Making Memories

August 11, 2016

Boston is a big busy city. We heard downtown Boston is a challenging place for the residents, let alone visitors to navigate by car, so instead of driving to Boston we caught the Fast Ferry from Salem. In less than an hour we were in Boston Harbour with no worries on where to park and minus the stress of ‘navigating’ our way around the city.

Michel caught this beautiful shot of the Boston skyline coming into port.

Right off the wharf there were all kinds of tour companies. We boarded the “Old Town Trolley Tours” and spent the day on this ‘hop-on-hop-off” bus. And it was a full day. The trolley drivers were very informative as they narrated our way around the city. There were something like 16 stops along the way. We didn’t get off at very many or we would have never seen the whole tour. But we saw a lot along the way.

Here stands a statue of Bobby Orr’s famous Stanley Cup winning goal –May 10, 1970 when the Bruins beat St. Louis Blues in an overtime win in game 4.

In the background is the TD Gardens, home of the Boston Bruins.

You can also see Bunker Hill Bridge….

There is a wonderous mix of beautiful old brownstone buildings and tall glass sky scrapers.

Then it was off to Beacon Street, home of the famous TV sitcom Cheers!!

Where everyone knows your name!

A short walk through the Public Garden afterwards. This park opened to the public in 1837 and is believed to be the oldest botanical garden in the country.

You can ride the Swan Boats!

Fenway Park opened in 1912. It is the country’s oldest operating Major League Baseball stadium and is sacred ground to generations of Boston Red Sox fans!

Trinity Church in Copely Square opened in 1877 and remains still today a thriving Christian community in the heart of Boston's Back Bay

We enjoyed a relaxing 45 minute harbour cruise to end our day, included in our Trolley Tour!

August 09, 2016

Salem, Massachusetts

Old Town Salem is all about witches!

Bewitched After Dark Walking Tours, Hocus Pocus Tours, Black Cat Tours, Haunted Footsteps, Salem Witch Walk..... the list goes on and on. And there are re-enactments of the Witch Trials. All of them 'fun and informative', some are even interactive - learn what really happened. The Salem Witch Trials between February 1692 and May 1693 where 20 people, 14 of them being women, were executed accused of being witches.

The Witch House

We started our visit at the Salem Visitor Center. Here we watched a film filled with information about the Witch Trials. Then we followed the Red Line painted on the sidewalk to navigate our way through Salem and American history!

Salem Witch Trials Memorial

Along the route we visited the Witch House.

Walked through the Salem Witch Trials Memorial.

Customs House

toured the Customs House (since 1649 collecting taxes on imported cargos),

The House of Seven Gables

walked by the House of Seven Gables (built in 1668, it is the oldest surviving 17th century house in New England),

The Witch Dungeon Museum

Thought about visiting the The Witch Museum but decided not to. Just took a picture instead. Also of The Witch Dungeon Museum.

Witch Museum

Stickwork by Patrick Dougherty

and 'Stickwork" art, sculpted by Patrick Dougherty. The only thing not dedicated to the Witch Trials.

It was a fun walk-a-bout - though it was quite warm outside. Managed to waste away the day anyway!

August 8, 2016

We left Bangor yesterday to continue our journey – there is still so much to see!

On our way to Portland, ME. we stopped into a small town called Gardiner.

Here we visited the A1 Diner. It is listed in Guy Fieri’s book of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

This diner was built in 1946 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and delivered right to this spot.

They set it up on 20 foot stilts, added the kitchen to the back and here it sits, 70 years and four owners later, still serving some of the best food the town can offer.

Today we visited Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, which is down in South Portland.

It is the home of Portland Head Light (lighthouse)

It is also the scene of this lovely beach, and the one-mile “Cliff Walk” where the pathway meanders along the oceanfront.

Still in Fort Williams Park is the Goddard mansion. Built in 1858, it was one of the first grand houses to be built along the Cape Elizabeth shore.

Turned into Higgins Beach along the route back home. What a prize that is! A small beach town with this beautiful white sand stretching forever.

