29 August 2022 Plymouth MA to Clinton CT

Our stay in Plymouth was fun. There was one adventure we did not get to do and that was going out to Martha’s Vineyard. When we looked into what it would take to get there, it was an hour to the parking area for the ferry, and hour to take the shuttle from the parking area to get to the ferry a minimum of 30 minutes before sailing time, then an hour ferry ride back. Roughly the same amount of time to get back. The tour of the island is 3 hours as well, so it would have been a 9-10 hour day. We could not take Etta with us and leaving her for that long would not be good for her, so we set that one aside for the bucket list. The drive to Connecticut was roughly 4 hours since we took the long way around Providence RI to avoid some low overpasses in downtown. Regardless, we still found ourselves going under passes as low as 13”8’, 13”11’ & 14”2’. We stand at 13”6’! We are staying at the Riverdale Farm Campsites ($48 per night with GSC) in a rural part of the state near the coast. We choose this location since it gets use within striking range of Hershey next week and hopefully gets us away from the Labor Day Crowds. The water pressure is poor at only 32lbs, but otherwise everything else seems to work. They have a rule that we are not allowed to use our washer and dryer. We can’t decide if that is because they want you to pay to use theirs or if the electric and water are so old that it would stress the systems. The road to the park off the interstate is a very narrow farm road with no shoulders and trees encroaching, but fortunately not much traffic, so we could take the center of the road to avoid branches scratching the Wanderer.

Riverdale Farm Campsite

28 August 2022 Wining Massachusetts

 We made it to Plymouth Bay Vineyards Winery! This part of the water front is packed with pubs, restaurants, and shops. We found a convenient place to park the Behemoth and made our way to Plymouth Bay Winery. Massachusetts is the fourteenth state we have tried wine in. We did a sampling and found their wines are very fruity (Sweet) which is not our style of wine. But it was fun to try them. We then picked out the East Bay Grille on the waterfront for a nice seafood dinner. 

24 August 2022 Cape Cod

 We headed out finally to visit the iconic Cape Cod. The signs said it was only 15 miles to the Cape from our campground. We headed out trying to take the back roads so that we could see some of the sea coast. But the roads are far enough back that you rarely see the ocean through the trees and houses. It turns out that most of Cape Cod is privately owned and there are very few public beach access locations. If you go to one of those, you have to pay a special beach access fee. We weaved our way through quaint little towns until eventually we had to jump on the main road. We stopped at the Cape Cod National Seashore visitor center where we got our passport stamp and watched the park movie. After talking with the ranger, we headed to Nauset Beach Lighthouse just down from the visitor center. At the lighthouse we got our first real look at the ocean. The Nauset Beach Lighthouse is the third lighthouse in this location. The first was three masonry light houses in the early 1800s. The three lights signal to mariners that this was the center of three lighthouses on the outer coast of the cape. There was another lighthouse at the southern end that contain two lights and one to the north that contained one light. But erosion caused the three lighthouses to fall into the ocean (the outer cap erodes 3 feet per year). They were replaced by three wooden towers in the late 1800s. When the coast guard went to flashing lights, the three wooden towers were replace by a single cast iron tower. That tower had to be moved back 400 feet in 1997 due to the coast eroding. Next we drove up to the site where in 1903, Marconi sent the first wireless message across the Atlantic. Unfortunately, all the historic structures at the Marconi site have fallen into the sea and washed away years ago. But there were great views of the coast in each direction. The next lighthouse was called Highland Lighthouse. Another cast iron tower light. Interesting it is surrounded by a private golf resort that has been in operation since the 1800s. Our last stop was the visitor center on the very end of Cape Code with some beautiful views from the observation tower. There we learned this was where the Pilgrim’s originally landed in 1620 and spent five weeks here while they explored the area before deciding to build the settlement at Plymouth. We dropped down into Provincetown and drove through the tiny streets before heading back home. We stopped at the Lost Dog Pub on the way back for dinner. While it does not look big on the map, we ended up driving 175 miles out to Provincetown and back!

Entrance sign

Nauset Beach Lighthouse 

The Three Sisters

View from Marconi Site

View from Marconi Site

View from Marconi Site

View from Marconi Site

Highland Lighthouse

View from the Observation Tower

View from Observation Tower

22 August 2022 Newport

 Some campground friends recommended we tour the mansions of Newport. Leslie arranged for a guided tour and we drove down (1.5 hours) in the rain. The tour took us around the town of Newport and past the huge “summer cottages” of the rich and famous. Most were hard to see through the trees and landscaping. The Breakers, former cottage of the Vanderbilts, was open for touring and our tour bus dropped us off there for time to explore the house. The tour of the house is self-guided tour took us through the main floor and the bedrooms/bathrooms of the Vanderbilts. It was interesting to see what they considered roughing it at a summer cottage. The gold gilding was overwhelming. But to be honest, none of the furniture looked very comfortable. The craftsmanship was absolutely amazing. After our tour of the house it was back on the bus back to the Behemoth. We picked out a local brewery (Coddington Brewery) to enjoy an early dinner and a couple of local beers. 

