We Fell for the Falls

Last week Jo and I came back to New York from Vermont. It was another beautiful drive in the northeast hill country. We are going to slowly head back south and then west for the winter.

I didn't believe that New York had anything but big cities. Well, so much for TV and the media. New York is absolutely gorgeous! From it's forests to it's farmland it is breathtaking.

When driving along the various roads, one thing in particular impressed us. The people there are particularly proud of their property and take care of it to the extremes. They have huge mowed lawns and multiple natural looking flower gardens. We love the old-style architecture of the eastern buildings and homes. Since the east was settled first, then obviously their buildings were the first built in the good 'ole U.S.of A. carried over from the “Motherland” of Merry Old England.

We came back to western New York to see THE Niagra Falls. There are two falls that fall on either side of an island like they are falling off of the face of the earth. The American Falls which do not touch our neighbor Canada and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls which separate Buffalo, New York from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally there was roughly five billion gallons of water an hour that fell over the falls. Now there is approximately half of that because much of the water is now diverted to a hydroelectric plant.





Jo and I took a boat ride to the base of the falls on “The Maid of the Mist”. This is a must-do for any visitors to Niagra Falls! We were awed by the primal power of the full force of the water pounding down from approximately two hundred feet above to the rocks and river below. The force of it blows a constant gust of wind and sprays a deluge of mist on all who want to know the falls intimately. Luckily the tour operators provide their guests with cheap rain ponchos (which we kept for emergency use and stashed in the car.)

After the boat ride. We decided to get even closer by taking a walking tour to the base of the American Falls. This tour was originally supposed to go behind the falls via a path and a small cave. Unfortunately over 50 years the path has eroded so that we could only follow a man-made boardwalk to the front/bottom of the falls. This boardwalk is rebuilt every spring because of the ice that goes over the falls during break-up. The tour operators were kind to their guest also by providing ponchos AND sandals. It's a good thing too because the water was gushing over the boardwalk and over our feet. (The used sandals can then be donated to a program which distributes them to poor communities in the world.) Our pant legs got soaked because we didn't wear shorts. We were limited in the photos that we could take because our camera is not waterproof. The ponchos were imperative because we were right up against the falls. We were so glad it was a sunny and hot day. We were lucky because the previous month was cool and rainy in New York. God was smiling down on us that week because the weather was beautiful.

Before we went on the tours we were able to go up on a two hundred and thirty foot tower/ overlook to get a very good look of the falls. We took a lot of pictures from there as well as from the tours. The whole experience brought wide smiles to our faces and kind of left us giddy. I can't express it because it takes all of your senses to experience it. We loved it. 'Nuff said.

Ben & Jerry's

Today we visited the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory. We took the tour which shows you a little video about the company's beginnings. It all started with a college drop out and medical school reject who took a five dollar correspondence course in making ice cream. But I was a little surprised to learn that Ben & Jerry no longer own the company and are only marginally involved. The tour then takes you to a spot overlooking the production floor and then to a tasting room for a little sample of whatever flavor is being made that day. No picture taking was allowed on the production floor. Everything is completely automated so there's not all that much to see anyway aside from a lot of stainless steele pipes and tanks. But the grounds around the factory were really pretty. And they have a "Flavor Graveyard" for their less successful flavor ideas that just cracked me up. They came up with such clever epitaphs for them. All in all, a very fun day.

Vermont

We are now in Vermont on an island in Lake Champlain which has one shore in New York and the other in Vermont. Our RV resort has a 9-hole executive golf course and guests can play one week of unlimited golf for only $45. So Tom has been out golfing every morning, and some afternoons too.

It's a beautiful area. Lots of oaks, maples, birch, spruce, pine and other trees I can't identify. The leaves are just starting to change so we are getting a preview of the fall color show to come.

We're just outside of Burlington which is Vermont's largest city. You'd never know it from driving around though. Other than a very small old downtown area and the University of Vermont campus, there are no large commercially developed areas anywhere that we have found. Just little pockets of commerce here and there. We went to Costco, Walmart and Best Buy yesterday and until we were practically right in their parking lots, we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere most of the time.

Burlington is home to Ben & Jerry's ice cream corporate headquaters and their factory is about 40 miles away in Waterbury. We plan to visit the factory to take their tour this week.

