Rocking Thru the World: To the Rocky Maine Coast! Day 9

Thursday, August 14, 2014: Still in Freeport, Maine this morning, the four of us spent the morning shopping downtown. First stop: the L.L.Bean outlet store and Home Store. Then we went to a bookstore, a toystore, back to the Mangy Moose, and a British Store. The shopping in Freeport, I must say, is wonderful!! There are many major stores and major store outlets, in addition to the local stores and fine restaurants, ice cream places, etc. It's definitely worth the trip, just to shop! Everyone in Freeport is most helpful with directions.


Grandson, Michael, a friendly visitor in the morning, with new moose, puppy, and moose pillow.

Michael and his dad, Dave, with the L.L.Bean boots at their main store.

Mary and Michael in front of the British telephone booth replica in the British Store. There were so many interesting teapots we could have bought there!


As our hotel was so close to the shopping area, we just walked. This is the Confederate Memorial close to the hotel.

The Freeport town hall is next to our hotel. Most of the buildings in Freeport have Colonial architecture.

After lunchtime we drove from Freeport northeast on US Highway 1 through peaceful forest lands and many lakes in the countryside. Some unique road names were "Thunder Road," "Toasty Walk," and "Wit's End." The first 'major' town was Brunswick.


At Bath, Maine, there were large shipyards with even bigger cranes than these which I managed to photograph in passing over a large bridge.

The towns of Woolrich, Wiscasset, Newcastle, and Damariscotta passed, each one more picturesque than the one before. We decided that half the towns in New England we named after actual British towns and the other half were native American names. We headed due south on highway 129/130 through Bristol and Pemaquid until we reached the Pemaquid Lighthouse at Pemaquid Point.


The Pemaquid Lighthouse, August 14, 2014.

This photo in only a small way displays the beauty of the lighthouse, keeper's house, and grounds. I wish you could have felt the brisk cool breeze, filled your lungs with the ultra-fresh saltwater and pine scents, heard the rhythmic, loud pounding of the spraying surf on the rocks below. It was awesome!

The lighthouse was certainly not the tallest or grandest I've ever climbed, but it was the friendliest! I was never in one in which the visitors were allowed in the lens room at the top. Only five at a time were allowed to climb the stairs which ended in a short ladder to get to the top room. The expansive view from the top felt like you were flying!


Ascending up the circular lighthouse stairway directly after me were Michael and Mary.


View of the rocky Maine coast from one of the lighthouse windows on the way to the top. The red building with the tower is the fog/bell building.


View from inside the lens room, at the top of the lighthouse. What a lot of white water!


Me/Jan, looking over the ocean world from the top of Pemaquid Lighthouse!!


After descending from the heights, we climbed (carefully!) down the rocks to the sea.


Another favorite view of the Maine coast from the rocks below Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. I could have easily spent days here!

Alas, we had promised to have dinner with friends at 5 o'clock in Freeport, so we left and returned to Freeport via the same route we had come.


Our dinner destination in Freeport.

In the center is Dave, to the left is Miles (Tom's son), then Tom, Mary's former colleague.


To the right is Amber, Tom's wife.


Hard to see beyond Michael is Maya, Amber and Tom's older daughter (7).

We enjoyed a Lob-stah sup-pah! It's important to try to talk like the locals! They appreciate it if visitors just try to understand what they say and try to say a few words like they do!