Day 63 Maine into Massachusetts

As much as I appreciated the views at Acadia National Park, I was glad to get away from the mosquitos. They quickly entered the camper whenever the door was opened.

It is a difficult drive to follow the Maine coastline southward from Acadia, so I had to loop back up through Bangor again and then start down I-95. This took me near Augusta once more, so I stopped in and took a picture of the state capitol building. The State House was completed in 1832, designed by Charles Bulfinch of Boston, a prominent architect who also designed the Massachusetts State House and the United States Capitol building’s Rotunda.

I continued south and stopped off in Portland, Maine’s largest city. This is among my favorite cities encountered on this trip, along with Savannah, Spokane, San Antonio, and Albuquerque. It has everything – parks, marinas, restaurants, and gorgeous views. I went to the coast to Fort Williams Park and took the dogs for a walk along the trail known as the Portland Headlight Cliff Walk, providing views of the coast and the iconic lighthouse. It is Maine’s oldest lighthouse, with construction completed in 1791. It sits on a headland at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine.

It was a short drive from there to Massachusetts. I had never been to Boston, so I made the mistake of driving into the city during rush hour. I wanted to see the State House, since I learned earlier it was the model for the Maine State House. However, there was no way I was going to be able to park the trailer, so I was only able to take a “drive-by” photo of the building. I also wanted to see the famous Boston Harbor and take in part of the long Harbor Walk. Again, there was no place to park, so I once more got just a “drive-by” photo. Traffic was at a snail’s pace, and I spent nearly two hours entering and leaving the city. This is why I planned very few big city activities on my trip itinerary, especially since I had seen most of the other big cities in the country in the past, but not Boston.

I continued to my campsite at the Miles Standish State Park, halfway between Boston and Cape Cod, which I plan to visit tomorrow.

Photos include the Maine State house, three views from Fort Williams Park in Portland, and my two “drive-by” photos from Boston (just to prove I went there).