The sites are parallel to each other which means your camping area is facing your neighbor.
A different set up than the usual that has pros and cons. We did stay here in 2014 so I knew what to expect. Unfortunately I didn't know the rental cabin next to me would have a flood light shining every night right in my "backyard". Oh well, you have to live with it.
We arrived on July 1 and would be here for a week so my first order of business was to find where we could see fireworks on the 4'th. I had rotten luck the last few years in trying to see a decent display. After researching online I saw that the town of Ogunquit, a few miles up the road, would be having fireworks. The day before we scouted out the town to figure out where to park and find a spot to watch from. We drove to Perkins Cove where we would eat some lobstah and walk into Ogunquit via the Marginal Way, a path a mile and a half long hugging the the edge of the ocean into that originates near the parking lot for Barnacle Billy's restaurant. Free valet parking would save me $10 plus I get to eat lobster.
A view of Perkins Cove from our table.
My lobster roll and cold beer.
After lunch we hit the path.
The path winds past opulent homes and resorts on the left and the ocean crashing the shore on the right.
The path comes out on Shore Rd. in town where we found a possible parking spot in a public lot. We then walked to the beach for a dry run for the fireworks.
The fireworks were going to be shot from the beach parking lot and getting there was a short 10 minute walk from town.
After the scouting mission it was off for some craft brews at Hidden Cove Brewing.
Doreen did not care for her selection, the Salty Rose, hints of hibiscus flowers and rhubarb! Yuck
On the day of the 4'th I had no intention of spending the entire day in the blazing sun to wait for the fireworks. We left the campground about 6:30 and drove into town. The little hidden parking lot we saw the day before was full of course so I drove a mile or so out of town and parked at a restaurant that I had spied earlier.
We had a few brews and some fried clams and walked to the beach from here. We worked our way through the throngs and found ourselves as close as you could get.
Right up against the caution tape. You could see the men with flares lighting the fireworks.
Overall a nice display, a solid 30 minutes. We walked back to the truck and got in the line of traffic going back towards the campground.
As always I get my fill of lobster while in Maine and this trip was no exception. We made plans to eat the Maine Diner about five miles up the road. First we stopped at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. A flat level path going through the salt marshes and estuaries of coastal Maine.
I worked up an appetite and we hit the Maine Diner nearby. The diner was featured on The Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.
I had the lobster pie and Doreen had the roll.
I am going to say the lobster pie is the BEST lobster dish I have ever eaten. Huge chunks of tail and claw meat baked in a dish. The secret ingredient: Ritz crackers for the crust.
After the week in Maine we were off to New Hampshire to Sandy Beach Campground.
We had a huge pull through site with no one near us. No great amenities here, just a small beach on the lake.
That's ok because we don't really use most amenities anyway. And by the way for you RV'ers out there, here is a good tip: never pay for cable service before checking the site first. In this case there were too many trees for satellite and cable would be $4 a day. I connected my cable to their outlet before ordering cable and there was service already active. I wasn't going to have to pay. I just checked it each day by 5 PM to make sure it was still on in case I did have to pay to have it turned on.
We had already been to New Hampshire before and visited Concord, the capital , and didn't really do much there but tour the capitol building. This time Doreen wanted a new cell phone and she wanted to visit another triple D's location in Manchester. We ordered a new phone online and would pick it up at the Verizon store in Manchester then visit the Red Arrow Diner. Unfortunately we forgot to take her walker with us and the diner was very old and not handicap accessible. She was quite disappointed. We ended up driving back to Concord and grabbed a bite at an overpriced craft burger joint called Good Vibes Burgers.
We would not give up on the Red Arrow though. There was another location in Concord we could try. We visited the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord. Alan Shepard of astronaut fame was from Concord as well as Christa McAuliffe, crew member of the doomed Challenger space shuttle.
A Mercury-Redstone rocket like the one Shepard rode as the first American in space:
A Navy F-8 fighter jet that Shepard test piloted:
The center is a small attraction and only takes a couple of hours to go through.
The time was still too early for dinner so I saw a Lowe's Home Improvement nearby. I had been considering buying a smoker to cook on so I went to Lowe's and Doreen to the Dollar Tree. I bought a cheap portable smoker for about 60 bucks, the Masterbuilt Bulit charcoal smoker. We then stopped for some craft brews in town (surprised?).