August 6, 2016

Hello Bangor, Maine!! We arrived yesterday and today we spent the afternoon and evening with friends Darrell and Peggy Luce! Now, they've been in our blog before. Back in 2012, when we were at Big Cyprus, Florida, Darrell and Peggy were camp hosts. We were camped next to them, so we had a few happy hours together!

Well here we are again!! And what a big warm "Bangor" welcome we got from them!! It was great to see them again and "catch up".

into the pot now!!

They cooked up some Maine lobster for dinner!

Thank You so much for the hospitality!

We loved seeing you again , maybe we'll catch up in Florida this winter???

Now a trip to Bangor wouldn't be complete without a drive-by to see the home of writer Steven King. Meeting him would have been better, but we'll settle for the photo!

Next we have a couple shots of the downtown area ......

August 4, 2016

We did the "loop" - the Deer Island Mascarene Loop. A self-guided tour of Deer Island and Campobello Island.

We took two ferries. The first took us from St. George to Deer Island - about a 20 minute ride. This is the second ferry. It took us from Deer Island to Campobello Island.

It actually detached itself to turn itself around.

This was a stop on Deer Island. "The Original Pickle Guy". Inside they sold fresh veggies, and of course pickles.... on the honor system!! This shop was totally unattended. In fact there was a book to write down what you purchased.

We didn't spend a lot of time on Deer Island because we visited it yesterday, so we just boogied across the island to catch the 2nd ferry (pictured above) for Campobello Island which was a half hour crossing.

Campobello Island is not only famous for it's whales, seals, birds and beauty, but also for it's shared Canadian/American history. Campobello is the summer home of the late U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is now preserved as Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

East Quoddy Point Lighthouse at the north end of Campobello Island.

The Fireside Restaurant at Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

The summer cottage of Franklin D. Roosevelt

After our tour of Campobello Island we continued our loop - we crossed the U.S. border and drove up to Calais, Maine to cross the Canadian border to visit St. Stephens.

St. Stephens, known as Canada's Chocolate town, is the home of the Ganong Chocolate Factory and Museum.

They have been been in business since 1873 - five generations later they are still making chocolates. And during the tour, which was self-guided, there were chocolates everywhere - all you can eat for as long as you were in the museum!!

August 3, 2016

Said good bye to Nova Scotia heading to Saint John New Brunswick (our last stop before actually saying good bye to Canada for awhile) But to our surprise, we weren't that impressed with Saint John. As we got our insurance in order to leave the country we were told about this cute little place called St. George along our route to Maine. Another diamond in the rough!

Quaint little town on the Magaguadavic River. The river flows through the town and into a large gorge and the St. George Dam at St. George, with cliffs on either side.

Lots to do for such a small place - population only about 1500.

We walked along the St. George trail. This mosaic sign was a community project. Each panel was sponsored by a resident, group or business in the area and many of the materials are recycled treasures from local homes. The panels are different on both sides and there is another one at the other end of the trail.

We walked along the streets enjoying all the historical places. St. George was nick-named Granite Town as in the past it was the center of the red granite industry. This is the Granite Town Hall.

A short drive out of town we found this cute little covered bridge.

July 31, 2016

Burton Cummings live at The Riverfront Jubilee in New Glasgow.

What a concert! Fantastic!

When we were here in New Glasgow after our Cabot Trail run we saw a poster advertising this concert. But never gave it much thought because we had no idea where we would be on July 31st.

Well here we are! He never started his performance until 11 p.m. but he played non-stop until 1 a.m.

He rocked out so many of his old songs the crowd (mostly oldies like him and us) were just clappin and singing right along with him!

He is a real entertainer, and so talented! He played his piano (of course), but also played the harmonica, flute and guitar - and he raved about the audience, how welcoming we all were!!

There were three different bands opening for him, so it was a long night. But so worth waiting for ..... the old guy (he will be 69 this year) singing his old songs. It was like going back in time!!