and Hubs stocked up on some Dickel whiskey since we can't get it up in Yankeeland PA.
I went into a Food Lion and stocked up on this......

Cheerwine.
A cherry soda they only sell in the South.
It reminds me of cough syrup my mother use to give me when I was a kid.....reminds me in a good way. 
I "heart" cherry flavor.  8-)

In Harrisonburg we hit this place for lunch.....

Good subs there.

Then we tried to make some good time and stuck to the Interstate......

I LOVE this photo.......Oooooo! A hot shirtless man!!

Here it is again, but closer......on closer inspection maybe shirtless is NOT the right look for this guy.....

 And here's a tight shot.....

"Breathtaking Scenery is RIGHT!"
A sweaty hairy middle aged paunchy man.....
Euwwww!
Bwwaaaaaahhhhh!!!

Ok enough of disgusting, let's look at some nice pictures.......

 

Hey!  I wonder if I have any family living there?

And not soon enough, we were crossing back into WV.....

Potty & picture break in Wild and Wonderful WV....

Then shortly after we crossed into MD.....

And after a very short while, into PA.....

And to illustrate once again, how I always attract the strange and weird, look at what we passed on the Interstate once we got into PA..........

You can read all about Lynda Farley HERE .
I love that I caught her taking a drag from her cigarette in that last photo.  8-)
She must have been on her way to NJ for a court appearance when we passed her in August.
Or she could have been on her way to fight summons issued in PA, since she has gotten those too.

And just so you know.....don't EVER Google "smoking granny", unless of course you want to see old lady porn....... 8-X

We stopped in Linglestown PA at a truck stop for dinner.
We just did the Buffet du Jour since we didn't want to wait for made-to-order food.  It was steak night.
Might have been nice if they had supplied something that cut better than a plastic knife.

Here's a pseudo cake/brownie.
I thought it was a brownie but it turned out to be a really dry piece of cake....what the plastic wrap covering it trying to keep the moist OUT or IN?!?
Beats me.....

There were random shreds of coconut inside it.  Not even coconut to flavor the thing, but more like someone in the kitchen said, "Hey! What should I do with this handful of coconut that is leftover?  I  know.....I'll put it into this cake that needs more moisture!!"
Just so you know kitchen worker.....it didn't help.

We pulled into the driveway around 9pm that evening.
Glad to be home but sorry that our travels had come to an end.

I can't wait to get out on the highway again!

This is your roving reporter signing off.....

Sluggy