....heavy thunderstorms are moving in, and we decide to drive the rig into Freeport for another LL Bean shopping session. Making it about 4/5ths of the way to Freeport, the heavy rains set in. Deluge, actually.
Going straight for a nice hot cup of joe at Coffe by Design, we hit all the Bean facilities.
It's amazing what you miss the 1st time through. We scooped-up several new wardrobes; I bought a small pile of cargo pants. I check every seam/stitch, and am extremely picky. So, carefully inspecting 11 pairs of the same color (and folding them back precisely as I found them), I find 2 pairs of the 11 that are perfectly made.
Dunes buys some ceramic Bean coffee cups, candles, and a canvas tote bag.
....still raining occasionally. Having supper at the new Linda Bean pub, we attempt to drive back to Recompence campground. Miserable out, and literally freezing cold, we abandon that idea about half-way there. Turning around, we head back to Beans to have a snack, and shop more. I went to the main INFO desk, and inquired "if we could park overnight". They obliged, no problem. Boondocking at Beans, we had a few snacks in-camper, and used it as a base to visit various Bean sites around Freeport. Exhausted, we hit the sack at past 10 PM. It was a very cold night, but comfortable in camper on the paved lot, with fully charged batteries for music, light and water. Twas very quiet at Beans, as a few late-night shoppers came and went at the 24-hour facility.
This was the most fitful sleep I had over the 4-days in Maine! Dunes headed out for a coffee at Second Cup (oh, Beans serves free coffee all night long!), and picks up a few items. I (we) decide not to head North, but to head down the coast to Kennebunkport! Blazing sun, we hit the road at 8:30AM for Portland:
Then, take the 295 to Scarborough, Maine, take the 1 then 9 past Old Orchard Beach (a strip we wanted to avoid), to a little-visited place called Goose Fare Bay:
Backtracking along the King's Highway, then south along the 9, we head for a spectacular beach (little-known) at Cape Porpoise:
What a great little-toursited spot. We walked a few miles along the beach collecting shells:
It was a bit early for lunch, but we just had to drive out to the quaint Pier 77 restaurant, on Pier Road, about a half-mile from the tiny Cape Porpoise town center, to have a look-see at the working fishing dock:
Our ultimate destination was Kennebunkport. An old haunt not visited for over 15 years, we longed to walk the small town and nose around to see what's changed (BTW, this is a place you DO NOT want to visit in high tourist season; October is the best time, however, mid September wasn't too crowded):
Eating at "The Landing", we have lobster and whole-body clams (not clam strips); the price may be a bit tough to swallow for many on a budget, however, you get what you pay for:
...rather than an immediate desert after a huge lunch, we walkabout some more, and buy a pumpkin "Whoopie" (the official State treat of Maine; not to be confused with WhoopWhoop!). This puppy was so sweet, it took us 300 miles of driving to finish!
One of my favorite visits was Presedent (JF) Kennedy's place out on Rhode Island at Hammersmith Farm, strolling down the back lawn to the seashore. So, what is more fitting than to go out to the Walker Point (Bush) residence for a look-see, on Ocean Avenue (residence itself closed to the public of course) ?:
After this swing-by, we head along Ocean Avenue past numerous modest digs with ocean view, to Wildes District Road, and the 9, then eventually the 1, where we fill the gas tank with 89 octane (at an incredibly inexpensive $3.64 a gallon!), before jumping on the I95 Maine turnpike, for a rapid return home. Whilst filling, a curious ACE retiree got a tour of Campie (the Outfitter Caribou 8), before he contacts the manufacturer! What luck he had in seeing one of these things. It is truly remarkable just how much attention our rig gets while on the road!
We pass through Mount Washington Valley on the way home, at appx 7 PM, and are awed by the huge quantity of snow up there already! It looks like full-out winter over the White Mountains:
Thanks for taking your precious time to read through our scribble dribble!
....whoops! We saw 12 truck camper on this venture. Five of them were camped at Recompence A Bigfoot aboard a Ford followed us through the White Mountains for roughly 24 miles on way home...
Wow, looked like a great trip....wonderful pictures...
Thanks for sharing.....we kind of want to put it on our Bucket List now, if we ever head that far north!!
Bill & Claudia / DD Jenn / DS Chris / GS MJ Dogs: Sophie, Abby, Brandy, Kahlie, Annie, Maggie, Tugger & Beau RIP: Cookie, Foxy & Gidget @ Rainbow Bridge.
2000 Winnebago "Minnie" 31C, Ford V-10
Purchased April 2008 FMCA# F407293 The Pets
Tnx Silversand, nice pix , we want to go to Kittery and LL Bean but haven't been able to get the time, hopefully next year . U gotta love that Kancamagus (NH) .
Ya, the Kancamagus highway (about 40-kilometers long) is quite something. We drove it going to Mass last spring. Recently, a couple of sections of Route 112 had some trouble after Irene hit!
We ran into the same road closure heading to North Conway on way down, and had to detour...
A Bigfoot aboard a Ford followed us through the White Mountains for roughly 24 miles on way home...
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