June 14 - 27 2026
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| Cheers! |
This is the first blog of the East Coast RV trip that is co-edited by Sue.
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| FIFA |
We stayed just north of Boston in Andover, about 20 min to the T station. I did not want to drive into the city and that was a wise decision since it was World Cup time.The Norwegians and the Scots were out in force and apparently, the Tartan Army drank Boston Dry! Three times the amount of beer as St. Paddy's day if you can believe it. They were polite and only caused minor shenanigans such as putting traffic cones on many of the city's statues.
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| Scituate Beach within walking distance of Bonnie's house. |
Sue flew in to Boston and will be traveling through this part of the trip into Canada! She spent a few days in Scituate with her Friend Bonnie who she used to work with at UCSD. Bonnie and her family were wonderful! Scituate is a posh little harbor town which reminded me of Coronado and was replete with what I now call "Crustacean Core" clothing.
The Portsmouth RV park was just 35 miles away but in a completely different universe. The pace was slow and the vibe very laid back. We went into town to check out "Strawbery Bankes", a collection of houses from the 1800s that sometimes have people living in part of them. Was pretty cool but the best part was that it was the town's Pride Parade. For a small town, the turnout was huge and quite energetic. Much needed these days!
As is often the case when traveling, we start craving veggies. We had a lovely vegan lunch at the Green Elephant. Yum. Like in Scituate and Boston, the flowers outside homes and shops are just gorgeous. In Cali these would last about 1.5 days in our blistering heat. 
The next stop was Bar Harbor, just outside Acadia National Park in Maine. Our first time in Maine and it was really pretty and really touristy. But we were tourist so ...
Acadia was of course breathtaking. Day one, we hiked to Jordan Pond and got to see beavers swimming to their damn. Lots of pics of little heads bobbing in the water. Also it turns out that they actually gnaw on wood just like in cartoons so we soon learned to look for "beaver sign."
The next day we did a nice 3.6 mile hike which took us up over a lot of granite boulders. The Acadia park system has excellently marked trails -- check out the blue blazes on the rocks and trees. We took a hike up to North Bubble - Bubble is basically a giant rock but the views to the sea below and the multiple islands in Maine was cool.
That afternoon we visited Beal's Lobster Pier. WOW. Nancy had a whole Maine lobster and Denis and I munched on lobster rolls. We are trying to figure out if one can get too much lobster. In the 1700s, when up to two foot high piles of lobster were washed onto shore, the answer was most certainly "yes." It was also nice to be able to have campfires again.
I booked a hotel on the wharf for a night and met Sue in the city. We did a schooner cruise, had Lobster rolls, and saw Paul Revere's house. Besides silversmith, copper mill owner, and messenger for the Sons of Liberty, dude also "Practiced Dentistry" for about a year.
The schooner cruise was quite lovely and not freezing!
So it turns out there are two kinds of lobster rolls: Maine Style (light mayo and lobster, served cold) and Connecticut Style served warm with drawn butter. Sue ordered the dumb one and Denis ordered the smart one. This was Sue's FIRST East Coast Lobster Roll! Except for the one we had in Boston when we came for Bonnie's wedding.
"Crustacean Core" though this is not from Scituate which had very elegant lobster clothes.
We did a hop on hop off bus the next day. Not too great. I think we already were burnt out of the history stuff and we already did most of that the last time we were here. Also there was a massively pervasive smell of Old Spice on two of the busses. Sue is a super sniffer but was unable to discern who the offender was for for an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) it was freakin' gross.
The Portsmouth RV park was just 35 miles away but in a completely different universe. The pace was slow and the vibe very laid back. We went into town to check out "Strawbery Bankes", a collection of houses from the 1800s that sometimes have people living in part of them. Was pretty cool but the best part was that it was the town's Pride Parade. For a small town, the turnout was huge and quite energetic. Much needed these days! |
| Fluffy Chowah! |
We went to a lobster pound, a place that has outdoor tables and serves local seafood and ordered the "fluffy chowder" a clam chowder heaped with lobster. So much buttery lobster goodness! Sue had clams which were large and a little unwieldy but yummy.
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| Local Steamers. |
Sue and I went to the Albatross submarine museum. The Albatross was an experimental submarine to test different aspects of submarine design. It was the first sub to look like a modern sub instead of a boat that went underwater. It held the speed record when built and recaptured it after a nuclear experimental sub took it for a few years. Very tight quarters.
Portsmouth kinda served as the transition from Colonial History tour to nature and small town tour.
As is often the case when traveling, we start craving veggies. We had a lovely vegan lunch at the Green Elephant. Yum. Like in Scituate and Boston, the flowers outside homes and shops are just gorgeous. In Cali these would last about 1.5 days in our blistering heat.
The next stop was Bar Harbor, just outside Acadia National Park in Maine. Our first time in Maine and it was really pretty and really touristy. But we were tourist so ...
Acadia was of course breathtaking. Day one, we hiked to Jordan Pond and got to see beavers swimming to their damn. Lots of pics of little heads bobbing in the water. Also it turns out that they actually gnaw on wood just like in cartoons so we soon learned to look for "beaver sign."
The next day we did a nice 3.6 mile hike which took us up over a lot of granite boulders. The Acadia park system has excellently marked trails -- check out the blue blazes on the rocks and trees. We took a hike up to North Bubble - Bubble is basically a giant rock but the views to the sea below and the multiple islands in Maine was cool.
That afternoon we visited Beal's Lobster Pier. WOW. Nancy had a whole Maine lobster and Denis and I munched on lobster rolls. We are trying to figure out if one can get too much lobster. In the 1700s, when up to two foot high piles of lobster were washed onto shore, the answer was most certainly "yes." It was also nice to be able to have campfires again.
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| Smoke 'em if you got 'em! |
Side Note: While in Boston, Pookie met up with her associates from Local 389 and worked on the annual newsletter, "The Benevolent Barker". I don't think they got much done but they went through two packs of smokes and a fifth of Jack.
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