Doreen had a flight and I had their in house IPA. Quite good actually. Then we were off to the Red Arrow in Concord. Being a satellite or branch location of the original is not the same as being at the original so when the hostess said she didn't have a table available that Doreen could get to on her scooter, we were outta there. Doreen said if she was going to struggle to get into a booth she would prefer to go back to the original and use her walker there. Now it was getting late into the dinner hour. We found ourselves almost back where we started in town and got into the closest place to where we parked: the Barley House restaurant. The food was good and the drinks were decent so it all worked out.
We finished off the night with a stroll past the capitol building and town clock/bell.
Another drive back to Manchester on Sunday for a late lunch at the Red Arrow Diner. This time with the walker.
I wouldn't say it is the best diner food ever but if you're a local it is probably one of your favorites.
I had the turkey club on rye and Doreen had the chicken bomb.
That's it for New Hampshire. Next it was off to Rhode Island.
Once again, we had been to Providence before but had not camped in the Ocean State. I booked a campground near Newport for four nights only. I wasn't too keen on spending $75 a night for a campground so four days was plenty at Melville Ponds. (I never did see a pond)
I ended up trying the smoker the first day there.
I wouldn't classify it as an unmitigated success but not a failure either. The smoker never got the temp above 200* so I kept adding hot coals. About 7 hours later I took the meat off. Way past well done! It was edible but I will do things differently next time.
We rode into Newport the next day. Newport is a small town famous for its mansions and yachts, and as the summer playground for the old money wealthy.
General Rochambeau led the first French forces ashore at Newport during the Revolutionary War.
We spent the day walking around without much direction it seemed and it was hot. Doreen loves her quirky attractions like the Newport Mystery Tower.
No one knows who built it or what its purpose was. They don't even know when it was built. Some theorize it predates Columbus.
Some things are more recognizable such as city hall.
Of course we found ourselves at lunch at the Brick Alley Pub.
We loved the mussels and Portuguese sausage appetizer.
We drove around scenic Ocean Drive that winds around the peninsula and past the famous mansions the Vanderbilt's erected: The Breakers and Marble House. We didn't take the tour. We thought we would come back the next day for that.
Well the next day the forecast was rain and it eventually poured. Not good weather for outside activities so we took in the Newport Car Museum, a stone's throw from the campground.
What a gem that we almost overlooked. We had no plans to come here but for a rainy day it was perfect.
The museum is the private collection of Gunther Buerman, a wealthy CEO and avid yachtsman who one day decided, I have too many cars, let's start a museum. So he bought an old missile assembly plant, brought his couple dozen cars, bought a couple dozen more, and opened the doors. Now he has over 75 vehicles on display, all of which he has driven himself. The collections are World cars (Benz, BMW, Porsche,Lamborghini, etc), Corvettes, Ford Shelby, 1950's, and MOPAR. I will show representative pics of each category because I photographed every single car so that would be an entire blog unto itself.
World cars,
1989 Lamborghini Countach:
1956 Jaguar XK140 Roadster:
Corvettes,
1954 'Vette Convertible:
1963 Sting Ray Split Window Coupe:
Ford,
1968 Mustang Shelby GT350 Convertible:
1970 Mustang Boss 429:
1950's,
1957 Chrysler 300C Convertible:
1954 Buick Skylark:
and MOPAR & muscle,
1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28
2018 Dodge Demon. 840 horsepower! Passenger seat is a $1 option :
All the vehicles are original and in mint condition. Some are old classics; some are newer classics.
Doreen actually met Gunther:
They even had the most famous poster of all time by the Countach.
And for the finale you get a free spin on the simulator. You can choose just about any car on display on your choice of track. I chose the Mercedes SLS AMG at Daytona. After crashing right off the line I came in 8'th place.
I would definitely give this experience 5 stars. I really enjoyed it as did Doreen. That is it for Little Rhody. We didn't see the famous mansions up close but that is okay by me. Lifestyles of the rich and famous just make me envious.
So that's it for New England. We now have Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, and Missouri left to visit. We should get to Delaware and Jersey this trip, not so sure about the others yet. That is up for consideration right now. Depends on when we want to get back to Florida.
So for now happy trails until we meet again.
