At the beginning of the season I had no clue how I was going to attack the ST signs (sings with words that end in ST). Words like Baptist, Universalist, Best Buy, Best Western could only be used once per state. Given that First could be used as many times as you wanted, without limitation. My mapping strategy became all the First churches in New England, New York and New Jersey. So even thou Baptist churches could only be used once First Baptist was good to go because of the word First. I starting marking all the First churches in MapSource as the waypoints and simply picked up qualifying signs along way. Florist became a favorite which I used as secondary mapping guide. As you can see there were plenty of opportunities to get started.
First stop was in Massachusetts at the West Newbury post office. I promise you, I will not make you look at every ST town I found today, just some of the stops that maybe interesting or have a story connected with it. This one is the story. As you can see I am parked in front of the post office pointing the wrong direction. When I crossed over I happened to see a police car right up the street trying to catch possible speeders. He didn't move so I got off the bike and took my picture. I then noticed another car right next to the police car and simply thought it was someone asking the officer something, maybe directions. My assumption was oh so wrong. I then saw him pull out and pull right up in front of me and the driver had a uniform on. Turns out it is the Chief of Police to West Newbury. He points at me, indicating he wants to have a discussion and I nodded acknowledging his gesture. We had about a 5 minute conversation with what I had done wrong, told me he admonished his officer for not coming over to me to have the conversation. After he finished his remarks, he said I am giving you a warning one because I did not see you break the law and two … well one was enough. For remainder of the 4 days I was never pointing the wrong direction when I pulled up in front of a place to take a picture.
Heading to the next stop, the routing placed me off the beaten track and as I crossed the Merrimac River and took a left at the fork of the road when I should of gone right. I then saw this and stopped for a picture. This is what I found out about the farm.
Kimball Farm is a working family farm that has been in the family since 1820 and is now owned and run by 9th generation farmer Tyler Kimball with a focus on sustainable farming. As generation after generation has taken over the farm, it has evolved.
You can read more here http://www.kimballfarmhaverhill.net/our-story.html
Crossed into New Hampshire ( I know I said I reversed the trip, but ya gotta go thru New Hampshire to get to Maine) picking up a couple of East and West town post offices, always pointed in the right direction. In East Kingston at the intersection of routes 107A and 108 there was this stunning farm scene. One of the readers of this blog commented to keep the pictures coming because they were interested in views of different countries. I believe they were from Australia or New Zealand. I stopped with here with that comment in mind. What really struct me was the contrast of the house against all the various greens and that huge weeping willow tree to the right.
In Exeter, NH I got hooked by the New Hampshire historical markers. Every word in the sign that ends in ST is worth a point, so finding one with lots of ST words is like traveling to multiple destinations. There were 3 signs in Exeter that I stopped at, this one has 2 first words, for a total of 2 points.
As you cross the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, NH you arrive in Kittery, ME. As you exit off the bridge this huge sign is prominently displayed and it has a qualifying word, Finest. The Seacoasts word doesn't count because of the extra S. Also at this site was another sign with CHEST.
As I pulled into the parking lot I started positioning the Spyder for the shot and a lady comes running at me waving her hands. She pointed to a lady lying on the ground and said an ambulance was on the way. I got out of the way and was out of the parking lot before the ambulance arrived.
Warren’s was established in 1940 by Warren “Pete” Wurm. When Warren’s was opened it was nothing more than a six-stool, walk-up, clam and lobster stand. http://www.lobsterhouse.com/the-warrens-story/
My routing took me along Rt103. I caught this out of the corner of my eye and pulled into a spot which was clearly marked No Parking. Since I left the bike running and was only stopping, I felt I substantially complied with the sign's request. This is Whaleback Lighthouse which has had an active LH at this location since 1820, with the pictured one built in 1872.
Meandering in the general direction of north, zig zagging from east to west to east, I briefly crossed back into New Hampshire and then back to Maine. When you see the word DOWNEAST, you know you are in Maine.
Landed in Saco, Maine at the last stop of the day and where I would stay for the night. Picture is the First Parish Congregational Church in Saco. I use Hotel.com to book places to stay. For every 10 hotels you book you get a free night, which is essentially a 10% discount. I booked the Eastview Motel in Saco with skepticism because it did not receive particularly good ratings, but was cheap. Comments were the pool was a wreck, which turned out true, but I didn't care about that. While the room was not 5 stars, it was clean, comfortable, had good wifi service and located in a good spot. It is like a lot of the roadside motels in New England, probably built in the 1950 / 60's and have turned over to new owners frequently over the 7 decades it has been in business. Only complaint I really had was there was no coffee maker in the room.
Todays travels right around 280 miles.
1 comment:
Parking on the wrong side...hooligan! ;)
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