Reid Beach State Park, Georgetown, ME

View of Griffith Head from picnic shelter area

Wednesday was beach day for the camp, so off we went to Reid Beach State Park. We started off with lunch for everyone at the picnic shelter and then moved over to the beach. It was low tide, so there was a lot of contrasting colors and contours.

Small tidal pool

Sand amid rock

Seaweed covered rocks

Black and tan

Groovy, man! (I got nothing)

A long, sandy beach, which is rare in Maine. View from Griffith Head

View from Griffith Head

Portland, ME

U.S. Customs House on Commercial St.

I had the day off today, so I went to Portland to hang out. The foggy, misty weather was appropriate for this New England port city. Old Port is the section of town I like to go to. It's close to the waterfront and filled with shops and bars and restaurants. Although there are a few modern buildings scattered about, most of Old Port consists of older brick buildings with a lot of them being warehouse type buildings.

Rí Rá Irish Pub

I've been sampling the fish n chips in Portland. I've been to Dry Dock Restaurant and Tavern, Gilbert's Chowder House and Rí Rá. Gilbert's weren't that good and the most expensive of the three. Dry Dock was a good value and tasted good, but had the smallest portion of the three. Rí Rá is, by far, the best of them. Fresh haddock dipped in a beer batter that was light and crispy. And, of course, a 7&7 to wash it down. One of better orders of fish n chips I've ever had; almost on par with the order I got at a Britsh pub in Gibraltar.

Pub

Bar and restaurant section

Why have one bar when you can have two?

Door to the bar-only side

Fresh haddock with beer batter

That meal didn't have a chance

Old Port

View down Commercial St.

Corner of Moulton St. and Fore St. looking north

View up Exchange St. from Fore St.

I want a cop to chase me down this

Wharf St.

Commercial St. near the piers

Simplicity and symmetry

The Waterfront

The Wharf

Not many boats on the water today

Wharf warehouse

Boat with lobster traps

Java Net Café

My hangout in Old Port on Exchange St.

Good atmosphere.
Similar to FoJo Coffee Works...but with customers.
(Ohhhh, snap!)

Dessert

Augusta, ME

The State Capitol

Now I know why Augusta is referred to as "Disgusta." For the life of me, I've never seen so much vinyl and aluminum siding. One of the most drab and boring cities I've ever seen. I desperately sought out an old section of town with regal stone and brick houses, but none were found. Is it asking too much to at least have a porch on a house? There were numerous houses with a flat front and a small stoop leading to the front door.

The Kennebec River looking upstream

The Kennebec River looking downstream

St. Augustine Catholic Church

This is an historic building. No, really...

...see, I told ya.

Contrast in brick and mortar

siding! SIDING! SIDING!!

Bastiat vs. Keynes. Bastiat wins, of course.

Disrepair

Them's some big doors

Choo-choo underpass

Finally, a decent looking building

Blight on the Kennebec

Burnt Mtn., Maine

The gals at the summit

On Monday, I took three campers and another counselor on a camping/hiking trip up Burnt Mtn. We camped Monday night and hiked to the summit the next day. Burnt Mtn. is due east of Sugarloaf Mtn. in west central Maine. The trailhead is at an elevation of about 1700' and the peak is approximately 3600', so it was a pretty challenging hike for the young gals. The majority of the hike was under a canopy of white birch. When we neared the ridgeline, the birch turned to small pine trees and then to a mostly rocky surface with patchy grasses and wildfllowers.

It took us 2 hours to summit and we enjoyed a sack lunch up top. The brisk wind chased us off sooner than we wanted, but that's the way it goes.

A view from the summit to the southwest

Sugarloaft Mtn. and ski resort to the west

The Carrabasset Valley to the north

Refreshing

Pan o' burgers at the campsite

Our campsite at Deer Farm Campground in Kingfield, ME.