Started with the Visitor Center located in the ferry terminal at the wharf.  Very helpful couple who obviously love to share details about their city and it’s attractions.   We walked the historical and still working wharf where you could buy today’s catch very reasonably priced.  Lobster for under $4/lb.  Lots of shops and attractions nestled between the water and downtown.  Beautiful historic homes adorn the hills at either end of downtown, mostly built by sea captains, ship owners and successful traders.

It was a short walk to Maine Mead Works where they have perfected making wines utilizing “mead” or fermented honey.  We sampled their selection and chose a couple for additional tasting later.  As we were leaving with our newly found bounty we noticed an enticing aroma and ventured into the coffee roasting business next door.  After some serious consideration and sampling we got out with only 1 pound of coffee and a pastry.  When you add the wild Maine blueberry jam and blueberry orange marmalade from Stonewall Kitchens we have quite a few local specialty items for future consumption.

Nature preserves – Best known is operated by the Audubon Society. Scarborough salt marsh claims the largest salt marsh on the eastern seacoast.  It was mid-day and there was a breeze so the mosquitoes were not bad.  Probably don’t want to visit here in the evening without some serious repellant. Gilsland Farm offers a variety of woodlands, meadows and salt marsh and many walking trails.  They have a problematic wild turkey who is very social, hanging around the visitor center and threatening to enter.  We saw a few birds and woodchucks as we surveyed the trails.

Lenny the chocolate moose(1700 # milk chocolate) has recently been joined by Libby the bear(380# dark chocolate) and her cubs Cocoa and Chip at a confectioners along Route 1 inScarborough.  They make a killer Carmel Cashew milkshake.

Bradbury Mountain State Park is just a few miles out of Portlandand boasts a granite outcropping with serious views.  Many short trails and a small campground that is home for the stay.

This is where you really began to notice the rocky cliff shoreline so famous along the Maine coast.  Very few sand beaches from here north.  The Portland Head Lighthouse and historical coastal defense fortifications are included within a community park on the south edge of the harbor.  Beautiful place.

Picture of the Week – Portland Head Light

I reminder that that ride was just the beginning of a brutal day (make that years) of fighting and that errant acts by still anonymous individuals can be the stuff that starts wars. The Minute Man National Historic Park attempts to trace fighting along the battle road from Concord to Boston. I wonder how accurate and unbiased the story is as the victors are still telling it?!
But, tidbits that stuck with me:
 An errant shot by one minute man in Lincoln startled the Brits into firing, claiming the first American life.
 Smoke from one of their own bonfires alighting the City Hall (not the British setting their city afire) is what alarmed the Minutemen at the North Bridge to advance on the British.
 British shots fired without orders at the North Bridge led to the American order to fire and the war was on.
The slope is indeed slippery when emotions run high and the stakes are ones very liberty.

Within hours, the early ranks of just hundreds along this road swelled to thousands of men. Volunteers. They answered the call sent though curriers, church bells, bonfires and the two famous lanterns. My heart swells with pride. I am more that a little surprised at how powerful that feeling is. Maybe a little embarrassed too at how little I do today to make sure that our freedom to self govern that was so hard won continues to stand strong. Hmmm.

Well, not that Adams Family. I mean John and Abigail Adams and family. The National Historical site in Quincy is all about the Adams from the oldest presidential birthplaces to the political contributions of generations downstream. They do a nice job of integrating the contributions and stories of the strengths of the womenfolk in that family too. A true testament to the “behind every man….”.

Nantasket beach. It is a beautiful, slow sloping beach on the ocean side of Boston harbor and Quincy Bay. Wow, the water is cold.

I rode one more of the remaining historical carousels today. It started out cool but not quite perfect. The horses were beautiful and the carousel has two fantastic chariots. Only problem, they were playing recorded music. All at once, the organ started to play. It is such a special sound. Seems it takes a few minutes longer to coax the organ to life than to wake the horses. Perfect ride!

…well, it is really just more of a big stone. The Mayflower II is in Plymouth too. 150 on board must have been really chummy. It’s hard to imagine 3000 miles in a little ship like that. A little more walking took us to statues, Churches, and a nice waterside park with a great view of a beautiful harbor. We found a bench and an ideal place for lunch

We walked every foot of the Freedom Trail…backwards: Bunker Hill to the State House and Boston Commons. It was a cool way to take in lots of history plus it walked us right through North Boston and the Italian restaurant district just in time for a delicious lunch!

The USS Constitution and its museum were the best stop. There was even a Fife and Drum Corp performance by a group from Virginia. The 294 step, continuously narrowing, granite spiral staircase up the center of the Bunker Hill Monument was pretty memorable too.

A man with a really cool crank organ and a cute puppy curled up on the bench beside him. Street dancing…they used to call it break dancing but I’m not sure what its call nowadays. Bagpipers along the sidewalk playing to pay off school loans!

Ice Cold Wadda. Delicious Chowda.
Between the accents and the traffic there is no doubt, we are in Boston.