Kennebunkport Maine Vacation - 2021

In 2020, due to covid, we didn’t go on vacation.  Several short, day trips isolating our self from crowds was the priority.  From 2015 to 2019 we rented The Federal House in Kennebunkport.  It was large enough for all of us and had a fantastic location in town.  We were shocked that it was sold for right around $1 million and then torn down.  The property is currently the side yard and garden for the adjoining house.

In any case, our 2021 Kennebunkport vacation is now in the books.  We ended up renting 2 houses due to the growing family size and schedule.  The house we rented was a couple miles from town and the beach.  We thought that would bother us but turns out we really liked the location.

We were next to a marsh just north of the ocean.  It was very quiet.  It was beautiful watching the tide flow in and out throughout the day.  The house was set up well for us with big bedrooms and nice space.  We loved the deck on the 2nd floor and would sit and enjoy the view and the quiet.  Here are pictures of the house and a picture just to the right of the house looking toward the ocean from the marsh.

My plan included pictures and some experimenting both early/late days and I wanted to visit a couple lighthouses I haven’t been to yet.  I am an early guy so never set my alarm.  The time I wake up would help determine where I drive to take sunrise pictures.  The earlier I wake up the farther I could travel to catch the sunrise. 
 
The late-day was the same thought.  Daily activities and when we finished with dinner would help determine how far and where I may go to take pictures.  DOESN’T EVERYONE THINK LIKE THIS ON VACATION?

Family plans included the beach, walk to the rocks, thunder hole, renting mopeds, going into town, shopping in town, ice cream at Rococo, etc.  We had a fantastic family dinner at Alisson’s (party of 17 + 3 children) in Kennebunkport.  We really liked lunch and dinner at Cape Pier Chowder House in Cape Porpoise.

The weather was low to high 70’s during the day and cool at night.  We had clouds some days with a rain shower here and there.  We also had some smoke in the air that actually came from the fires in California.  You can see the smoke on a couple of my sunrise pictures.  There was also an unusual full moon throughout the week which caused very high tides and very low tides.

Throughout the week locations included Kennebunkport, Cape Porpoise, Wells, Ogunquit, York, and Perkins Cove among others.  Depending on activities I may visit some places multiple times.

The farthest destination would be Portland to visit Portland Head Light.  The night before I planned to do this.  With no alarm and anticipation of the drive, etc. I woke up at 2:58AM.  It wasn’t long before I was out the door and driving.  I thought it would take me longer to get there so I had time to stop at Dunkin’s for a coffee in South Portland.  When I arrived, the main gate was locked.  The secondary road had a locked gate also.  I didn’t realize there were locked gates so I found some side streets close by thinking I might be able to find a back door or get a visual.  No such luck.  I ended up driving back to the main gate.  Directly across the street was a ball field with a parking lot.  There was one car parked there so I parked also.  That person said the police open the gate each morning and should be along soon.  Maybe 15 minutes went by and the gate was opened. 

I haven’t been to Portland Head Light so after parking, I walked a bit.  There is a walking path along the rocky coast in both directions from the lighthouse.  As It started to get light, I set up to take pictures.

I took pictures of Ram Island Ledge Light.  It reminded me of Whaleback Light with a similar structure and stones used.  You can see similarities in my lighthouse blog post.

I also took pictures of Spring Point Ledge Light and Portland Breakwater Light, both in Portland harbor.  I know there are more lighthouses in Maine north of Portland.  Someday that could be a photo adventure for us.

I experimented with Intentional Camera Movement (ICM).  Pam doesn’t like ICM and describes the pictures as blurry and out of focus.  I think they are interesting because they are original, never 100% sure what you will get, can look like paintings, etc.  In any case, I enjoy them.

I also took some interesting pictures of a marsh at high tide and the rocks looking down.  The patterns can be unusual and fun to check out. 

One morning when the tide was very low, I noticed the colors and the transition from the trees to the sand. The ocean ecosystem depends on the cycle of tides from high to low. Most of what you see in these pictures would be underwater during high tide.  I took several pictures as it became a photo scavenger hunt for me.

I always enjoy taking sunrise and sunset boat pictures.  I gave a couple of my pictures to the boat owners when I saw them.  They seem to really appreciate that.  I also saw the grey boat below in the marina and again coming back in toward the jetty.  Big … Fast … Fun I’ll bet …

We continued our family tradition with pizza for dinner on the beach the night before we head home.
 
The morning our vacation ended I woke up at 3:18AM.  I had been to Portland and York earlier in the week.  With the full moon, I decided to drive to York again and see if the brightness of the full moon would light up the Nubble to give some interesting pictures.  It wasn’t bright enough to use the moon for backlighting.  Maybe earlier in the morning when the moon was higher up in the sky it would have been bright enough to light things up.  If there is a full moon next year, I can think about getting up even earlier to go find out.  In any case, as I moved around, the moon and reflection gave a great backdrop.

We had a great vacation.  It was great to be with family and we always love Kennebunkport.  The tradition continues.

