Sunday, August 2, 2009

The Adventurers

Hubby and I have realized that one of our favorite things to do is go on an "adventure". Meaning go someplace we've never been......see something we've never seen.......drive the road less traveled and see where it takes us. We've been up to the York Beach and Ogunquit area of Maine many times, but we always go up Route 1 and always go walk along the Marginal Way. Which is beautiful, and I'm sure we'll do it again, but we wanted to do something different today. We've passed the sign many times for Cape Neddick and the Nubble Lighthouse, but never gone there. Today we did. Instead of taking good old Route 1, we got off route 95 at exit 1 and followed Route 103. Before we got to Cape Neddick, we stumbled onto the Hartley Mason Reservation. It had big gates in front and looked like a park, so we parked the car and went in. It turned out to be a lovely park with a couple of monuments, but it led down to a neat little beach. There were dozens of families there, playing in the sand and jumping in the water. We stuck our feet in.........COLD! Along the cliffs there was a walking path, and with no concept of where it led or how far it was, we followed it. It was rough in places with lots of ups and downs and stone stairs. The beach got further and further away. When we came to the end of the path, we found some beautiful homes.
From the Reservation we continued driving north until we found Cape Neddick and the Nubble Lighthouse. The picture below is not just fuzzy.....it was foggy out. (surprise!)
Then it got even foggier:
And finally it cleared and we got a good picture of the lighthouse. It's still a working lighthouse.....as a matter of fact the foghorn was going off.....but it's all automated now. We don't know if someone lives in that little house.....but we'd volunteer!
Despite it being chilly, damp and foggy, we had a nice visit at the lighthouse. There was a seafood shack right there that sold ice-cream, so naturally, we indulged.
We decided to continue north and see how much further we could get on the shore road. And we stumbled upon our second surprise of the day. The Ogunquit Museum of American Art. Hubby couldn't resist going inside. There were some beautiful paintings inside but I thought some of the most interesting things were the sculptures on the lawn:
And the incredibly beautiful pink lily flowers in the pond: Finally, on the way home we stopped at Chauncey Creek. Jamie had recommended the place to us more than once and we finally made it there. It's a lobster shack with outdoor seating along a creek. We enjoyed a breadbowl full of fish chowder and shared an order of coconut shrimp and french fries. And it always tastes better outside in the sea air.
We headed home happy, stuffed full of food and with our spirits revived by the ocean. And of course, looking forward to our next adventure.

3 comments:

Colleen - the AmAzINg Mrs. B said...

You photos are FanTaStiC!! Love the lighthouse - I once sat at the edge of the cliff at the Portland Head lighthouse in Main and fell in love with the sea, the house and the peacefulness. "Your" lighthouse is sooooo cute! If you need someone to visit you when you move in, just let me know :-)

Debbie said...

How fun! I love to wander off the path as well.

King of New York Hacks said...

Love it when a road takes me on a journey of questions that are only answered by the eye. Great stuff.