Main Gate to the Breakers

The Breakers "Cottage"

Main Hall of the Breakers

Deck of the Breakers looking out over the Atlantic Ocean

Kitchen of the Breakers

21 August 2022 The Rock

 The famous Plymouth Rock, landing spot of the pilgrims in America in 1620, is only 5 miles down the road from the campground. We decided to get some lunch first and just happened upon Smokehouse Grill on the water in Plymouth Harbor. Turns out this is where the local hang out. We ate at the bar and had a fun conversation with locals at the bar. Its always amazing how many folks are fascinated by our lifestyle. After Lunch, we walked over to the famous Plymouth Rock. Its pretty underwhelming. According to the sign nearby, they are not even sure if this was the exact spot, much less the exact rock where the Pilgrims landed. The rock was not designated as “the” spot until 120 years later. At one point they attempted to move the rock to allow for a pier to be built. In the process, the rock split in half horizontally. The upper half was moved to a museum up the hill and the lower half was incorporated into the pier. People would come by and chip pieces off with provided hammer and chisel. The year was carved into the rock in the 1800s. The rock halves were rejoined in 1887 and cemented together. The portico was built in 1921. Nearby was the replica of the Mayflower. We looked it over and decided not to pay for the tour of the Mayflower. For all the hype, it’s a historical tourist trap. After viewing the rock, we walked the shopping district before heading for the Plymouth Plantation, a recreation of the first fort and settlement. But they were closing within an hour of our arrival so we decided to save that for another day.

Portico over Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Harbor

The Plymouth Rock

Mayflower Replica

20 August 2022 Salisbury to Plymouth MA

 We said good bye to our neighbors and headed for Plymouth. We took the long way around Boston on I-495 to avoid the tunnels in town. The drivers in this area don’t seem to understand how far it takes us to stop 34,000 pounds. We were repeatedly cut off in heavy traffic which made the drive a bit nerve racking. We arrived in Plymouth a couple of hours later than we expected due to the heavy traffic. We are staying at the Pinewood Lodge Campground ($66 per night, no discount, charged us $45 extra for Etta). Its only 5 miles to Plymouth Rock and 15 miles to Cape Cod. 

19 August 2022 Old Iron Sides

 Our plan was to go into Boston to visit Quincey Market and get lunch, check out Faneuil Hall, then walk to some of the revolutionary war sites. But after circling around the area for an hour, we could not find any place to park the Behemoth. The ceilings in the parking garages were too low, and the street level parking lots too narrow for the Behemoth. After an hour, we gave up and headed for the Charleston Naval Yard. We found easy parking there and headed for the Charleston Naval Historic Park. After watching the film in the visitor center and exploring the exhibits, we headed over to the USS Constitution. The USS Constitution is the oldest warship afloat in the world and is still an active ship in the US Navy. She is manned by US Navy personnel even though she is docked at a NPS facility. We came aboard around midship and walked around the top deck. David went down to the gunnery deck and then down to the crew quarters. The USS Constitution was last refitted in the historic number 1 dry dock nearby in 2017-2019. They take her out for a sail on the harbor 7-8 times a year. She was last taken out last weekend. We wish we could have seen that! Built between 1794 and 1797, she was the first ship to go into the historic number 1 dry dock when it was completed in 1834. For being 225 years old, she is in amazing shape. She has almost been dismantled multiple times in her history, but has been saved by the American Public through fund raising efforts each time. Nearby is the USS Casson Young, a WWII destroyer, now a floating museum. We walked down to see her, but did not go on board. We then toured the USS Constitution Museum before heading back to the Behemoth. We were both starving by now since we did not get lunch in Quincey Market as planned. Realizing we were near Bunker Hill, we picked out a pub on the way to the monument, got lucky and found a place to park, and stopped in for an early dinner. We then drove over to the Bunker Hill Park, but once again could not find a place to park the Behemoth. So we drove around the monument before heading for home. Traffic was horrific so it took a while to get back, but Etta was very happy to see us. 

Entrance Sign

Main Deck

Looking Forward

Main Deck Guns

Aft deck looking forward

Gun deck

Captains Quarters

Gun carriages

Gun Deck capstan

Dry Dock #1

Dry Dock Info Sign

Use Constitution in dock

Rear Deck

Use Constitution side view

18 August 2022 Historic Newburyport

 Leslie went in the morning to get her hair cut and David took the opportunity to get in some work hours. In the afternoon, we drove down to the historic port of Newburyport. The old customs building, from when the port was very busy, has been turned into a maritime museum. We toured the museum and walked into the main shopping area. We found a Mexican restaurant and realized we were hungry. Even though we asked for the food to be spicy, it was not up to Texas standards. The Margaritas were passible though. It was fun to have Mexican food again after going months without!

