On Sunday, June 22, my friend Nancy and I undertook our "Excellent Lighthouse Adventure 2003" to see some New England lighthouses. Since that day was rainy and just plain yucky, we decided to make it our "travel" day, so we planned to head up to Rockland, Maine (with a few stops along the way).

After getting off the ferry in New London, we headed north (and had severe weather following us most of the way).

Once we got to Yarmouth, Maine, we decided to stop at the Delorme Map store. In front they have an enormous globe that spins!


We also picked up a very handy map that ended up being a huge help. It was a coastal map of Maine from Bar Harbor south.

We also made an obligatory stop at LL Bean in Freeport.

By this time it was getting late in the day, so we decided to stop for dinner at a very good restaurant, A Taste of Maine, on Route 1 in Woolwich. The sun had begun to set, and from the restaurant, we saw some awesome cloud formations.



We then headed to Pemaquid, but arrived after sunset. We were treated to pretty fantastic thunder and lightning storm that was just off the coast. Unfortunately, I didn't get any cool pictures of the lightning!

On Monday the 23rd, we got up early, had breakfast, and headed out to Rockland Breakwater.





We tried to find Rockland Breakwater Southwest, but didn't have much luck, so we headed over to Owls Head.

Diane -- thanks to taking us all along on your 'Excellent Adventure'.

That picture of Pemaquid Point is Awesome!

Shows what you can do when life gives you lemons (arriving late) -- you make great pictures!

I'm with John, the Pemaquid photo is great!

Thanks guys! Actually, I have a bunch more photos. I got sidetracked for a couple of hours!

From Owls Head we went over to Marshall Point, which has a wonderful museum!







That night we stayed just outside of Pemaquid in a cute little cottage (very rustic). We ended up having lobsters (of course) at Shaw's Fish & Lobster Wharf in New Harbor.

Tuesday (6/24) we went back to Pemaquid just after sunrise.







We had breakfast at the little restaurant/gift shop next door to the lighthouse. They have some great blueberry pancakes!

After Pemaquid, we drove over to Hendrick's Head. Since it is privately owned, you can't get too close from land--it is better seen from the water. But, it was low tide when we got there, so we were able to climb some rocks to get a closer look.





We tried to find Squirrel Point, but didn't have any luck. So we drove to Portland and found a place to stay.

On Wednesday (6/25), we got up at 3:45am for a 5:01am sunrise at Portland Head. We ended up spending most of the day there.







We also got a glimpse of the Ram Island Ledge lighthouse in the distance.

Thursday (6/26) we decided to take a 90 minute cruise out of Portland to see ligthhouses and some of the other local attractions. The cruise cost $10 and we got to see 4 lighthouses -- Portland Breakwater, Spring Point Ledge, Portland Head, and Ram Island Ledge. Eagle Island Tours









We also got to see some seals.

After the cruise, we went over to Spring Point Ledge for some more photos (we bypassed Portland Breakwater).



Then we headed down to the Twin Lights at Cape Elizabeth (and had something to eat at the Lobster Shack).





After a couple of stops along the way, we headed for Cape Neddick. For some reason, we had a heck of time trying to find Nubble Road. We got there after sunset, and my camera was unable to get any good photos. My friend, however, got some awesome shots!

On Friday (6/27), we got up early again for a sunrise, this time at Nubble. There were lots of clouds and tons of haze so we didn't see the sun until it was pretty high in the sky. It appeared as if there was a film in front of the lighthouse, which stayed ALL DAY. So, I'm disappointed with the photographs I got.





After Nubble, we headed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.





After Portsmouth, we decided to head for home (we had talked about seeing a few lighthouses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island). But, my friend had been sick most of the trip, and we hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep during six days we were away.

All in all, a pretty great trip. We are trying to decide where our next "adventure" will take us!

Great pictures

What a FANTASTIC LIGHTHOUSING ADVENTURE!

The photos are beautiful and even that much better with the story line to go with it. I've looked and read through this several times and I still have to go back.

Thank you for "taking us along"!

Judy

Thanks again, Diane! Great photos, a great adventure.

I liked that Nubble photo -- again, you turned poor weather into an unusual photo.

Thanks so much for sharing your photos and adventure! That was quite a trip.

Thanks for sharing and taking us along, Diane! Really nice job, it brought back a lot of fond memories of past visits by the Bradys to these lights..

COOOOOOL!!!!!!! Looks like a FUN TRIP!

If I ever go up there (or should I say, when ), I am going to keep the $10 cruise in mind. Great deal!

My fave photos are the Nubble w/sun in Upper left, and Ram Island Ledge. 2 COOL photos!!!

Thanks for the little story, too!!!

Yep, worth a second and third look, Diane.

And what solar system were you in when you shot that Nubble photo with the SQUARE SUN!!!!!!

Ain't lighthousing fun?!

Diane,

YOur pictures and your narration are GREAT! What a wonderful trip you had. Brings back some fond memories and gets the adrenalin going for another trip to Maine.

Thanks!

Bert

Thanks for sharing the photos, my wife and I spent the better part of an hour looking at them and making plans to go see a few in the future.

Thanks for the positive comments everyone!

John, as for the square sun...my camera tends to do some funky things. It is a 6-year old Sony Mavica (the images are put directly onto a 3.5" floppy), and it doesn't do well in the dark (hence the fuzzy shot at Pemaquid and my inability to get any nighttime shots at Nubble) and it does odd stuff when I take pictures of the sun.

I got some really bizarre shots of Portland Head. I was trying to get shots with the sun where it would appear that it was coming through the lantern room (forgetting of course that part of the lantern room is obscured). In the photos, it kind of looked like laser beams were shooting out of the lantern room.