Of course I wasn't going to get a satellite signal with so many trees so I didn't even set it up to try. Cable was $16 a week so I had to shell out money for that in addition to my DISH bill that I paid for the month.
We didn't do a whole lot at Moody Beach. I hung by the pool which was nice and quiet most of the stay. We took a ride to Kittery to the outlet stores and to Portsmouth for cat food. We did get some local seafood at Jake's.
Jake's is a typical lobster pound so ubiquitous in Maine. You place your order at the window, either inside or outside, and pick it up when they call your number. Some places sell beer or it is BYOB. I had the fried seafood platter. The clam strips were great but they really stay with you.
Our last few days in Maine were spent checking out some lighthouses. Maine is famous for lighthouses and we drove to see two of them. Our first one was Cape Neddick in York down US 1. Its official name is Cape Neddick but the local nomenclature and signage refer to it as Nubble Light, which is the name of the island where it stands.
Cape Neddick was activated in 1879.
We left Cape Neddick and headed to Portland. We took I-95 up to Portland because traffic on US1 is crazy going through Ogunquit. Ogunquit is a busy little town, and between the pedestrian and vehicle traffic the north bound side can get backed up for several miles. The interstate is faster anyway.
Portland Head Light is located in a city park called Fort Williams Park. This light is one of the most photographed of all the Maine lighthouse and is the oldest in Maine. The construction of the lighthouse was ordered by George Washington.
This one you can actually walk right up to. The lighthouse is located on Cape Elizabeth protecting the main port approach to Portland.
The building in the foreground is the light keepers house and the short brick structure in the rear is the fog horn building. The lighthouse's accessibility to be photographed from many different angles is what makes it one of the most photographed lighthouses in Maine.
The rocky coastline has claimed some casualties in spite of the light. The Annie C.Maguire hit the rocks in 1886. No one knows why:
Farther out in the bay is the ruins of Halfway Rock Light:
Halfway Rock was built in 1871 on a small rock that is about 10 feet above the water line at high tide.
The park also has the ruins of Fort Williams; a coastal defense fort erected in the 1890's.
You can climb and explore the gun batteries or picnic on the beach near buy:
We left Maine August 15 for New Hampshire. Since we used our membership at Moody we had to spend money for a week between stops. We ended up at Tuxbury Pond on the New Hampshire/ Mass. border.
The campground was nice and secluded but still only less than 10 miles to shopping or provisions. Once again we didn't do much. I think after three months of vigorous sight seeing we are getting less enamored with feeling like we have to be out seeing everything.
I did talk to a fellow who stopped at the site when he saw my inoperable Tailgater Satellite antenna sitting there. He stated that he too had one but returned it to Camping World and got a different model because it did not work in New England. I said that I didn't have much luck with it either. After much discussion we came to the conclusion that the western arc satellites that the Tailgater uses were to close to the horizon and the slightest obstruction rising more than a few feet off the ground would block the signal. I took his lead and drove to a Camping World in Chichester, NH to return my Tailgater. I anticipated a hard time returning it but there was no problem. I picked up the Winegard Pathway X2. Of course it is $80 more.
The Pathway X2 has the capability of picking up the western arc satellite as well as the eastern arc satellites unlike the Tailgater which can only pick up the western arc. This is something the retailer or manufacturer should inform the consumer of.
I got mine back to the trailer and tested it immediately. My first attempt using the western arc failed so I tried the eastern arc. This was a partial failure only picking up one bird. I relocated the X2 to another spot and I was in business; I had all three birds. I was glad I made the switch to the X2.
The same day we got the X2 we went to Concord since it was only a few miles from Camping World. We found ample parking on Main St. and went for a walk to the capitol building.
A local parking enforcement officer was friendly enough to take our picture and tell us how to get to the accessible entrance:
Some famous New Hampshireites are Alan Sheppard, Christa McCauliffe, Daniel Webster,
and no one's favorite president, Franklin Pierce, the 14'th chief executive who can be seen behind us in the photo above the Memorial Arch. We took a self guided tour of the capitol building. Strangely New Hampshire has the most state representatives, 3,400 citizens per rep, of any state and the fourth fewest state senators.
I love these quaint state capitals. They are nothing like Harrisburg, PA.
This is an add on if you read this already. I forgot some stuff. Our last day in New Hampshire we went out for more seafood. According to on-line reviews the place to go is either Brown's Lobster Pound or Markey"s Lobster Pool. We settled on Brown's which seemed to have stellar reviews.
The set up is a little confusing- you order all fried food at the window out side, steamers inside, and boiled lobster in a different area. Since I had lobster roll and whole lobster already in our travels I opted for the fried lobster and Doreen went with the fish and chips; fried haddock and French fries. I have to say I don't know how the place got all those good reviews. Frying lobster is just a sin, it comes out too tough. The haddock would have been good if they seasoned it. The cole slaw and tartar sauce had no flavor. None of the food is seasoned and if you can't make a simple thing like tartar sauce with some zing you might as well chuck it. Disappointing to say the least.
Afterwards we took a ride down the strip of US 1 but there is really nothing along there but residential areas. The beach looked nice but there is no where to park. Unless you are renting a house or live there it is difficult to park near the beach.
Here is the town harbor of Seabrook:
New Hampshire was probably the most economical of the New England states to date. No sales tax is levied and they do not charge a stupid bottle deposit on beverages like Vermont and Maine. A thirty pack of Busch Light for only $15.97! Oh also, they have liquor stores at their interstate rest areas for the thirsty traveler.
Miles this leg: 247
Total miles: 5733.3
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