Beginning to see the Light

I have been up since 5am and decided to see if there was coffee available in the motel office, walked outside (630AM) and thought this was a pretty neat sunrise with the sky. Office still not open, so no coffee. Sure wish they had a coffee maker in the room. The cooler weather has set in, not a lot of miles to go today, so no need to get an early start. Back in the room, set the alarm for 8, back to sleep. Alarm goes off, up, back outside to the office (right next to my room), still no coffee. Finally around 830 the guy got around to making coffee. Hit the road right around 9AM. Louse coffee to boot.




Nothing really special about this pic of stop, other than it was come across stop for the word East. So to try to find a purpose for this stop, other than 1 point for the GLMC Grand Tour, I defer to Wikipedia.

In the film The Shawshank Redemption (based on the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Maine native Stephen King), Buxton is the site of the oak tree and rock wall where Red goes after being released from prison to retrieve a message from his friend Andy Dufresne, who escaped from prison a few months earlier.



Another nothing special spot, other than the huge word MAST, saying take a pic, me me me, please. This is in Westbrook ME. Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, went to Westbrook High. A little about the brewery company from their website.

It all began in 2013 with a simple homebrew kit. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the garage mashing, boiling, and fermenting beer after work and every weekend. After two years of experimenting with different beer varieties and recipes, we felt it was time to take our passion of brewing and drinking craft beer to the next level. In the summer of 2015, Mast Landing Brewing Company was officially formed.

A great start up company story.




Next stop is for a couple of light houses, in a private neighborhood. I was in and out as fast as I could. These are known as Cape Elizabeth and Cape Elizabeth West Lighthouses and are within 1/2 mile of each other. Both are private residences. Two lights were built one with a fixed light and the other with a flashing light. In 1924 the first one pictured, which was the fixed light one, was changed to a flashing light and the West one went dark for ever.



To intrude just a bit more



The West one, and adhering to the sign's instructions.



In Fort Williams Park, the Portland Head Lighthouse sits at where Casco Bay and the Atlantic Ocean converge, hanging around since 1791 and is still active.



Still in the park, and having to move from the lighthouse location, since it was a drop off only spot, I caught this lighthouse at a pretty far distance in the general parking area. It was an unplanned capture and turns out it is the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse. Built in 1905,it is privately owned, and is an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation. It is not open to the public and is accessible by boat only.



The next two are just up the road a bit. While not next to each other, they are close and look similar. Nice picture of the porta-potties eh. First one is the Spring Ledge Lighthouse built in 1857. The second one is the Portland Breakwater Lighthouse also known as Bug Light, built in 1875.





Caught this neat sailboat getting underway. Makes me think of the Beach Boy's song Sloop John B.

Moving off the sea coast into Portland proper, grabbed this mural for a restaurant, also called the same for a point.



In Windham, Maine who could resist a hubcap business. Sanford and Sons ??



Not having a lot of miles to do today, this barn in Windham also grabbed my attention. Grabbed a shot with the bike in it and then walked across the street to get rid of the wires. Might make a good black and white to add to my barn collection.





Couple of quick stops for the TeamStrange Melting Pot Grand Tour for the country Poland. The Poland Spring Post Office is the same place as Poland Spring bottled water now owed by Nestle Waters North America.






After some more zig zagging and looping ended up in Lewiston, Maine at the Motel 6 for the night. Not having had lunch asked the desk person for a recommendation which Fast Breaks was one of them. Had a great bowl of chili and then a mushroom and swiss cheeseburger. Parked outside was a gold RT-S, who was also inside. It is a 2017 Spyder with 70,000+ miles on it and he has been no further west than the Adirondack's and no further south than Maine / New Hampshire. That's a lot of riding, especially when it is local. Realized after I finished and walked out, Fast Breaks was good for 1 point.



Miles for the day, right around 165 allowing me to spend more time along the coastline in near perfect weather.