First Annual NE Clam Chowda Ride

[Fred W]

OK, sifted through our pictures and think I have a few decent ones to share. Sorry about any duplicates to what others have already posted...

So, the ride started at the Kittery Trading Post:

Bike lineup at the KTP while everyone took a quick look in the post and used the bathrooms:

First stop was the Cape Neddick Nubble Lighthouse. My ob-pic of that:

Cool mansion/hotel near the cape

View from Cape Neddick:

Then we went in search of chowdah. I didn't take any pics of all the eating. But there was a clear winner in the Chowder ratings, at least in my opinion. Participant poll to be posted up soon.

Going off of the GPS-track to get to Kittery Point was intentional so that we could ride by the shipyard entrance and do the full length of Rte 103. I made a few little changes top the GPS routes after I first posted them up and didn't want folks to have to redownload and mess around with them. They were only minor changes.

But somewhere along the line the waypoint for Alisson's restaurant got removed and we blew right past it. I realized my mistake right after we turned up Ocean Ave out of dock square, but figured that we would just have lunch at the next chowder stop down the road instead. So CJ, if you are reading this, we never even fullfilled the original reason of this ride, duplicating your trip to Alisson's for chowdah!

Mea culpa! :blink: But folks did sample plenty of chowders throughout the weekend.

Here's the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse, one of the two lights at Two Lights:

A small beach at Two Lights:

Wild flowering bushes at Two Lights:

Some odd colored lichen was growing on the ledge along the beach there. Reminds me of the color of MEM's riding jacket... eh?

A cool looking driftwood stump on the beach

And then we made our way around the other side of the cape to the Portland Head lighthouse in Fort Williams Park:

While we were there a good sized container ship moseyed on up the channel:

View from the Headland:

Working boat goes by

I have no pictures of the city of Portland. If we are to ever do this ride again I would suggest detouring around it completely at all costs, at least if the time of day is the same. Who knew that rush hour starts at 4PM in Portland? The eastern prom was nice enough, and the ride up through Falmouth was nice, but not worth the traffic to get over the bridge from South Portland to Commercial St.

But we managed to get ourselves up to the Harraseeket in Freeport for an early dinner, once we ditched that troublesome Albany couple, the ones that stayed at the "alternate" hotel...

(next time I'm getting everyone's cell phone number at the start).

Day 2:

Boothbay Harbor was quite beautiful. Click the panorama view below for the full sized view in new window

Then after a little exploring of the Boothbay lesser known roads, (hey it was only 3 dead-ends) we looped west around the Damariscotta River and then back east again to Pemaquid Point:

And then on up to Rockland:

The Boathouse Restaurant was a delicious lunch repast recommended by Karl (he's not such a Baddog!). Did anyone else notice that all the waitresses were rather attractive? No, I didn't think so... The owner must have some selective hiring practices in a, uhm, non-traditional way. Sorry, no pictures of the wait staff. I was 2-up!

Fort Point Lighthouse and the old fort ruins:

Closer view of the light:

... and some may not have known that this was the bell signal tower off to the side:

I could sense that by this time that a lot of folks were wondering "Are we there yet?"

Luckily we were pretty close, and a short ride up Rte 3 through Ellsworth got us to the Pot of Gold at the end of the trail: Acadia.

Pics of that to follow.

 

[Fred W]

Sunday - Acadia and Mt. Desert Island.

Many folks took a quick run around and then had to depart for home. That is really too bad as, this was the real jewel of the whole trip. I think that Joann and I may have visited a few places that others did not. Of course we also rode the park loop and visited the "hot spots".

The Precipice Trail is closed. Has been for over a decade as Peregrine Falcons have taken to nesting on the cliffs.

(Click panorama for full view)



Falcon Mom flying over the top (black spec)

Thunder Hole wasn't thundering much as there wasn't quite enough surf. Just a few chuffs to let you know it's still there.

We caught up with Bob & Hope (Bob Hope, get it?) waiting to capture the Thunder (they didn't know I captured them)

Views from Thunder Hole

Then Joann and I climbed up Gorham Mountain. It is a short little hike, but amazingly you are above tree line for the last hundred feet or so. The whole trip up and back only took us about an hour and a half. Well worth it.

Views from along the trail:

Looking down at Sand Beach

And looking down at Thunder Hole, from where we had just come

Josie leads the way up. Here you can see what it looks like at about 400 ft. Similar to many extreme alpine climates due to the constant exposure to the ocean.

Some tiny wildflowers manage to hold on in the stark granite

And a misshapen stunted tree

More glorious views

And the ubiquitous, obligatory summit shot. What does that say, Bob? 3000 feet? :blink: :blush:

I'm very good with numbers...

The trail was not all that crowded, which was nice. We were able to just sit and look out for quite a while without being disturbed.

But on the way back down we did cross paths with this little fellow hiker.

