Day 2
Saturday, October 9, 2021
Since I had crashed so early, I was up for sunrise, such as it was.
You know it’s a classy motel when they share the building with a coffee shop and a tattoo parlor.
A few thoughts about the room. I was fine, but two people would have had little room to maneuver. It seemed clean the night before and I did get a good night’s sleep. I didn’t notice until I stepped into the shower stall that the bottom inch of the shower curtain was black with mold. Once it got wet, the entire bathroom smelled of it. Nasty.
The parking lot is around the corner. It's a fenced in dirt area with barely enough space for everyone. With no lines on the ground, I was just lucky no one was taking up too much space. Fortunately, I was the last to check in.
Yeah, I was happy to be leaving after that.
The day did get better though. A couple of miles north up Hwy 1A, I stopped into small place called Wharfside Cafe for breakfast. Frank, my server, was really busy. But, he was friendly to everyone and kept my coffee full.
I don’t try and overhear other table’s conversations. But, sometimes you can’t help it. The couple at the next table were looking at concert listings for wherever they live. It was all tribute bands. Well, except for Ted Nugent. Personally, I never got the appeal. I saw Beatlemania in high school. That was enough for me.
Back to the parking lot and no, I didn't notice the parking space number when I pulled in.
As the saying goes, Portland, Maine is only sixty-three miles as the crow flies. You can get there in about hour on I-95. But, where’s the fun in that. I stuck with Hwy 1 and Hwy 1A for the day.
My first stop was in the town of Rye. It’s hard to miss the big WWII lookout tower looming over the small community below. It’s on private land. So no, you can’t climb up inside.
A couple of miles north where you’ll also find Odiorne Point State Park. Named after the first European family to settle here, it would eventually be the site of the first settlement in New Hampshire. In the early days of WWII, the land was seized to build Fort Dearborn to protect the harbors and shipyard of Portsmouth.
Across the river, on the island of Newcastle, sit two more forts, also built to protect Portsmouth. Fort Stark was built in 1746 and was my first scheduled stop of the day. The fort was named after Major General John Stark who fought for the British in the French and Indian War. He would later become known as the Hero of Bennington, fighting against the British in the American Revolutionary War. More on that battle later in the tour.
The fort would be updated, rearmed and garrisoned through WWII. Afterwards, it was used as a training base before being turned over to the state of New Hampshire. That's Whaleback Lighthouse out in the harbor. It sits as a warning of a shallow reef.
One unique feature of Fort Stark is this lookout. During WWII, it was painted battleship grey. The theory being, to a submarine periscope, it would look like a very large warship and hopefully deter an attack within the harbor.
Just a few miles north on the island sits Fort Constitution. Originally built by the British in 1632, it became known simply as The Castle. Not only was it built to protect Portsmouth, but also Kittery, Maine.
Sixty years later, it was expanded and renamed Fort William and Mary. In December, 1774, the local militia stormed the fort’s six man caretaker force. They confiscated the canon and gunpowder.
After the war, Portsmouth’s importance in shipbuilding started to grow. Fort William and Mary’s fortifications were strengthened, and more heavy guns added. It was also renamed Fort Constitution. Unfortunately, it was closed for the season.
Fort McClary wasn’t on the itinerary and I hadn’t even heard of it. But, when I saw a sign for it, I pulled off. The first crude fortification here dates back to 1689. In 1715, the Colony of Massachusetts Bay voted to build a proper fort
With the possibility of war with Britain over the disputed border of Maine and New Brunswick, the fort was built up again in 1840.
During the Civil War, it was manned by the Maine State Guard. It's most famous member was its cook, Private Hannibal Hamlin. Hamlin was serving as Vice President during Abraham Lincoln's first term. When Lincoln chose to run with Andrew Johnson for his second term, Hamlin packed up and left Washington to join his guard unit.
Across the state line in Kittery, Maine is Fort Foster State Park. The park facilities are closed for the season, as is the entrance road, But, the pedestrian gate is open if you want to park outside and walk in.
The first fortifications were completed here in 1901.
The city considered knocking down the building, but the Wood Island Life Saving Association drew up a proposal to restore the building and turn it into a museum. You can read about the restoration briefly here: You can read in depth about the station and the project here: But, a word of warning before you click the second link, my security software gave me an "unsafe" warning. A scan afterwards revealed nothing harmful on my cpmputer.
The fort's two gun batteries were directed by lookouts in another of those tall concrete towers.
I left Fort Foster and continued up the coast to the town of York. There's a trail I had read about that I wanted to check out. It follows the breakwater and rocky coastline behind some rather high end homes. It’s not as nice and the more famous one in Newport, but worth the stop.
It begins in a parking lot at the end of Harbor Beach Road. The lot has numerous signs for permit only parking. I took this shot and left.
You can also access the path from a small municipal park along York Street. Walk down through the park and you're there.
Once again, I don't mean to advance state stereotypes, but numerous times on my trip up the Maine coast, I'd see lobster pots washed up on shore.
After leaving the cliff walk, I worked my way north to one of Maine’s most famous locations, the Nubble Lighthouse. I realize it was a really nice Saturday, but the place was mobbed. It took sixty years from the first plans to having an actual working lighthouse on Nubble Island. Work was completed in 1879.
One thing I noticed on my last visit to this state, almost every tourist spot has its own lobster restaurant. This was no exception. That lot was slammed, too.
I left the crowds and quickly ran into more of them. This time in Ogunquit. It was quickly approaching matinee time at the local playhouse. They’re doing a production of “Young Frankenstein.” The casting was interesting. You can see a promo for this play here:
Once I had managed to get through Ogunquit, I started thinking about lunch. I had blown off a local brewery the night before, so I stopped into the Sebago Brewery. With lunch, I had a really nice pale ale by the name, “So Long and Thanks For All the Mash.” Douglas Adams is truly everywhere.
Some of you will get this Breaking Bad reference.
On my list of things to try an hit for the day was a short trail in the town of Saco to Cascade Falls. Considering it was already late afternoon, and it’s getting dark far too early, I drove on by.
Instead, I pulled into Two Lights State Park. It was 5P and the park would close in an hour. From the parking lot, there were signs to another WWII observation tower, but I never saw signs to the Cape Elizabeth Light, and I couldn’t see it from the coastal trail. Somehow I had missed the turnoff sign for both of them. But, I enjoyed the brief visit to the park.
I left the park and dashed up the coast to the Portland Head Light. The sign at the gate said it would be closed at sunset. After ditching the car in the lot, I scurried down to the lighthouse. Yeah, I was in the right place…
Construction began in 1787 by a presidential directive of George Washington. His orders were to use readily available materials to keep the cost down. The original plan for the lighthouse had it's height being fifty-eight feet. The builders added twenty more when they realized what they had built just wasn't enough.
Off in the distance is the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse. When I first visited here, the lighthouse had just recently been sold to a private owner.
Park staff started appearing and letting people know they were getting ready to close for the day. Not many people seemed to notice. As I was driving out, vehicles with PA’s were driving through, “the park will be closing in twelve minutes.”
My home for the night was simply a Comfort Inn on Hwy 1. It was exactly what you’d expect. Absolutely no complaints. After the previous night, that was truly welcome.
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