Maine, the Northern Face of New England

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

Two more states left on my travel list of all New England countries. After visiting Connecticut, Rhode Island and travelling around Massachusetts and New Hampshire my next station was going to be Maine. It’s the largest of all New England states and probably the one with the most density of trees and untouched woods. Although we went 50 miles North-east of Portland there is much more nature to explore than we’ve seen. We only concentrated on the coast line. When I think of Maine I always have this certain picture of a rocky coast with a small lighthouse in my mind. I don’t know why, but lighthouse-wise I was disappointed. The only lighthouse we’ve seen was the one that they currently working on and which was surrended by a scaffold. But I got a few nice pictures of the surrounding though.

North Bridge Park in Concord

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

Maybe you remember the rainy story of my Patriots Day back in April. Then you should also remember that I was in Concord to watch the Patriots Day parade, which was unfurtunately cancelled due to the heavy rain. Since I had no other special plan for today I went to the North Bridge to have a walk the park. And beyond the normal walking path I explored a nice site where I watched the common suspects of the local animal world. I’ve seen it a couple of times now and even in the near of the hotel.

They look like a kind of Chipmunk, are so sweet and really fast. This little friend here probably thought that I couldn’t see him if he’s standing still and not moving.

Connecticut Trolley Museum

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

Probably sound’s boring, since some of you are not into these museum things. Rene and me visited the Connecticut Trolley Museum in Windsor. It’s not so extended like other museums of its kind. A non-profit organization, people working as volunteers and the small town of Windsor are perhaps the factors for slowing down the development processes. But even thoug we’ve seen an exibition of the history of trolleys in America from the early 20th century and we did a final 2 x 3 mile ride on two old, restored trolleys.

Horse riding in New Hampshire or a horse called Babe

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

Saturday, 21st of July 2007 4:30 pm EST: I’m sitting on a horse for the first time in my life (I think so). Janine expressed the wish to ride a horse here in America, so I googled for New Hampshire horse riding. Almost 5 miles through a forrest near Londonderry, New Hampshire. The girls already had experience in horse riding, but not me. My horse’ name was Babe. And Babe was very patient with me. Controlling was easy and I even made Babe taking a path beyond the studied route.

Find below a picture of Babe. I know, she not looking like all these fancy horses, but she’s faster than she looks like. It was a really funny afternoon. I had to care about some serious moskito wounds of the girls too :)

Cape Cod, escaping for a while…

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

On Friday we spend the whole day on Cape Cod. Looking for a beach we have been on the Atlantic side of the Cape first, but only on the bay side where the water is warmer and the wind is smoother we found a good one called Duck Harbor Beach. Since it was Friday and most of the people, spending their weekend on the Cape, are arriving in the later afternoon, it wasn’t that busy. To stay healthy I didn’t put the car directly on the parking area of the beach, where we had needed a $30 parking sticker, but on the free parking area 1.5 miles away. We hadn’t got the sticker anyway, because you have to stay in a local hotel to get one. No exceptions, no $30 extra earnings with the German tourist, that’s America. But besides that, the whole area is really beautiful and perfectly suited for recreation from the stress of the week. So do many Bostonians and spend their Summer vacation on Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, the islands south of the Cape.

Lost River Gorge

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

Again no luck with the weather. It was already cloudy when we woke up in the morning. The temperature was ok, but still no sun. I could convice the girls to go to an interesting site called Lost River Gorge, which we actually wanted to visit during the White Mountains trip in New Hampshire, when my dad was here. Unfortunately they close at 4 or 5 pm which was at that time to late for us. According to the flyer they are opened depending on the weather conditions.

We were not really prepared for what expects us. Compared to other visitor groups we more looked like going to the beach. Good for us, that the warning plate told us the same: “Please wear appropriate clothes!”. The Lost River is a small river flowing throught the upcoming White Mountains National Forrest. With the rough territory creating all these waterfalls, small canyons and caves. And you in the middle of this, climbing the stairs and leaders which they build into these canyons to explore them.

Singing Beach and Cape Ann

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

Our Thuesday started with some sunny hours on Singing Beach in Manchester-By-The-Sea, just 20 minutes from Woburn. As always when I arrive on the Atlantic Ocean there was low tide. I really don’t why this is. But it was the perfect time to ride the great waves of the upcoming high tide. We had nearly the whole part of the beach for us since Americans are too lazy to walk 3 minutes from the part of the beach that is directly located on the parking area. Apropos, my parking lot was $25 since I missed to move my car for 5 minutes. I’m still thinking about refusing to pay it, but I don’t want to get arrest next time I enter the US. In the further afternoon I showed Janine and Jessy Cape Ann and Rockport. As you know, I really like this town. Every photo I take of the harbor is like a painting. The sky is every time colored in a deep blue as it is famous for New England.

Stockbridge in the Summer

Originally uploaded by *tobi*

Returning and careful readers of this blog probably remember my visit of the Normal Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge in the Winter. At that time I promised Janine and myself to return because of the beauty of this small town. Well, I kept my promise and we went to Stockbridge on Sunday. The small stores seaming the street are perfectly suited to poke for gifts. The scenery sound’s like the description of an old movie: Some people browse for interesting books in the yard of the town library. On the porch of the hotel guests have a coffee while relaxing in a rocking chair. From the inside of the hotel’s restaurant you can hear someone playing smooth piano music. One of the places to go, when you have the opportunity to visit Western Massachusetts and Berkshire County.

Southern Cape Cod

Southern coast of Cape Cod

The last extended trip with dad was a more relaxing one. We were in the Southern part of Cape Cod on Saturday, in a small town called Woods Hole. From here ferries are going to Martha’s Vineyard. On our walk throught the harbour side of Woods Hole we stopped at the Naked Lobster, a fish food diner, where we had a real funny lobster lunch. Our hands were smelling like fish the whole day, even after we’ve washed them. The picture was taken on the beach in the afternoon.

White Mountains – the roof of New England

Actually they are only white from the late autumn to the early spring. The White Mountains in New Hampshire, part of the Appalachian mountains got their name from the snow coverage of the bright granite mountains. And again the weather in New England didn’t abandoned us. A deep blue sky as you can see on the picture: the top of New England, the Mt. Washington. While I’ve taken the photo dad was looking for the measuring point. Exactly 1,917 meters; and although we climbed the Mt. Washington as only real US-Americans do – in the car – the way up and down was not that easy. Especially not for the brakes of my car. From time to time we had to stop in one of the lots on the way down ;)

If you decide to go by car you even get a CD at the toll station at the start of the 8 mile auto road, full loaded with a mix of the mountain’s history, the challange of building the auto road and pratical tips to arrive the summit and the valley (on the way back) save.