Of course, we rode on up the Caddy auto road. I think that everyone that made it to Mt Desert Island did this, which is great. It is an absolute must do! :thumbsup: Going up...

Click the panorama below for a full view



Coming back down

Back on the Park Loop road

One of the many really cool, hand built, stone "carriage road" bridges. These are all a part of the Acadia legacy as planned by John D Rockefeller Jr.

Bubble Rock

Over on the South West side of the island, we walked out along the Wonderland trail.

Along this end of the island, some of the cool offshore breeze was bringing clouds up over the land, like the ones that you could see from the top of Cadillac Mt.

In case you were wondering, this is why they call it "Wonderland" (click for full view):



Shore birds

My next house

A short stop at the Bass Harbor Lighthouse

And then we capped the day off with the piece d' resistance. Just north of Pretty Marsh, on Indian Point Rd there is a small parcel of land that was donated to The Nature Conservancy called the Blagdon Preserve. There is a ~ mile long trail through the woods down to a pristine oceanfront on the Northwest corner of Mt Desert island. When we arrived there was only one car in the gravel parking lot. On our way down we passed a young lady on her way back up. She grinned and told us, "It's so beautiful down there."

The trail goes through some old growth forest, lots of moss and rotting dead falls.

... and once again, Josie leads the way.

Here is the reward for the short trek

We sat for at least a half hour on a couple of red Adirondack style chairs, facing the water and taking it all in. It was one of those moments when everything is right with the world. As it was getting close to dinner time, and we had skipped lunch in favor of making the most of our time on the trails, it was time to head back.

We walked back up to the bike via the small paved (private) road instead of the woods trail we had come down. Along the way we spotted some of the years first lupines blooming in a little field.

As I remarked a few times this past weekend to anyone who would listen, it is my opinion that there is no place on earth quite as beautiful as Acadia. It is a very special place. Every time that I come home from a visit to Mt Desert I find that I am depressed and long to return immediately. I hope that one day I will be able to stay there and never have to leave.

I hope that I have inspired some of you to explore the park more fully should you return, or if we run this ride again next year.

CJ, you can lead next time...

 

[MEM]

..... if WHEN we run this ride again next year.
CJ, you can lead next time...

Fixed it fer ya

WONDERFUL ride report Fred! Even better since I was there for all of it except the hiking stuff . THAT'll be next year for me

Thank you again - Fred & CJ - for putting this together

ME

 

[DE OPPRESSO LIBER]

Nice write-up Fred! I almost spewed Kool-Aid on the screen when I read you missed Alison's! That was just too damned funny! Sorry, but I just had ta laugh!

Gives at least a good reason to make the second annual ride!! So much for the chowder poll . . . :glare: Looks like Maine Diner is gonna take it?

 

[Fred W]

You got that right buckweat. So next time don't sissy out or go crashing your bike the week before so you can make sure we get to Alisson's.

:lol:

You can get anything you want, at Alisson's res-taur-ant.

I don't want a pickle... just wanna ride, my motor-sy-cle.

 

[DE OPPRESSO LIBER]

You got that right buckweat. So next time don't sissy out or go crashing your bike the week before so you can make sure we get to Alisson's.
:lol:

:******: :lol: I make no promises! Though I am flying to Pawley's Island next month to get the new Feej...... damned thing is black, can ya believe it? I'm gonna have to have it painted so it'll be the faster blue color! Or maybe put some yellow stripes on it and turn it into a Tonka...... just a thought.

 

[Fred W]

Pawley's Island? I love it down there. Have some low-country seafood stew (it's like Manhattan chowder with a butt-load of sherry in it)

And have a very nice ride home.

Black? Bah... It can be covered. Stick a Bag(ster) over it's head and nobody will be the wiser.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Pawley's Island? I love it down there. Have some low-country seafood stew (it's like Manhattan chowder with a butt-load of sherry in it)
And have a very nice ride home.

Black? Bah... It can be covered. Stick a Bag(ster) over it's head and nobody will be the wiser.

 

[zip]

Thought I'd add a couple of pics from my adventure out to Eastport, Maine - the furthest east incorporated town in the US of A. (Lubec is actually further east, but not incorporated!)

On Sunday morning, when everyone was wandering individually, I had a jones to go north and east. Had to see Eastport, and if I'd have thought to bring my passport (dummy, forgot it), I'd have probably gone even further east and north! So I made a sprint up to Eastport for lunch, leaving Bar Harbor at around 9am. Was really looking forward to some great lunch as I'd read of a couple of small cafes in town. Arriving at 11:30, I swear it appeared the town had been swept by the Ebola Virus. "I Am Legend", I'm thinking:

It was like they'd buttoned the place up and were about to paint it red from High Plains Drifter. Weird. I've never seen anything like it.

Beautiful little town, and it apparently gets 18,000 revelers on 4th of July (First place in the US to celebrate independence every year?) But it was eery. And I was hungry!

