Rain closed the harbor activities in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Left without activities to do, I walked miles through enchanted streets viewing colorful homes and businesses.
Met my first lobstermen; three of them decked out in their lobsterman outfits! They were sweet enough to take a minute to visit and snap a picture. The rest of the day I wandered through shops and ate shrimp for dinner. Going on to Maine tomorrow would depend on the weather.
Woke up to rain about 4:30 A.M. and went back to bed. Back up at 8:10, I looked out the window to see blue skies and white clouds. Ogunquit, Maine was on! It was only a twenty-five minute drive.
I wasn’t disappointed. It was beautiful! I parked and followed the flow of people. About five minutes into my walk, I hear a boisterous voice boom, “It’s a beautiful day.” I turned and smiled and this fine-looking man with the most gorgeous accent falls in step with me on the sidewalk. We talked for a few minutes about where we were from (he lived local) and he asked me what I was looking to do and them gave me directions for getting there. What a wonderful way to start my morning!
When I walked into the cove, I was met by boats of all sorts with quaint hotels and Inns lining the cove. Great expectations again are checked off. I easily found the boat cruises, bought a ticket, and had about thirty minutes to explore.
Just down a bit, there’s a footbridge linking the hotels to the cove area. It has to be raised when the boats go through. Whoever is standing on the bridge presses and holds the button for the bridge to raise when someone on the boat yells,’raise the bridge.’ I saw a few confused tourists when they were being yelled at to open it. I was standing on the lower level when two ladies asked me to take their picture. They were step-sisters named Sue and Susan. (Yes, I laughed at that) and were from Albany, NY. They reciprocated and Susan insisted that she needed to be in my picture as a stand in friend on vacation.
When it was time for the lighthouse cruise tour, I took a back seat and thoroughly enjoyed it. I met a couple from Massachusetts that RV camp two weeks there every summer. They had nothing but high praise for the area. They recommended a restaurant for me to eat lunch.
Afterward, I walked ‘The Margenal Way’ that’s about a mile and a half around the shoreline and connects the beach with the cove. It has benches along the way, so the view can be enjoyed at leisure. Many people climbed down on the rocks to take pictures, sit or make rock structures. Beautiful homes and Inns dotted to shoreline with gorgeous flowers tucked into the lushness of the grass.
At the end of the trail, I headed to the beach wondering how cold the water would feel. The beach has firmly packed fine sand and it’s very cool on the feet. There wasn’t any sinking of the feet like the Florida sand. Also the high tides create these tide pools that make perfect swimming areas for the little kids.
I walked at the edge of the water. At first the temperature of the water seemed too cool, but after getting used to it, I was fine. I walked a distance down the beach and then turned around. There’s not very many shells being washed upon the sand, so finding them became a goal. I did pick up quite a few large shells. There only seemed to be one type of shell.
I stood and looked out toward the water. I couldn’t hardly believe I had made it. I took a stick and wrote my mileage to this point in the sand. I felt so powerful!
After beach time, I headed back toward where I parked the car. There aren’t many signal lights in the town, but amazingly the traffic (and there’s plenty) moves smoothly.
There also aren’t any lights for pedestrians to use to cross the streets, but there are crosswalks and people simply cross and the traffic yields to them without any honks or yells. I stopped for ice cream and to sit and people watch. Part of me hated to leave, but I knew I needed to head my car south.
I’m now on my return trip home, but there are over 2,000 miles home to explore.
Life Continues 