Bridge and Bar Harbor

Today we visited the Penobscot Narrows Observatory located atop one of the support towers for the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. It is 42 stories tall and has spectacular views.

From there we drove to Bar Harbor. We passed several "lobster pounds" along the way that looked very much along the same lines as Young's Lobster Pound though on a smaller scale. But we had seen an advertisement for Stewman's Lobster Pound on the waterfront in Bar Harbor so we passed all of these others planning to eat lunch at Stewmans. That turned out to be a mistake. The food at Stewmans was fine, but it was nothing like Young's. Stewman's is a full blown restaurant with a big menu, table service and the inflated prices that go along with the increase in overhead. I have no doubt we could have gotten twice as much lobster at one of the other pounds for what we paid at Stewman's. Still it was a lovely setting at the marina in Bar Harbor. After lunch we took a stroll around town, exploring a few of the tourist shops and enjoying the weather and the views.



On the drive home we stopped at a road side stand and bought a homemade blueberry pie and a quart of wild blueberries. They look a lot like Alaskan blueberries, but they're not quite as good. They don't have that little bit of tartness that makes the AK berries so delicious and unique. I think we'll still manage to enjoy eating them though.

Young's Lobster Pound

We went to Young's Lobster Pound for lunch today. It's basically just a big barn type building with quite a few huge tanks full of lobster, clams, etc and a gigantic tub of boiling water. Okay, so there's a little more to it than that, but not much. You go to the counter to place your order, they remove the appropriate crustacean(s) from the tank, put it in a big net bag and into the boiling water it goes. When it comes out they crack the shell for you if you want and plop it on a tray/plate along with a little container of melted butter. The only side dish choices available are a bag of chips, a cup of coleslaw or an ear of corn on the cob. However you are welcome to bring your own salads, veggies, whatever - even a bottle of wine or beer. The "dining room" is outside on a large deck at picnic tables overlooking the harbor. No frills but soooo delicious

Mid-Coast Region, Maine

We are now in Belfast, Maine, part of the Mid-Coast region. Or maybe it's Down East. We're right where one region ends and the other starts. But which ever it is, it is gorgeous. Our RV park is right on the water, and we have a waterfront site. The only drawback is we had to back into the space, so we can't look out over the water from inside, but I guess we can't have everything.

We spent the afternoon today sitting outside facing the water, relaxing, reading, and working on the computer. It's so peaceful here.

These pictures were all taken either from our campsite or the shoreline right in front of our RV park.

Casco Bay Region, Maine

The state of Maine is divided up into 8 regions and Freeport, where we spent the last four days, is part of the Casco Bay region. One day we drove along US 1 from Freeport down to Kennebunkport, passing through some wonderful coastal towns, beach areas and charming neighborhoods along the way.




And of course we had to stop at a roadside food stand for a famous Maine Lobster Roll - which is chunks of lobster meat mixed with a little bit of mayo, served on what they call a hot dog bun - which don't look anything like the hot dog buns we're used to.


Freeport is home to the LL Bean corporate headquarters so the downtown shopping area had several LL Bean stores. A home store, a hunting and fishing store, a camping store, a bike and boat store and of course a clothing store. We had fun exploring them all.


We are finding Maine to be a beautiful state and unlike some of the other New England states we have visited, it doesn't seem to be terribly overcrowded. It reminds us a lot of Alaska so we feel right at home.

East Coast Complete

We set out this summer to visit every state along the Atlantic Ocean and we've done it! We reached Maine today which completed the quest. The map on our motorhome now has all the states along the west coast, southern border and east coast filled in. There were a couple of times along the way we weren't quite sure if we would manage it. I'm so glad it all worked out because who knows if we'll ever get the chance to come this way again.

Beaches and Beer

This week we are staying at an RV park in Salisbury, Massachusetts, about 3/4 mile from the ocean. We spent our first couple of days relaxing on the beach. We are amazed at how crowded the beaches are here, even in the middle of the week. Where do all these people come from?

Today we decided to take a scenic drive through New Hampshire which is only a few miles north of here. We stopped a campground to check it out for future reference and got to talking to the campground owner. She told us there was a Busch Brewery in Merrimac, not too far from there. So we decided to find it and take the tour. It was fun and interesting. Tom's favorite part of course was the tasting room.

We have a couple more days here in Salisbury and we'll probably go to the beach at least one more time, then we head north to Maine.