I've had a smile on my face for most of the past few days. Everywhere I look, it's just delightful - cool history, perfect weather with sun and light breeze. I can't take it all in and the camera doesn't do it justice, so sometimes I don't even try. I just savor it, like really good ice cream.
Initially I was stopping for most of the historic town designations along the Connecticut and Rhode Island coast but, after some wonderful hours, I realized that if I stopped at every beautiful little settlement from the mid 1600s, I'd never make it home this year. Here are some highlights starting with the view from Mystic Connecticut ...
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Stonington, Connecticut |
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I was just walking through a neighborhood
admiring houses when I saw this in a backyard. |
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Wakefield, Connecticut, getting closer to Rhode Island |
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Narragansett, Rhode Island, where Puritan minister Roger Williams settled amicably with Native Americans
in 1636 after he was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony
because of his views in favor of religious and political freedom. |
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Nice afternoon for picnic and a quick painting
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After pulling myself away from the coast, I headed toward Concord/Lexington and walked along the Minute Man Trail where colonists headed out to warn locals whenever the British were on the move. It's a beautiful spot and I couldn't help but think about the disadvantage of the "red coats" in the lush green foliage of Massachusetts forests. I camped at the Stanley Parker State Park in the same dense forests with ponds everywhere and, thankfully, few mosquitoes.
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Minute Man Trail with a great NPS Visitor Center now a hiking/biking thoroughfare.
Hopefully Paul Revere would be proud. |
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Stanley Parker State Park |
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Thoreau's "Walden Pond" is about 20 miles away from here. |
Now in Maine which has been spectacular ...
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Beautiful little town with a lot of tourists, Camden, Maine |
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Beautiful little town a few miles north with few tourists, Lincolnville. |
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Bar Harbor, Maine, near Acadia National Park |
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Some kind woman's shed - I pulled off into her driveway and we chatted for awhile in the nice weather. |
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The town of Lubec - opposite side is Canada |
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Lobster Roll from Becky's Food Truck in Lubec, Maine - fantastic. |
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Quoddy's Head Lighthouse, which is the Easternmost point in the U.S.
(I walked to outermost corner of property and put my arm out as far as I could.) |
Near Bangor, Maine, I washed the car, cleaned out and reorganized the inside and took advantage of a nice local laundromat. All ready to continue ...
I'm enjoying your journey. So glad that you've been smiling and take time out to notice what that feels like. It looks like you are having a great time and I am living vicariously through your journal.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie. I'm realizing that a person could easily spend a month in each state with so much history, varied geography, hiking trails, nice folks, etc. and still not see it all.
ReplyDeleteMaine sounds so fascinating and looks so very scenic! I am really enjoying reading about your experiences, and looking at your photos. I love that you were hanging off the far northeastern edge of the US! I've thought that it would be really interesting to explore Nova Scotia and environs. Seems quite wild.
ReplyDeleteIt feels like a different world in some ways. I had a great long conversation with a woman who runs the yarn/knitting shop in Lubec about their seasonal way of life. I like the idea but you'd have to be pretty tough, physically and mentally.
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