Old Customs House and Maritime Museum

Newburyport town square

Old Church

15 August 2022 Essex tour

 Talking with our neighbors, Dave and Dollie, who are from the area, suggested we check out Ipswich and Gloucester on our way to Salam. In Ipswich, we stopped at the famous Clam Box for a delicious lunch of fried clams and scallops. Many of the houses in Ipswich date back to the early colonial days. The oldest we saw was built in 1650. We then drove through Gloucester and around the island to see the old fishing villages and the port. The roads were very narrow so were a challenge with the Behemoth. But we made it through. We arrived in Salam around 2:30 and managed to find a place to park the Behemoth on the street. We walked back to the Salam Witch Museum. We were surprised to find that you could only buy tickets on line for the museum. Leslie tried to connect up to investigate, but the connection was so slow and poor, she finally gave up. So we walked around the town of Salam and took in the sites and witch shops. We found a brewery and stopped in for a cold brew.

The Clam Box

Gloucester Harbor

Salam Witch Museum

13 August 2022 Trenton ME to Salisbury MA

 The drive along the eastern side of Maine took longer than we expected. The drive from Trenton to Bangor had really bad stop and go traffic that ended just before we got on to I-395. Only reason we could see was due to a traffic cop on the other side of the road by an Army/Navy store that was having an event. But it had traffic backed up for 9 miles! Once on I-95 south, the drive was pretty easy. We had trouble finding a place to pull over for lunch because the rest stops were closed. When we got down to the Portland area, I-95 turned into a toll road. The first toll station was only $5.25 but that was all the cash we had on us. The next toll station ($12), we offered our credit card, but they don’t allow use of credit or debit cards. The booth guy just waived us on through. The next toll booth ($16.50) just before leaving Maine, would also not take a credit card and there was nowhere to get cash, so we had to fill out a form to receive a voucher that we will have to pay by mail. Very out dated system. Then we were surprised by a toll booth for the less than 10 miles of traveling through New Hampshire. They also would not take credit cards but had a way that we can pay on line. It would be easier if NTTA had a agreement with EZPass for toll exchange. Just across the border in Massachusetts, we exited I-95 for our next campground. We are staying at Black Bear Campground ($60 per night with GSC) in Salisbury. This is an old camp ground in a forest. Maneuvering the Wanderer through the narrow tree lined roads was a bit nerve racking with trees right up against the road, but turned out to be fairly easy to get into our site. While hooking up we noticed that Phase 1 of the campground AC was only 109 volts while Phase 2 was 119 volts. Probably due to a lot of 30 amp loads on phase one from the weekend crowd. The park was very full and many of the sites appear to be seasonal folks that come in for the weekend. There were so many trees that getting satellite TV was impossible. They do have a analog cable system but the quality is pretty bad. There WiFi is by a third party (WiFiNow) that keeps kicking us off the net every 20 minutes. We did not feel like cooking, se we drove down into the town of Salisbury and picked up a pizza and beer to bring back for dinner. 

12 August 2022 Paddling Eagle Lake

 One paddle in Acadia was not enough! We headed back into the park with our kayaks again today. We decided to do Eagle Lake since we knew where the launching point was located. Once again, we got really lucky and were able to unload the kayaks and get a parking space for the Behemoth in the nearby parking lot. The launch was very busy with bike tours stopping for pictures, people launching kayaks and canoes and folks wander around getting in the way. We were so happy to get out on the water and away from the crowds! Eagle lake is much smaller than Long Pond, so we decided to paddle down one shore and back up the other. The weather was once again beautiful with temperatures around 70, partly cloudy skies, but a bit more of a breeze than the other day. A couple sitting in the rocks as we headed out pointed out that they had just seen an eagle flying across the lake. Leslie had seen it as well while David parked the truck.  It was chasing a seagull across the water.  So we kept our eyes peeled looking for it. The lake turned out to be longer than we thought and it felt like we were paddling against a current even though we had the wind to our back. So we cut across to the other shore about 3/4s of the way down the lake and headed back. Paddling against the wind, we felt like we were crawling. Actually, we think we could have crawled faster! It was a long slow paddle back up the lake and the wind seemed to pick up as we were about half way back. Leslie saw the eagle several times, but we never got a picture. By the time we made it back to the launching area, our arms and shoulders were pretty tired. In other words, a great day! Landing this time was easier as there was not as many people getting in the way. On the way home, we stopped at the Bar Harbor Winery for a last sampling of their wines and to stock up. After getting back to the Wanderer, we washed down the kayaks again and loaded all the gear back in the garage for the drive in the morning. We had reservations at the Jordon Pond House for dinner, but decided to cancel them since we did not feel like the drive back into the park. Instead we went to one of the lobster houses on Maine 3 just before you cross the bridge onto Desert Island. We had to get one more lobster roll before we left Maine. Although fresh, it was a bit over cooked and not as big or delicious as the ones we had gotten at Chipman’s. But it was still good and a great way to end our Maine visit. 

Eagle Lake

Leslie Paddling

David Paddling

Bar Harbor Winery

Walking with the Sasquatch

Last dinner in Maine

Now that is a Maine chair

RV Park Sunset