ME!

We started our morning by driving over to the House of Seven Gables.  It’s a wood frame house that sits right beside the shore.  And, yes it does have 7 gables.  I counted.

Interestingly, when Nathanial Hawthorne wrote his book the house had only 3 gables. That’s because the owners had modified it to eliminate 4 of them.  After the book because famous the house was again modified to restore the original number of gables.

Soon we were on the road again and within twenty minutes we were in New Hampshire.

It’s quite apparent that drinking is a big deal for New Hamshirians because when there is a liquor store at an exit there are huge highway signs, government signs mind you, that give you ample warning about the proximty of the liquor store. Usually there are at least two or three signs for each liquor store. Contrast that with Maine where one of the first signs we saw told us about how snacks aren’t meals!

 

Our original thought was to spend a few days in Kennebunkport.  However, when talking with a Visitor Center guide she suggested going a little farther and trying the rocky peninsulas between Brunswick and Boothbay Harbor. We took her advice and while driving north I talked to several  B&Bs, trying to find one that was a good fit for us.  (Actually, Mona was driving….I was doing a poor job of navigating while researching.)  We finally landed on an inn near the town of Harpswell, Maine.

The Harpswell Inn

As we entered the inn we were greeted by Bob Newhart….no, not actually, but wow there is a striking resemblance! (I could have sworn I heard the Bob Newhart theme song playing softly in the background!)  Bob…er Richard, showed us around the Inn.  There’s a great room with a large fireplace and a baby grand piano. Adjoining that is a large kitchen with a fridge with soft drinks and ice water…next to which is the never-empty cookie jar: chocolate chip today!

Our room is the Lilac Room, upstairs.  The room has a large four poster bed, a small fireplace and has ample room for the love seat and matching chair; both upholstered with lilacs of course.  And yes, we do have a private bath…complete with a clawfoot tub.

After getting settled in we walked a couple of hundred yards down to the shore.  There’s a lobster dock there where fishermen bring in their catch.  Not much action there today, so we’ll head back tomorrow.  Then we decided to take a drive and get oriented.  The town of Harpswell is located on two rocky peninsulas and several islands.  We decided to drive all the way down the other peninsula to Land’s End to see the sights.

One of the sights is a unique bridge…actually the only one like it in the world.The Bailey Island Bridge, more commonly known as the Cribstone Bridge, is built upon blocks of granite laid in a crosshatch pattern.  Think of a Jenga stack with the middle blocks omitted.  It’s totally amazing to see that an 1150 foot bridge is built on blocks of stone with no mortar, no pilings, no nothing!  Just blocks piled on one another.

 

The Cribstone Bridge

Here’s what is holding up that bridge!

Even more amazing, and scary, is how they leveled the big blocks with little chunks of stone!  I’ve seen it, but I’m still not sure I believe it!

Afterwards, we headed back to The Harpswell to relax by working on a puzzle that was spread out in the great room.

Puzzling at The Inn

Looking back, I see I am a little remiss in that I didn’t mention anything about dining. We had lunch at a lobster shack situated between the road and an inlet with a landing. The lobster boats would bring their catch to the landing and haul them up to the shack. Inside the shack was a huge tank filled with lobster. You pick out your lobster, pay $4.99 and sit outside till your meal was brought to you. Total yum!

For dinner we went to a nearby seafood restaurant. You got to sit inside and the meal was served on china instead of paper plates. The lobster was the same size as the one at the shack but the price was $18 more than at the shack. Both meals were excellent, but I’m ready to go back to the shack!

A few more things about the Inn: