Webb Family Vacation, Day 5

Monday July 25th

Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine....and back!

Of all days, I wish I had written about this one immediately after.  We saw SO many small towns, beautiful seaside villages, distant lighthouses, and boats along the way.  We left our hotel in Boston around 8:30 and headed north to Salem, Mass....home of the Salem Witch Trials.  We followed the coastline up making a few stops along the way to Portland.  Our best stop was in York, ME at the Nubble lighthouse.  Or maybe it was a lobster dinner on the water in Portland, ME.

Here is a look at our day in pictures....

The view in the rearview!

Salem, Mass.

A cemetery in the Salem Village.  The headstone is dated 1713.

Owen enjoying the ride.
He just finished eating at Dunkin' Donuts.
He is covered in crumbs!

A view of the coastline a long the way.

 We traveled further north through Gloucester, Rockport and Ipswich.

 

There is a lighthouse in the distance.  This is a view of Rockport from the water.
A beautiful seaside village!

 Mark another state off the list!

Welcome to New Hampshire!

 We passed through New Hampshire rather quickly....

Welcome to Maine!

The public beach on the way to the Nubble Lighthouse in York.

This small beach area was packed.  There were lots of rental homes and Inns that sat across the road from the beach.  The interesting part is that it was only about 72 degrees.....cold for us, warm enough for bathing suit for them!

The Nubble Light House, Cape Neddick

 Attempting to get a family picture was not an easy task!

But Meme still gives kisses anyway!

Owen enjoyed walking around with Meme and Aunt Chandra

A local artist who donated the proceeds from the paintings to maintaining the light house.  

We enjoyed talking with him!

 We left the light house and headed further north...

 We finally arrived in Portland and at our dinner spot - DiMillos.

 We arrived around 5:00 pm - and after skipping lunch - we were ready to eat!

Fresh Maine Lobster!  

YUM!

 Sweet kids after a LONG day of driving.

We made a quick trip into a local shop in Maine to find local honey for my dad and then we had to hit the road to head back south.  Chad and I (what were we thinking?!?!) agreed to let all the kids ride with us in the rental van...the party van!  We followed 95 South back toward Boston and despite a little rain and a minor detour, we made it back to the hotel in about 2 hours.  

The kids did great all day.  I really enjoyed driving up the coastline.  There are so many places I would like to see again.  The coastline is beautiful and the small towns along the way all seemed like fun places to spend an afternoon.  I definitely plan to make a trip back to Maine to explore further up and find a few more light houses to add to my collection of photographed light houses.  

Seeing the beautiful Nubble Light House was a little bitter sweet to me...and I found myself tearing up while looking at the famous light.  My Papaw Joe loved light houses and the beach.  He had been to all of the NC light houses and photographed each of them.  He had multiple pictures in his home, small replicas and books about light houses.  While cleaning out his house, we found one book that included the Nubble Light.  Thanks to his love of light houses, I have always been really interested in them too.  I love them and think they are all so beautiful...even the ugly ones!  I have also been to every NC light and photographed each of them.  I have seen lighthouses all the way in Hawaii and cherish those photos too.  A light house gives me a sense of peace because, in a way, they are representative of my grandfather - silently beautiful, leading the way.  So, in a way, it was a comfort to travel so far north and see that light house.  In the same way, it makes me sad that I can't show him the beautiful pictures we have and describe all the little details and history of the light.  He would have loved our entire drive up the coastline and I would have love to tell him all about it...I'm guessing he was there along the way enjoying the sights with us...I sure hope so....he would have loved the entire day (except for the traffic!).