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

Our Trip to Maine 2016.....Part 4

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

Part 3 of our Maine trip is HERE.

A quick trip to the grocery store after our boat ride for some breakfast items, where I saw this soda display......

Only in New England can you see so much Moxie!
I posted this photo on Facebook and everyone(everyone who didn't know what Moxie was)thought it was some kind of orange flavored soda.
Um....no.  Hardly orange!  More like if a root beer and a licorice soda had a love child with roofing tar...that wouldn't be Moxie!! lolz

We hit a Chinese buffet for dinner(way overpriced and pretty "meh")and then headed back to the island and our motel to watch a little tv and sleep.

The next day we did a bit of exploring around the Bailey's and Orr's islands and over to the Harpswell peninsula.

First it was down to Land's End on Bailey's Island.

I first came here in 1980 while working at a Summer theater.
One of the other interns was a local gal(well she was from Augusta but knew this area well)and she had a car and she drove a couple of us down here on one of our rare days off.

It's where the road and the island ends and overlooks upper Casco Bay.

You can stay at the end of Bailey's Island in an oceanfront compound Now if you have a wad of cash to spend.

There is a substantial island off shore here called Jaquish Island. It's only accessible by boat and there is now a house with a solar array on it.  It looks like the house is connected to Bailey's Island in this photo but it's just the angle of the shot.

Anybody know what these plants are called?  They have fern-like leaves and a red stalky flower.  My mother used to call them "Shoemaker's" as that is what she grew-up calling them back in the hills of VA.

There is a large gift shop overlooking the Bailey's Island beach here called Land's End Gifts.
It's a fun place to poke around and pick up a souvenir or two.

Moxie is now the official soda drink of Maine thus someone wrote this book............

I got hungry looking at this cookbook.

Enlarge this sign and read it.....funny!

Who's the momma?
I'm the momma!
The drawing even looks like me. *snort*

WTF?!?

A poo hat.
Is it me?

I really wanted this octopus but left it behind because I didn't want to end up with many tubs of stuffed animals when I got old(like some people I know)......

More shots from the gift shop deck where we sat a spell........

And my gratuitous selfie with the lobsterman statue.
Victor Kahill created a statue for the 1939 New York World's Fair which was the centerpiece of the Maine section in the Hall of States at that Fair.
It was a likeness of a Bailey Island resident and lobsterman "Snoody" Johnson.
Shortly after Mr. Johnson's death 3 copies of the statue were commissioned and cast and placed in Augusta, Portland and here on Bailey's Island.
At some point I believe the Augusta ME statue was moved to Washington DC and graces the waterfront there, a gift from the people of Maine.

Then we set off back up Rte. 24........

And stopped at Mackerel Cove.
Mackerel Cove side vew from the road......

And the view from the beach looking Southward toward Casco Bay.

This is a much photographed place in Maine as it is a small working harbor cove and quite picturesque.

Platform for stowing traps and barrels among the fishing boats.....

A platform filled with lobster traps.....

Then it was back up Rte. 24 and over the cribstone bridge to Orr's Island

We stopped in at the Salt Cod Cafe at the lower edge of the island for a little something as we hadn't had breakfast that morning.

 We sat outside and I had a cup of chowder.

And this little guy came out of the stone wall to say "hi" and wait for me to drop something to eat.

Then we headed further up Rte. 24 to Sebacodegan Island and caught Mountain Rd. over to the Harpswell Peninsula.  At North Harpswell we took the Harpswell Neck Rd. down to Basin Point Rd. and the end of the peninsula and our destination for lunch off the wharf there.

A working fishing wharf.  The little shack on the right is a supply store and the decking on the left with the picnic table below is the front of a shack selling live lobsters.

The hard working mascot of the family businesses here.  She'd trot up the wharf to greet a new arrival and then find a sunny spot to snooze.  She'd get too hot after 10 minutes and move under a picnic table or car's shady spot.  Working hard that one! ;-)

Our dining spot du jour was Erica's.
This is the way natives eat seafood in Maine.

Dining outdoors at a seafood shack.

Here's my lunch....a box of scallops and fries.
Mmmmm......the sea air makes this the best way to eat seafood!

I just had to snap this purse at the table next to us.  A big ass Caddy unloaded 2 elderly couples, complete with sweaters tied around their necks(Preppy Alert!)....sweaters in August! lolz
Anyway, one of the blue haired women had this purse.
I looked it up and it's mighty expensive for a plastic purse.

Hubs partaking of some local blueberry ice cream.  I was too full after my lunch and a chowder breakfast for dessert.

We headed back to our motel for a mid afternoon nap but took a few photos along the way.......

Back on the island I had Hubs stop so I could get a shot of this cute Gothic cottage done in yellow with purple trim.

And the matching garage.

After a nice nap we headed back to town(off the island)for dinner and had more photograph opportunities..

Lobster traps along the road......

I can't remember what we had for dinner(something unmemorable like Applebee's I suppose as I had a gift card).
As it got dark we made our way back to the island........

Sunset afforded me more nice shots where we stopped along the way.........

We watched a little tv and read before bed on our last night on Bailey's Island.
We were headed out in the morning for new locations.

Sluggy