Father’s Day 2014. Perfect time to test our complete setup before heading out to Montana. We spent the morning loading up the Eurovan. Pam had done a little research and had found a spot in Yarmouth, Maine that looked good for biking and sightseeing. Having never spent any time in Yarmouth, other than passing through, it sounded perfect. After spending a while finding the best position for the bikes on the rack and loading every extra external storage spot, we took off. First stop, the grocery store for some breakfast supplies which we would eat on the way.
To enjoy the journey and take our time on this incredibly beautiful day, we decided to head up Route 1 instead of 95! While still in York, we got behind “Fishy”. I don’t know what the hell this vehicle was but it looked like a toy! There were two people crammed in the little thang which looked like a Tonka toy replica of a delivery truck from the 50’s. When I got closer to it at a stop light I could see it had “Friday is fish day” painted on the back just below the rear window and there was something painted on the sides but I couldn’t see enough of it to make it out. It sounded like it had a chainsaw engine and it smelled like it too but, what the hell, I took it easy and stayed behind the guy all the way to Kennebunk! What a riot! We were having fun watching people’s faces as “Fishy” plodded by in a cloud of gaseous fumes. Some smiled. Some waved. Some just shook their head in disbelief. Just before the turnoff to route 9 in Kennebunkport, “Fishy” revealed his destination. The Maine Diner. Of Course!! Perfect spot for “Fishy” to land. Maybe he was dropping off the morning catch? Trading it for some greasy eggs and watery coffee?
Fishy made us hungry. We needed a nice spot was to chill and chow, the staple of Eurovan travel. I pulled up the “eye in the sky”; google maps. We were in Biddeford and the Saco river was nearby so we went in that direction hoping to find an idyllic spot on the river. Quickly it became very clear that most (all!) of the riverfront property was private. We both came up with the idea of University of New England and went over and poked around a bit. We drove by a large tent where I imagined the commencement took place, right by the water but there was nowhere to park so we drove around a bit more and wound up in the employee parking lot. A dirt lot, right beside the dumpsters but also right next to the water with a great view of all the boats headed up the Saco River from Saco bay. We opened her up and fixed a breakfast of Bagels and cream cheese with some blueberries on the side and, while we were eating, Erin called to wish the old man a happy Father’s day! Wahoooo! We’re going to get to hang with her soon and it’s always wonderful to hear her voice!
After lunch we headed out and I got us totally turned around on back roads. We wound up about 10 miles south on route one again! Time to head over to 95 so we actually make it to our destination before the sun sets.
Close to Yarmouth, I pulled off 95 where I thought we ought to be. Hmmm, nothing looks like it’s supposed to. None of the landmarks are right. Dang. Musta blown by it. Turn around, try again. Hmmm still nothing but WAIIIT a minute, we’re in FALMOUTH…we’re headed to YARMOUTH…that’ll do it! Head to the right town and, PRESTO, the directions start making sense. And we’re driving ACROSS COUNTRY??!?!?
We found a place to park, pulled the bikes down and headed out to check out Yarmouth. What a beautiful town with a nice bike/walking trail right in the middle of town winding around and over the Royal River. We stopped in Royal River Park for a breather. A short detour behind the Museum led to a boat launch where I spotted what I thought was a bridge (see below) but someone with a can of spray paint clearly thought it was something else (zoom the photo to see it’s proper label). Hmm, ya learn something every day. A couple more detours, wrong turns, etc. and we ended up on Route One again on our bikes…naaahhh! Too many nice spots to spend time near that hellhole! We rode up Main Street and wound around a few blocks downtown and then headed back to the Eurovan to go find something for dinner. Are you sensing a theme here?
A quick once through at the grocery store yielded some atlantic salmon, tomatoes, arugula, almonds, some feta cheese and a nice chardonnay. Our thought was to head back over by the Royal River, park and cook up dinner while sightseeing and hanging out. The town was very quiet for such a beautiful day and parking was plentiful but none of the spots were crying out to us. After getting up close on bikes, we decided to head towards the ocean to try and find a different spot. I’m kind of addicted to the “eye in the sky” – Goggle Maps. I thinks it’s so incredible that you can look down at your location from miles in the sky and see every detail. I guess it’s kind of a drag in the respect that there’s no mystery anymore. No getting totally lost but that’s a big benefit too!
I just zoomed out until I could see where the ocean was and pointed the Eurovan on that direction. All the land around the ocean is very exclusive and private but there’s still plenty of public access and every once in a while, if you poke around a bit, a gem is waiting for you. Closer to the ocean the roads got narrower and windier and I had an SUV on my ass so I took a right turn at a fork where the road turned to dirt in front of us. The SUV went straight. We drove by large, manicured lawns, many leading down to the water, but no water access appeared so I turned around and decided to head down the dirt road where the SUV had gone. What the hell!?!? The road narrowed, and narrowed. There was a sign to watch for (not beware of) dogs and, at the bottom of a steep incline, the road emptied out on the rocks right next to the water! I thought about turning around but, FORGET THAT, I pulled out into the opening and parked. What an incredible spot!! Clearly, there was a small parking area and, after climbing around on the rocks a bit, we discovered a bunch of dinghies tethered to the rocks. This is a town “dock” made of rock where everyone moors their boats.
We popped the top and commenced to taking in the sights! Not long into the cheese and cracker appetizer plate…oh yeah, I forgot, we got crackers too…a young girl came walking down the road, out onto the rocks, with a small dog on a leash. She reluctantly said hello. Moments later, another kid came down with another dog. We assumed they were together. I though they may live in the house just above us on the rocks and they were coming down to make sure we weren’t going to spend the night. Then the mom came down with another kid and they walked to the front of the rocks by the water to hang out.
