Back in the U.S.A.

We slept in a little this morning with a shorter drive planned today from Bangor to Boston. Interstates 95 and 295 are the quickest routes south and allowed us to have a repeat visit to the New Hampshire coast.

We enjoyed Petey’s Summertime Seafood Restaurant so much on our way north that we decided to go there again for lunch. Their lobster dishes are simply wonderful. We decided to get out and walk at a nearby state park on the beach and enjoyed the fresh air and ocean views there. There are amazing huge homes along the coast there, quite a few for sale, probably with hefty price tags.

Rye Harbor

We stopped, too, at Rye Harbor to watch a lobster boat unloading its catch onto a waiting truck. The afternoon was sunny and beautiful as we hung around the docks. There are a couple of granite memorials there commemorating men and women who have fished these waters for a living. Mike took pictures and I met and talked with a woman taking photographs. She had brought her 21-year-old son there to take advantage of the relatively warm weather on this late October day. She shared their story of her son’s struggle with an illness that has been difficult to diagnose.

This positive and pleasant lady (who lives nearby) pointed us further south to Hampton Beach and another park with a row of small, colorfully painted beach “shacks.” There was also a small, creatively designed garden there and lots of people walking and jogging on the path along the seawall. All along the coast here there are benches with plaques dedicating them to folks who have lived and vacationed here.

We made our way off the beach road and down I-95 to the airport where we checked into an airport hotel and turned in our rental car. This has been a wonderful trip in so many ways, but we’re ready to head home where Michael will meet us at the Charlotte airport tomorrow. We’re happy that we could celebrate with others in Halifax. And there’s no question that we found great places we’ll want to visit again and learned about others that go on our list of places we want to go.

(All photos by Mike Lumpkin except this one by me.  Wherever we go, he's got his camera in hand, finding the shots that remind us of sights we never want to forget, memories we want to save and savor in years to come.  My joy is being in those places with him, sometimes pointing out something he might want to photograph, always reveling in his unique eye for the beauty and often the humor of what we see.  This one was taken as he turned back toward the car from the gorgeous colors of autumn on a little road in New Hampshire. You can see in his stride the pure joy he experiences in capturing the special moments we find.)