Our move took us to the Boston/Cape Cod KOA. It is located a bit far from Boston but is actually half way between Boston and Cape Cod, about a 40 mile drive to either. We were not thrilled with staying there, but as I have said before, besides KOA’s being notoriously overpriced, RV spots are hard to come by in these here parts at this time of year and this was the only place we found that had site space to fit our needs. It had all the typical kid’s activities for family camping, and definitely had lots of kids running and biking around. While we were here Jeanne’s sister Denise flew out from Branson, MO, to stay with us for a week and share the sights.

Our first outing was to run into Plymouth, about 12 miles away, to see “the rock”. Plymouth is a quaint little tourist town with maybe “just a little” history to it. We wandered the town on foot, taking in all the historical sites including the old Burial Hill.

Of course we had to make a couple of forays into Beantown USA (aka: Boston). Like EVERYWHERE in this part of the world, parking is a nightmare, as is the vehicular traffic. What street parking exists is controlled by meters and most are a 2 hour limit. It was just easier to find one of the parking garages and give in to the $39 parking fee. We then embarked on foot into downtown Boston. It is definitely a town of history, and the Freedom Trail is a well marked path through town, taking you by all kinds of sights. Beacon Hill, check. “Cheers” bar, check. Site of the Boston Massacre, check. Paul Revere’s house, his final resting place, and the Old North Church where his “one if by land, two if by sea” signal was made from, check. Those are just a fraction of the sights. And for those of you who are averse to walking, there are “hop on, hop off” trolleys that cruise town all day, one of which ran $39 per person. 

And in keeping with our theme of trying to hit all the Presidential Libraries, John F. Kennedy’s is right here in Boston. We expected to see a lot of class and style because of First Lady Jackie, but unfortunately this was the biggest let-down of all the libraries we have seen yet. I was most disappointed in the little emphasis put on things like the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the over-emphasis on JFK’s interest in the Peace Corp. I’m glad we got to see it just because we were in the area. Otherwise, I personally would not plan a specific trip to come see it.

A trip into Hyannis Port in the Cape Cod area was not real exciting. We could not get close enough to get a clear view of the Kennedy family compound (you would get a great view from the water), but we walked the small town and beach areas anyway.

We wandered across the street from the KOA to Oliver Mills Park in search of any hiking trails. We failed in that endeavor (no trails), but Jeanne “the critter finder” did manage to stumble upon a whole bunch of her favorite critters – SNAKES! Northern Water Snakes are native to the area and they were plentiful along the creek that ran through this park. They had beautiful coloring…

From Boston we moved up into Maine. The way it worked out we had to make home for 2 days in York, Maine at Flagg’s RV Park. This was a dumpy park with no facilities, terrible sites for us transient customers (mostly seasonal/permanent residents) and horribly overpriced at $65 per night. And to cap it off my “neighbor” had a hissy fit because my sewer hose was laying on the ground on “his” side of my sewer hook-up. The ONLY plus for this RV park was location; it is a short walk to hit the beach.

We took a walkabout down to the beach to check it out. During our time here I noticed the extreme fluctuation in the size of the beach due to the varying tides. With high tide, there was very little beach and with the amount of folks trying to obtain their preferred levels of sun burn, it got a bit crowded. The beach also had more rocks than sand, but that does not dissuade the masses from seeking those tans. We continued along the beach, then entered a residential area on our way to the Nubble Light House. The lighthouse is on a small island, so we could only gaze at it from across the water. For dinner we were steered toward “Lobster in the Rough” by the campground owner. It was not a typical restaurant, more like a bar with snacks, live band, and a kid’s playground. Kinda weird atmosphere, and we had to sit at picnic tables outside. Fish tacos and a scallop roll were our choices for fare of the day. That’s another thing. Up here in the New England area I thought the fish was going to be outstanding. I feel I am back in the deep south, EVERYTHING is deep fried! Not a big fan…

Ogunquit had a sandier beach. We went into that town (extremely touristy resort town that leans heavily toward the “rainbow” crowd), walked the main drag (no pun, er, OK pun intended!), then finished off with burgers and Margaritas at Hamburger Harry’s. I am no stranger to the sights associated with a gay resort town (30 year career working in one), but I did happen to see a couple of really strange-looking humanoids here. Never a dull moment…

We drove into Portsmouth, NH, and walked the downtown area. It has some pretty cool older buildings and alleyways. We also walked across the Memorial Bridge (a modern draw bridge) and got to watch it in action as a tall masted sailboat passed under it.

After our 2 day stay at Flagg’s, we moved on all of about 15 miles to Sea-vu West RV Resort in Wells, ME. This was a real resort type of park, very nice grassy sites, FHU’s, pool, activities, the works.  It is a nice location to explore this area as well as Kennebunkport. The area has a trolley system that costs a whole dollar for any one-way ride you want. There are a couple of private trolley companies as well, they cost a couple of bucks more or less.

Our first order of business was a trolley ride. We stayed aboard and did the whole loop to get an overall idea of the area. Parking is again the issue of the day, especially if one wants to go to the beach. But the trolley drops off right on the beach (Wells Beach). Once done with the trolley, we decided to go on a lobstah (that’s how us old New England pros pronounce “lobster”) hunt. One of the locals who swore us to secrecy mentioned that “Fisherman’s Catch” was a local’s favorite for lobstah. (OK, it was our trolley driver. She is not allowed to make recommendations for local business establishments. We’ll call her “Deep State Abe”). We took Abe’s advice and headed to Fisherman’s Catch. Oh my. It was what I would call a gastronomical orgy! Words will not be sufficient, so just take a look at these pics.

Kennebunkport is the location of the Bush family compound, presumably their vacation home(s) in this area for when they want to escape the heat of Texas/Florida. We drove into the area and did another foot patrol of the downtown, then drove out to look at how the other half lives. The Bush property is beautiful and nearby the neighbors erected a nice little anchor monument in honor of “41” which overlooks the compound.

With the weather being so nice we gave ample attention to the pool at our park and to Drake’s Beach so we could send Denise home a few shades darker than when she arrived. Tomorrow is her travel day, and we will be back to “business as usual”, preparing to relocate once again. Until next post…