North along the Maine Coast…

On our second full day on the coast of Maine, (9^th day of our trip), our goal was to explore as far north as the town of Searsport.  Since we’d been to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor twice on previous trips, I’d left that area off our list of places to go this time.

We didn’t even get to downtown Rockland when I spotted this old railroad locomotive turntable and engine house right alongside US Hwy. 1.  Railroad turntables are a relatively rare sight in the USA in this day and age…and this was the second one that we saw on this trip.  This turntable and engine house was constructed by the Maine Central Railway in 1921 to replace an earlier complex.

The markings on that locomotive aren’t something that one would see every day…unless they lived in upper New England and Quebec Canada.  It’s a GE Model B23-7 wearing the livery of the Central Maine and Quebec Railway...plus a little ‘extra’ graffiti tagging.  This model locomotive started rolling out of a GE plant in Mexico in 1977.  A total of 412 of them were built.

This segment of the Central Maine and Quebec Railway only stretches from Rockland down to Brunswick Maine.  The railroad operates over 492 miles of track.  In September of 2015, the Maine Department of Transportation selected the CMQR to operate the state owned rail line, taking it over from Maine Eastern Railroad. 

Downtown Rockland is attractive, well maintained and prosperous with lots of shops and restaurants designed to keep tourists happy.  The town’s population numbers around 7,100 residents. 

We didn’t progress very far before I spotted the Willow Bake Shoppe!  We were in Rockport, only 8 miles north of our Hampton Inn at Rockland.  Note the sign which exposed one of my major dietary weaknesses…”Old-Fashioned Donuts”!   What could I do?  I had to stop! 

The interior of the Willow Bake ‘Shoppe’ was as tiny as the exterior would suggest…pretty basic but colorful.  They were busy too.  On TripAdvisor this little donut shop has a 94% excellent/above average rating…with no reviews below average!

These were the donuts that we selected and then consumed in the car. ($1.25 each) It’s never a good idea for me to eat anything messy in the car!  Much to Laurie’s dismay, I had the crumbs from that second donut all over the place…

We would rank Willow Bake Shoppe Donuts above average.  Their cake donuts were very nice but we are standing behind our local Master Donut chain back home in East Tennessee. 

In any case, Willow Bake Shoppe is a great stop and they’re even open this time of the year!  They are located at 1084 Commercial Street (US Hwy 1) in Rockport Maine.  Phone: 207-596-0564.  They are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Bakery/Willow-Bake-Shoppe-127754404885/.

I can’t recall exactly where these harbor/shoreline photos were taken.  We love the rugged Maine coast with all of its harbors, inlets and islands.  There is so much quality scenery to look at…and photograph!  Generally speaking, these pictures were taken in or between Rockport and Camden Maine.

This is one view of downtown Camden Maine.  Camden’s population is close to 5,000 but it triples in the summer season.  It was too early in the day so we didn’t have a chance to check out the Sea Dog Brewing Company shown in this photo…but it looked enticing. (http://www.seadogbrewing.com/#)

For a relatively small town, Camden has produced a significant number of accomplished personages… They include:

·         Singer and Songwriter Don McLean

·         Charles, Cawley, founder of MBNA, which until it was acquired by the Bank of America in 2016, was the world’s largest independent credit card issuer.

·         Cyrus Curtis, founder and publisher of several newspapers and magazines, among the latter were the Ladies Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post. 

·         Pulitzer Prize winning poet and playwright, Edna St. Vincent Millay.

·         John Sculley, former President of Pepsi Cola and CEO of Apple.

·         Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the founder of International Business Machines (IBM)

I noted the Lord Camden Inn (on the left) as we drove through the center of town.  This 36 room boutique hotel has been in business for over 30 years.  Rooms start at $139.00, but it is ‘off-season’ now.  The Inn has earned a 90% excellent/very good rating with TripAdvisor…with only 2% negative.  The Lord Camden Inn’s website is at https://www.lordcamdeninn.com/.

We pulled over to have a look around Camden’s attractive town center.  That’s where I made a strategic mistake.  I took the first parking space I saw…right in front of a store called The Leather Bench!  Ouch!  Laurie was in that store before I could shut off the motor… She did find a fine looking leather backpack style purse and she was very happy, so in the end, it was all good!

The Leather Bench is located at 34 Main Street in Camden.  Phone: 207-236-4688.  Check Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Leatherbench/.

We took this photo of the big green Victorian style house just because we liked its look.  Those chimneys are very nifty and we loved the detail on the front of the home.    

As we headed north, we passed the villages of Lincolnville and Northport on our way to our destination and tourist attraction located in Searsport.  At some point along US Hwy. 1, we noted these folks out in the mud digging for clams. 

In Maine, all clams in the intertidal zone (above water at low tide and under water at high tide) must be harvested by hand.  Towns in Maine regulate shell fishing permits and licenses.  There are limits on catch size/number harvested and the size of the clams themselves…

Departing from Northport and headed north, an attractive stretch of US Hwy 1 stretched on before us.  The countryside was a little mountainous/hilly for its proximity to the coastline.  Next stop…another multi-structure museum! 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by to check out our summer trip!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave