Friday, July 8
Seacoast Camping and RV Resort
We took I-495 to avoid Boston and arrived at Seacoast Camping and RV Resort around 1:20 pm.
Hampton Beach
Though it was an overcast day, we changed into swimsuits and drove to Hampton Beach, about 20 minutes from the campground. It cost us $25 to park in a lot about a block away from the beach. Because the water was only 53 degrees and the sky was overcast, few people were on the beach, and I am sure the lot would have been packed. I did discover later that we could have parked at the meters elsewhere for less, but because this lot was centrally located, it ended up being worth it.
Hampton Beach is a 700-foot-long sandy beach 150 feet wide at high tide. It is the biggest and most popular beach in New Hampshire, but the state only has 13 miles of coastline along the Atlantic. It looked beautiful.
We took our chairs down to the beach, but it was too cold to spend time in the water. Very few people were in the water, primarily young children. The adults who went in usually complained loudly about the water’s cold.
We walked on the beach a little together, and then I took off to explore each end of the beach. When I got back to the chairs, I found that Lisa had to move them back because the tide was coming in. We walked briefly down to the beach together when suddenly I saw my shoes floating by me. The tide was approaching faster than we expected, and we had already caught up to our chairs.
Hampton Beach had an extensive boardwalk with many shops, casinos, and restaurants, so we decided to put our chairs away and explore it. It was fun seeing all the crazy t-shirts. Fried bread was a favorite food item, so we ordered one with lots of chocolate and sprinkles.
We left around 6 pm and headed back to the camper.
Saturday, July 9
Salem, MA
We left the camper around 8:30 am and headed south to Salem, MA.
We got to Salem about an hour later. As we drove through downtown Salem, we saw the Bewitched monument.
We parked on the street near the Salem Commons near the Witch Museum. We first explored the small craft fair set up in the Commons and the Roger Conant (the first settler of Salem) monument before walking over to the Witch Museum. You had to buy tickets online, and since I had not purchased any, I quickly looked online to see what was available. I discovered that I had meant to go to the Witch History Museum, where I intended to buy a combo ticket that included the Witch Dungeon Museum and the Pirate Museum.
We left the truck parked and walked to the Witch History Museum, which was less than a half mile away and in the middle of Witch City Mall. After we bought our tickets, we learned that we had just missed the next show, but we would have time to walk over to the Witch Dungeon Museum, which was a couple of blocks away, catch their show, and then come back.
Witch Dungeon Museum
The Witch Dungeon Museum featured a live re-enactment of the Witch Trial followed by a tour through a dungeon filled with mannequins posed in scenes related to the trials. The play was performed in a room that looked like a courtroom. On the walls was information about the history of the trials in chronological and categorical order. The acting was pretty good, though it felt like we were watching a good high school play. They emphasized the patriarchal aspects of the Puritan culture.
After the play, we were escorted downstairs and quickly through the various dungeon scenes portrayed by mannequins. It felt more like a horror house than a museum as it sought to drive home the torture the accused went through. Even though we did not have a huge crowd, the pace was quick, and it was often hard to hear the guide. We tried to take pictures, but it was dark. The mock trial and basement tour lasted about 45 minutes.
Witch City Mall
We walked back through the Witch City Mall where we saw busts of female pirates portrayed on the light posts and some monuments.
Witch History Museum
The front area of the Witch History Museum was a gift shop. Before we were led into the “museum,” we were given a summary of the witch trials from a guide wearing period clothes. Still, it was delivered in a rather emotionless recitation of a script. We were then escorted through the “museum,” which felt like a creepy basement. There were no artifacts or exhibits, but instead, about 15 life-sized scenes used mannequins to depict the daily life of the people, the accusations, and finally, the trials and hangings. It looked similar to the Witch Dungeon (the same people own them) but with a lesser horror feel. The pace was fast, and it was often difficult to hear the guide because of the group size. It took about 30 minutes to go through the museum.
The Witch Dungeon Museum and the Witch History Museum did not tell me anything I did not know. Still, it was interesting to experience the story while standing in Salem, albeit in a very hokey manner.
New England Pirate Museum
We then walked several blocks over to the New England Pirate Museum. They used mannequins like the other two museums, but this one had a few artifacts and displays. A pirate (tour guide) took us on a 30-minute walking tour through recreated dockside villages, pirate ships, and various other scenes, where we were introduced to about 60 buccaneers through vignettes and told interesting stories. The pace was slower than at the other museums, so we could hear the guide, and he encouraged questions. Near the end, we were released to view the remaining displays. There were plenty of interpretive texts on the walls providing more details. It was fun.
The Satanic Temple and Salem Art Gallery
We returned to the truck and had lunch before driving to the Satanic Temple and Salem Art Gallery. Located in a residential area, the temple looked like the rest of the neighborhood. We had to provide proof of vaccination and wear a mask before entering. We bought tickets in the small gift shop. Then we were able to walk around the first floor on our own, which hosts a small art gallery, the 8.5 foot 1.5-ton bronze Baphomet statue seen in the Oklahoma state grounds debate, and a small exhibit dedicated to the 1980s Satanic Panic. Surprisingly, you were allowed to sit on the Baphomet statue. I enjoyed seeing how the Satanic Temple wished to portray itself to the public. I also enjoyed looking through their library and a script I found of their Black Mass from 2018.
The Satanic Temple is often confused with an earlier organization, the Church of Satan, founded by Anton Szandor LaVey in the 1960s. Both organizations do not worship a supernatural Satan but are instead nontheistic religious organizations that use Satanic imagery to promote egalitarianism, social justice, and the separation of church and state. They employ the literary Satan as a metaphor to promote pragmatic skepticism, rational reciprocity, personal autonomy, and curiosity. The Satanic Temple, though, considers itself a more progressive and updated version of LaVey’s Satanism, and each considers itself separate and distinct.
Lexington
After leaving the Satanic Temple, we headed toward Lexington. Our first stop was at the Lexington Battle Green, common in Lexington, where the first shots of the Battles of Lexington and Concord were fired on April 19, 1775. There, we saw the statue of Captain John Parker, erected in 1900. We also saw an old iron fence surrounding an area containing a granite obelisk memorial erected in 1799 and the remains of eight militiamen killed in the battle. Both were under renovation. The Battle Green is one of only eight locations in the United States where the U.S. flag is specifically authorized by law to fly twenty-four hours a day.
We then drove over to the municipally-operated Lexington Visitor Center, which has a diorama depicting the Battle of Lexington. Since we were looking for the National Park Service visitor center, we did not stay long.
Minute Man Visitor Center
We drove 2 miles to the Minute Man Visitor Center, which had various exhibits and artifacts. Still, the highlight was the free 30-minute multimedia theater program called “Road to the Revolution,” which introduced the events of the beginning of the American Revolution.
It was here that I also learned that Paul Revere did not shout “The British are Coming” but rather “The Regulars are Out!” or possibly nothing at all since the operation was meant to be conducted as discreetly as possible since scores of British troops were hiding out in the Massachusetts countryside. This also makes sense since they all still thought of themselves as British at this time.
North Bridge Visitor Center
We then headed west to the North Bridge Visitor Center, 5 miles away. We followed the route that had been designated Battle Road or the route that the British Army took on their way to Concord. There were several historical houses and taverns along the way, but we did not stop at any of them.
The North Bridge Visitor Center is located near the site where 400 provincial minutemen and militia engaged roughly 90 British Army troops at this location. The battle was the first time American forces advanced information on the British regulars, inflicted casualties, and routed their opponents.
The visitor center had a short film and a cannon stored at Concord during the battle. A trail took us down to the replica North Bridge, where we saw the 1836 Battle Monument placed on the British Army side of the bridge and the 1875 Minute Man statue, which was later placed on the minuteman/militia side of the bridge. A gravestone is nearby that marks the grave of two of the British soldiers killed in the battle.
A ranger was sitting near the bridge, answering questions about the battle. He even had a binder full of reference material with him. He was so interesting that other tourists and I kept him engaged with questions until he had to courteously pull himself away when the park closed at 5 pm.
Sunday, July 10
Today we took off around 9:15 and headed south along the coastline.
Plum Island Light House
Our first stop was the Plum Island Light House around 10:30.
The Plum Island Light House, also known as the Plum Island Light or the Newburyport Harbor Light, was first lit in 1788 with a lantern burning whale oil. It was the 13th lighthouse to be constructed in the U.S. and was used to guide boaters into the treacherous mouth of the Merrimack River and Newburyport Harbor. The current lighthouse dates from 1898. Since 1927, the lighthouse has been powered by electricity. The last keeper left the Lighthouse in 1951 when the light was automated.
Castle on the Hill, the Crane Estate
Near Ipswich, we turned toward the Crane Estates or “The Castle on the Hill.” The route was shared with people going to a popular beach, so when we got close, we were stopped by a person in a booth at the entrance who made sure we were going to the right place. From the booth, we climbed a steep road until we reached a parking lot at the top of the hill.
There was an information shed near the parking lot where we learned that it was free to walk around the estate and even into the mansion’s main floor. Tickets could be bought for a guided tour, but we decided to walk around. We were given a brochure that had a self-guided tour on it.
The estate was just an example of the country estates many wealthy families built at the turn of the 20th century. The 56,881 sq ft mansion was built 1926-1928 as a summer home for Mr. and Mrs. Richard Teller Crane, Jr. The fifty-nine-room great house included a 17th-century Stuart-style facade, a library with carvings imported from an English country house, parquet wood flooring, and paneled interior rooms from an 18th-century townhouse in London. The rear of the house had a large terrace overlooking the ocean, octagonal towers, and a pair of immense seated griffin statues.
Surrounding the mansion were 21 outbuildings and 21,000 acres that were lavishly landscaped. A 160-foot landscaped mall lined with hedges and classical-style statuary connected the house to the ocean almost a mile away. An opulent “casino” was built at its midpoint with a saltwater swimming pool (now filled in), bathhouse, guest cabanas, and an indoor ballroom. There were two main gardens, the “Italian Garden” and the “Rose Garden,” with ornate plantings, landscaped walkways, and Italianesque fountains. There was even a garage that had lifts and a car wash.
The grounds were featured in several movies, including the 1987 movie The Witches of Eastwick, the 1987 movie Flowers in the Attic, the 2009 movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, the 2014 movie The Equalizer, and the 2019 movie Little Women.
We ate our packed lunch on the grounds before heading to Rockport around noon.
Paper House
We drove through Gorton’s of Gloucester, where we saw the large Gorton’s plant, and drove out to Rockport, which is at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. In Rockport, we drove deep into a residential neighborhood to the “Paper House,” a house made of an estimated 100,000 sheets of newsprint.
The house was the two-room summer cottage of Elis Stenman and his wife Esther. For fun, he replaced everything except the roof, floor, porch, and framework with newsprint. The ceiling and walls are now made of panels 215 sheets thick of newsprint. The gaps between the wood framing are insulated with newsprint tightly rolled into rods. For decorative touches, the outside layers were folded into squares and triangles—pages with bold headlines and graphics where the paper would be visible. To protect it, everything was sealed with marine varnish, which has turned everything dark.
When he finished with the house, he began covering or making furnishings with newsprint. Now, there are paper chairs, tables, desks, stools, bookshelves, floor lamps, cots, grandfather clock, and draperies.
By 1930 so many people were visiting the Paper House that the Stenmans moved next door into a normal house and opened the Paper House full-time as an attraction. It was then and is now operated on the honor system where visitors are asked to leave a cash donation in the mailbox close the door, and turn out the lights when they leave. Though the exterior walls have begun peeling away in spots, they are still in remarkable shape.
Hammond Castle Museum
We then headed over to the Hammond Castle Museum. When we drove through Gloucester, we did have to wait briefly on the draw bridge. We parked in the only open spot in the very small parking lot when we arrived.
Tree-lined stone steps wind down the hill from the parking lot and open up to views of the ocean through 4 arches. We went into the gift shop where we purchased some self-guided tour tickets and were given a brochure with a map and a list of major sights.
