Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, ME

Perkins Cove in Ogunquit ME

Ogunquit

Ogunquit is a picturesque New England town with two distinct districts.  Perkins Cove whose  harbor hosts a fleet of fisherman, sailing tour boats and a few pleasure craft is surrounded by a few restaurants and tourist shops.  Ogunquit's town center is set apart from Perkins Cove.   It is filled with tourist shops, inns, restaurants and a small market.  The two are joined by a footpath called Marginal Way that includes a pedestrian draw bridge.

Perkins Cove

Perkins Cove Draw Bridge

I can't say enough about how wonderful Perkins Cove is.  It has a very comfortable and easy going nature, despite being dependent on tourist dollars.   It's small and has a less crowded feel than the Ogunquit town center.  I suspect many visitors to Ogunquit, don't realize its nestled to the south of town.  

The draw bridge has controls on the walkway to raise and lower the draw bridge, should a sailboat or fishing boat need to pass.  There is a dock on each side of the bridge where a crew member could disembark, should there not be someone about to raise the bridge for you.  

Marginal Way

on the way to walk the beach

look carefully you can see how far the tide is out - all of the muddy area is underwater in high tide

Carol in front of a cherry tree that is being supported

Marginal way is a 1.25 mile asphalt path whose name refers to the margin between land and sea.  It is a curvy  and hilly path with many benches and private turn outs that provide gorgeous views of the rocky coast.  On our first journey down the path, we saw steps leading down to the ocean with signs warning of rip tides and educating people on the green, yellow, red and double red flags we see on our beaches on the Gulf Coast.   What was missing was a sandy beach, only rocks could be seen.  One spot had a very large life guard stand but again no sandy beach.   On a later walk the tide had gone out to reveal a brown sandy beach.

Low Tide

It's amazing how much difference there is between high and low tide.   With time the ocean draws back to reveal a large beach next to town.  We enjoyed a walk on the beach, but only put our feet in the water for a few minutes as the water temperature was in the 50s.   Brrr.   The cold water didn't deter North Easterners.  We saw people floating down the Ogunquit river as well as wading in the surf.   Hundreds brought their beach chairs and blankets to enjoy what we thought was a cool day.  Offshore there were 5 surfers, clad in dry suits making the most of the small waves.  The beach itself was devoid of shells, ghost crabs and other marine life we are accustomed to.   There were a few sea gulls who were focused on handouts rather than fish.  

Ogunquit Museum of American Art

Ogunquit Museum of American Art

View out to the coast from the central gallery

Just south of the cove in a very small inlet lays a small art museum, The Ogunquit Museum of American Art.   The gardens surrounding it are pieces of art themselves and adorned with many contemporary pieces.   Indoors there are multiple exhibits both permanent and rotating that celebrate the Ogunquit Art colonies of the past.   

South Freeport

We had lunch with another distant Jay cousin descended from a common great grandfather.  We enjoyed wonderful Lobster Rolls at the Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster Company while sharing stories of our Jay parents who knew each other and our current families.   These are her grandchildren in the picture above.   On their own, they went to speak with a crew of an Oyster boat.  The crew spent a substantial amount of time, answering their many questions.  I was very impressed with the kids initiative and eagerness to learn about a life far different from their own.  

Freeport

LL Bean makes their presence known in their home town and throughout the state.   Downtown Freeport has several LL Bean stores for different aspects of their offerings.    Apparel and Camping, Home, Bike & Ski.  Exploring the stores was like walking through one of their catalogs.  For you shoppers, downtown Freeport is like a mall set in a small town's main street with many familiar stores.  LL Bean also is a sponsor at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and the Island Explorer, which you will read about in our next post.  

Kennebunkport

Bush Compound

We couldn't pass up an opportunity to see a place you heard referenced during the George H Bush presidency.  Walker's Point Estate (aka Bush compound) has been the Family estate for the family for over 100 years and still is today by new generations of the family.  For George H Bush, this was his summer White House, where he hosted many foreign dignitaries.

Saint Ann's Church Consecrated in 1892 was a wonderful surprise on our drive.  About a mile from Walker's Point, lies this small Episcopal Church.  Besides being a gorgeous church, the parish also has wonderful outdoor pews that face the ocean.   

Saint Ann's Church Consecrated in 1892

Next Stop Acadia National Park and the town of Bar Harbor

Boston

 

Jeff and I had both only had quick trips to Boston before, so a long weekend there seemed like a chance to explore which we did.  However, covid did diminish our trip some since several museums and places we wanted to visit were still closed.  Having said that, Boston is very much alive right now.  The hotel seemed like it had a good occupancy level even though it only had room service food no restaurants or bars open.  We also had challenges getting served at restaurants because they were full or not taking reservations.  We stayed in the Back Bay area which is an upscale part of town.  Two blocks away is Newbury Street which is full of high end stores - window shopping only territory but also lots of restaurants.  Our hotel was attached to 2 malls one which had a Saks and stores like Gucci - again just window shopping for me.

Schooner sail of the bay

Since we no longer have a sailboat, any chance we get to go sailing we tend to take it.  So on Friday afternoon, we went on a harbor sail on an old schooner that sails to the Bahamas in the fall.  The sail was nice, but we got gypped a little bit.  Seems the harbor bottom is being blasted for dredging to make it deeper and when they are blasting ships can not be near.  Guess what they were doing that Friday afternoon.  Now don't get me wrong we did sail for a couple of hours, we just did not get to go explore the islands and we did some circles (lots of tacking - kind of like sailing the Mississippi). We saw the USS Constitution /Old Iron Sides which is still officially in service, went past Logan Airport, past some nice newer apartments/condo and just plain sailed.

Boston Commons

 

We walked a lot in Boston.  Part of the time we walked the red line(heritage trail), part of the time we were walking through Boston Commons and adjoining public gardens and then down a tree covered median back to our hotel.  

Boston Public Library

Jeff had read about the historic Boston Public Library and that it was full of gorgeous artwork.  I was surprised to find some religious references in some of the paintings - guess division of state and church was not a big thing back then!

Boston Public Garden

While he was on a run, Jeff took a selfie and a couple of pictures of the public gardens.  The lake behind him has some boats that you ride on with a huge swan in the back.  The spring flowers were dying or gone and summer flowers were starting to bloom.

Cambridge

A dining hall at Harvard

More from Harvard - we liked the duck design in the bricks

Yes this is a wild turkey in the middle of Cambridge!

Another day we spent walking around Cambridge.  We walked around Harvard's campus some before window shopping for awhile.  We walked out of a store and crossed the street to look closer at a light fixture when we found this turkey.  Squirrels, chipmunks, birds are the animals I expect in an inner city area - turkeys are not the norm!

Waterfront

Salem

All of these pictures are from the memorial to the people killed as witches.  Each of the jutting out stones is a memorial to one of the individuals.

While we were in Salem, we also visited the museum of the House of Seven Gables.  Seems that Nathaniel Hawthorne's cousin owned this house at the time he wrote his novel.  It is also interesting because parts of the house date back to before the revolutionary war time period.  The tours started in the 20th century by a lady who used the profits from the tours to aid immigrants to the city.  To this day, tour revenue still supports programs for immigrants in the community.

exterior of the house and its gardens

a room showing its original construction.  The house model in the background is how the house looked at one time when gables were no longer trendy.

secret stairway built into the chimney - added in the 30s to align with the novel

After a few hours exploring Salem, it was off for Ogunquit, Maine is our next stop.