Foliage Run - 2020

I wanted to take some foliage pictures as the leaves change.  Pam and I decided to go on day trips instead of staying over somewhere due to Covid.

Foliage this year ended up being early due to drought conditions.  We didn’t think the leaves were quite as colorful this year.  We took a quick trip to see our new grandson.  The leaves had just started to turn so I took a couple pictures.

It was peak around Franconia, etc. which would have been nice to see but we didn’t want to deal with the traffic since we weren’t staying over.  It was a good call seeing the traffic congestion on the news at a standstill in that area.  The weather was a mixture of clouds and sun.  I think it was more clouds.  Sun hitting the colors on the trees make them really pop but clouds and grey sky make colors stand out in a different way. 

Our first destination was the Woodstock, VT area.  We decided to stay off the highway and take backroads Northwest to Claremont, cross over the bridge into Vermont and continue our Journey. 

We took nice winding roads with very little traffic.  As usual, we were looking for barns that could be nice pictures.  We were also looking for dirt roads to explore.

Many towns have old church buildings or town halls that were nice.  The frustrating thing I see often is telephone poles and powerlines all around them.  Nice buildings but the poles, transformers, wires, etc. don’t really do it for me.  I took a couple pictures anyway.  I suppose church buildings could be a new blog post for me.

As we traveled north, we saw the colors improve.  When we got to Woodstock it seemed like it was past peak a bit.  We had rain and high winds earlier in the week so some of the leaves were already on the ground. 

We went down several unmarked and class 4 roads.  At one point we had to have been 5 miles in the woods.  2 UTV’s approached so I pulled my jeep off the trail.  They stopped and I asked where this trail went.  They said it went to a big mud hole but didn’t come out to a road.  I was told there were more UTV’s coming and sure enough there had to have been 15 more pass by all mudded up.  Once they passed, we discussed and decided to be safe and turn around.  My though was no winch on my jeep, no one with us to help if we got stuck, no cell service, and a long trail walk back to anyone unless I run into the UTV’s again.  If Kevin was with us in one of his jeeps it would have been fun to continue.

From Woodstock, we would head through Barnard and did a slow loop.  We jumped on the highway heading home as it started to get dark.

Our second destination was west toward Spofford, NH.  We stayed off Rt101 going west so we could explore.  Again, nice winding roads, small towns, some good color, etc. 

We both enjoy exploring and the colors made it that much more enjoyable.

Kennebunkport, ME - The Federal House - Shock and Awe

When I got married in 1988, the family tradition was to vacation in Kennebunkport, ME every year.  In the early days, we rented from Gooch’s Cabins.  Small efficiency cabins that were tiny but nice with a great location.  Eventually, we would rent 3 cabins for the week.  They ended up being purchased and converted to condos.

At that point, we started renting a house every summer that could accommodate our 3 families.  As families grew in numbers and kids grew physically bigger we needed to look at larger houses. 

When walking or driving to the beach we would pass “The Federal House” on the corner of Doanes Wharf Road and Beach Ave. 

In the early years of our vacations it was a house in disrepair with vines growing up all over the unpainted exterior, a terribly overgrown yard, etc.  It was a real eyesore.  I bet the interior was a mess also.  It was sold and the property was completely transformed inside and out.

It had become a bit of a landmark being the big yellow house with the iron fence you would pass on the way to the beach.  It had a flag painted on the side of the garage. 

We started renting The Federal House in 2013 for our vacation.  This is a bit of the history I know of the house from asking the owners.

The Federal House was built in 1765 making it the 2nd oldest house in the area.  It has 6 bedrooms and 3 ½ bathrooms, a 3 car detached garage with a flag on one side, a wrought iron fence around it, with the property going to the cove connecting to the Kennebec River. 

In the early years, the cove was dredged to the property and they would tie up schooners to protect them from storms.  That is now the flat part of the backyard just behind the garage.  We were able to launch kayaks and have fun in the water when the tide was coming in.   The location was ideal with a short walk to the beach, into town, etc.  You could park your car and would not need to drive anywhere to enjoy the area.

We rented this house for a week every summer from 2013 to 2019.  During our time renting, the owners gave each of us a mug they had made up to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of The Federal House.  The house was sold in 2019.

Because of COVID, etc. we did not have our KPT family vacation this year (2020).  Pam and I took a day trip to Kennebunkport in late July.  I told her if we see anyone when we drive by The Federal House I want to stop and say hello, introduce ourselves, and let them know we would be interested in talking if they end up renting the house.

SHOCK AND AWE … As we approached we saw a dumpster and an excavator … the house was torn down and the garage was gone … WOW.  The dumpster, the pile of dirt, and the excavator in these last photos are sitting where the house used to be.  

It was such a great house.  There was so much history there.  I am surprised the town would approve a tear down with that kind of history.  I sure hope they reclaimed all of the interior wood trim and molding, etc.

It will be interesting to see what is built in its place.  Who knows if it will be residential or commercial.

We have such fond memories of our family time in that house.  Our family memories will live on along with my pictures.  It was and is all about family and friends …