Made two loops around the block, sat on the dock for a bit, and the Happy Clam finally opened up for lunch. Here's half of the "small" portion of Seafood Pasta that you get for $12 at the Chlahm:

I. Could. Not. Finish. It. And I tried. But was beaten by three lobster claws, a school of scallops and a bit of farfale. Yum, man. Almost worth the five-and-a-half hour dead-straight, badly paved, middle-of-nowhere road getting out and back.

Highlight of that journey, though, was passing MEM with a happy wave at a closing speed of around 400kph. Love those little lights, MEM. Gotta get those.

Unsatisfied to rest at the Bar Harbor Motel at 4:30 upon my return, I decided to venture into Acadia, which I'd never seen. Beautiful, as you've seen in others' images:

Cadillac Summit, after an awesome windy road on the way up:

The lovely little ville of North Harbor:

Finished Sunday with about 9 hours of riding. (My *** sincerely wishes to thank Russell Cycle Products for making so much of this journey possible and comfortable. Radical difference in enjoyment.)

Left pretty early the next morning with a bunch of fog in the air. This might be that Bridge to Nowhere, but the adjacent modern Zakim-wannabe did connect to Route 1 South at the other end, and I proceeded home on Monday's six-hour grind.

Some really nice sites on the way home on Monday. It was really cool much of the way in fog, which was nice:

Camden, Maine:

And the boat launch area in Wiscasset, where I laid down in the shade and took a short nap mid-journey:

Really enjoyed this trip, friends. Hope to see you on another very soon, perhaps with Mrs. Zip next time...

 

[MEM]

It was like they'd buttoned the place up and were about to paint it red from High Plains Drifter. Weird. I've never seen anything like it.

VERY nice report Barry !! Great photos

Eastport must have been in church

 

[havocdog]

That's a long hawl for a 650GS. I hope you took it easy on him.
Dave

He did take it easy on me, tho the GS wasn't the real issue... the 55 y.o. bladder was.

 

[havocdog]

Thank you all for letting me tag along on my little GS. Fred, thanks for the extra gas stop. Great ride, great people, great picture postcard scenery, great chowder. Also good to spend some quality time with my brother, Chris (TheAxeman). I was flying blind (not even an old school map), so my plan was to follow the blue FJR - fortunately there were plenty to follow in a variety of colors. I was particularly impressed with how well the large group worked together on the road - watching from the back of the pack as the group snaked along over hills and through turns was very cool. Back in the pack also turned out to be good for other reasons - e.g., fewer witnesses to my brief excursion into the bramble on 90 degree turn that I failed to negotiate (target fixation). Big kudos to HD Dave -I don't know how he wrestled his beast through some of those twisty roads. He also had one of the funnier lines of the weekend - on seeing me carrying my bright yellow sidecases into the motel on Friday evening, he quietly asked me if I would be able to find my bike in the morning. Again, thanks to all for making this a memorable trip!

 

[DE OPPRESSO LIBER]

Nice shots, Barry! Perhaps you can play hookie on a weekday and convince your wife to go for a day trip up to Kennebunkport via backroads to go get some chowder at Alison's?

 

[Fred W]

Not sure he knows where it is...

Just kidding. It is a saved favorite in the route file that I sent out, it just got dropped from the Friday route somehow. Believe me, I don't know how it happened. I think it was part of the same bad juju that befell CJ and his (last) trusty FJR.

I'll be making the short ride to Dock Square to sample Alisson's before the summer is out for sure.

 

[DE OPPRESSO LIBER]

I'll be making the short ride to Dock Square to sample Alisson's before the summer is out for sure.

Well, I know I'll be posting up a meet and greet for Alison's sometime in the summer. This would be just a one day ride. Being the new guy on the block at work, I won't be getting any summer vacation time. Will be able to get away for maybe a three day stint, but that'd be about it. As it is, I'm supposed to have my kids for the weekend of the white/green mountains ride date..... will have to see what I can do about shifting things around a wee bit to make it!

But if you decide when you're gonna go, don't pull an OM -let someone know!

 

[bluejag]

I'll be making the short ride to Dock Square to sample Alisson's before the summer is out for sure.

Well, I know I'll be posting up a meet and greet for Alison's sometime in the summer. This would be just a one day ride. Being the new guy on the block at work, I won't be getting any summer vacation time. Will be able to get away for maybe a three day stint, but that'd be about it. As it is, I'm supposed to have my kids for the weekend of the white/green mountains ride date..... will have to see what I can do about shifting things around a wee bit to make it!

But if you decide when you're gonna go, don't pull an OM -let someone know!

+1 I'd be up for that lunch run

 

[cota95]

Me too ++.

I'm going through chowder withdrawal

 

[Charlie Hoss]

The Boathouse Restaurant was a delicious lunch repast recommended by Karl (he's not such a Baddog!). Did anyone else notice that all the waitresses were rather attractive?

Nope. Didn't notice. :dribble: