The Future is not Today: Sailing into Searsport

Today we are heading out for a 6 day journey to Maine. My original plan was to head out to Pittsburgh, PA, but we haven't traveled much in Maine lately and it just seemed like the summer thing to do. Main objective was to capture USA towns, this is double point week, grab the Tour of Honor memorials and of course BBQ joints. It would have been nice to leave yesterday, but it rained, and having plenty of time, today is suppose to be nicer. I wanted an early start and said facetiously we should take off by 6:30AM. (all pictures are clickable)
Well here it is right around 6:34AM and the FJR is waiting for a pilot and copilot. We actually got on the road at 6:42AM.

It was a blast up I- 495 to I-95 to Seabrook NH for our first photo op of the day, a USA town. We hit this place right around 8AM. Ran into misting and a wee bit of rain, but nothing of real import.

Both of us were a bit hungry and we have a good start on the day.

MeAsWe taking advantage of the 7.95 early bird special and eyeing her Mimosa. Me I had coffee.

I had meatloaf for the breakfast and it was quite good.

Right next to the Sea Grill were some typical New England boats

Having plenty of time and the early start, we have plenty of time to stop and take pictures of goofy stuff. Plus one never knows when they are going to need oversized globes for a treasure hunt. For those that might need this you can find it N43 01.570 W70 47.466 or intersection of Lang and Lafayette in Portsmouth, NH

Not to leave the BBQ joints out we grabbed a couple in Portsmouth.

The first Tour of Honor memorial for the day would be the USS Albacore. This was an experimental submarine and the first one to sail under the sea. Prior to this submarines were built as surface ships that could submerge. More info HERE.

A quick jump on the Maine Turnpike got us up to Portland, ME. Did you know the Maine Turnpike was a Civil Engineering Landmark and was the first super highway to be paved entirely with asphalt. The PA Turnpike, the first super highway in the US and the world, and others were built with concrete.

In Portland we found ourselves at the Liberty Ship Memorial. During WWII they built 266 cargo vessels in this ship building yard. The shipyard could build 30 ships at once and covered 140 acres of land with 60 buildings. The memorial is a tribute to the thousands of workers that built the ships

From this site you can see Fort Gorges that was completed in 1865

And the Bug Light. This has me thinking about the IBA National Lighthouse Tour.

In Brunswick we grabbed Sistas BBQ.

And then the Joshua Chamberlain Statue for the Tour of Honor. Josh earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery at Gettysburg. After the Civil War ( we aren't down south anymore so I don' t have to call it the War of Northern Aggression anymore ) he served as President of Bowdoin College in Brunswick and also served as Maine's governor.

Grabbed a couple of more USA towns and some sights along the way.

Lots of these knick knack places along RT 1 in Maine

Neon doesn't get much better than this places sign

While we were here, we grabbed a slice of pizza and I had a can of this stuff. It was really really good.

Our server

Couple more USA places

Crossing the Passagassawakeag River and into the final stretch for the day. When we were crossing this bridge, I slowed the bike so MeAsWe could get a good picture. The guy behind me started honking his horn. I guess I was not moving fast enough. There was a 35MPH limit sign which I was at. MeAsWe pointed to the speed limit sign. I drove the speed limit for the rest of the way into Searsmont. When the guy finally got around us, he yelled out "why don't your learn to drive that thing". I am glad I added to his vacationing memories.

Finally a place to put up our feet for the night. The Yardarm in Searsport, ME

Well we did go back out for dinner at this place. I had the Lobster Mac N' Cheese, a relative of that Lobsta in a roll thing. Actually it was quite good, but way to many calories. MeAsWe had the steak tips cooked in some maple stuff.