The castle was constructed between 1926 and 1929 on a rocky cliff overlooking Gloucester Harbor as the home and laboratory of John Hays Hammond, Jr., an inventor and pioneer in the study of remote control who held over four hundred patents. The architecture is a mix of a medieval castle, a medieval French village, and a Gothic cathedral and is composed of modern and 15th-, 16th-and 18th-century architectural elements and collections. It even had a draw bridge.
There were so many strange and unusual things to see that, in hindsight, we wished we had booked the guided tour, though I think they were all sold out, and we were not ready to be in a crowded room with lots of others because of COVID.
Throwback Brewery
It was about 4 pm when we left Hammond Castle and headed back to the camper on roughly the same route we had taken down. It was 5 pm when we got back to North Hampton, so we decided to stop at the Throwback Brewery near the campground.
The Throwback Brewery is located on Hobbs Farm, a 12-acre working farm that supplies some of the food sold in the brewery and the hops used in the beer. They also had a family of farm animals including goats, pigs, donkeys, and heirloom chickens.
The beer is brewed in a restored 1860s sheep barn, and they have a tented area outside for dining. Though we were able to order some beers right away, there was a long wait time before we could be seated for dinner. After we finished our beers, we decided to find another place to eat.
Al’s Seafood
We decided to drive just down the street to Al’s Seafood, which advertises itself as having “ delicious seafood dining in a casual New England setting.” It had always looked busy when we drove by. We got a booth inside the restaurant, and our waitress served us water in a small disposable plastic cup. That’s when I realized that “casual” meant that everything would be served on paper or styrofoam, and our utensils would be plastic. I also saw that the restaurant was designed around their takeout business so it was more like a sitting area to eat their takeout.
I first ordered clam chowder and then had the baked seafood medley with coleslaw and a twice-baked potato. Lisa got the fish and chips with cole slaw. We both enjoyed our meals.
We got back to the camper around 7 pm.
Monday, July 11
New Hampshire Coast
We left the camper around 9:15 am and explored north along the coast.
The coastline was full of beautiful big homes and restricted parking that required local passes. We were able to find some places to pull over briefly, though, to enjoy the ocean and the rocky coastline.
In Portsmouth, we got briefly stopped by the drawbridge going over the Piscataqua River where we crossed into Maine.
Fort McClary State Historic Site
Just outside of Kittery, we stopped at Fort McClary State Historic Site. Fort McClary was a coastal fort established in 1808 to protect the approaches to the harbor of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. The large blockhouse in the center of the fort was built in 1844. The fort was used on and off until it was decommissioned in 1918. Numerous granite blocks are scattered on the site as a testament to several uncompleted upgrades.
I enjoyed exploring the fortifications and gun emplacements. We were also able to go inside the large blockhouse, which had been turned into a small museum. It had great views of the grounds and water.
York Beach Cliff Walk
As we continued north and passed York Harbor Beach, we saw a sign that said Cliff Walk. Since it sounded like it would be very scenic, we stopped.
The Cliff Walk is an absolutely gorgeous half-mile walk along a cliff overlooking the ocean. The path consisted of poured concrete over stone and a narrow dirt path lined with flowering shrubs that set the path back from the cliff face. You had the beautiful surf on one side and the beautiful private coastal homes on the other.
The path was very easy, but it did have some broken concrete, a few stone staircases, and a few short inclines, and when we weren’t on concrete, the trail surface was uneven. About halfway through the walk, Lisa turned her knee and had much pain and difficulty walking. There was no exit other than to complete the walk, so Lisa powered through the trail until we reached the exit on a public road. I then got the truck and came back to pick her up.
Cape Neddick Light
We then continue north to the Cape Neddick Light. The Cape Neddick Light is a lighthouse that was used in 1879 and sits on Nubble Island about 100 yards off Cape Neddick Point. It is commonly known as “Nubble Light” or simply “the Nubble”.
The lighthouse is still in use and stands 41 feet tall, but the light is 88 feet above sea level because of the additional height of the steep rocky islet on which it sits. The tower is lined with brick and sheathed with cast iron.
Though the light station is on an island inaccessible to the general public, there is a park on the Point across from it with 60 parking spots. Unfortunately, the parking lot was full, so we could only drive by and take a few pictures.
Ogunquit
We continued north until we drove through the busy town of Ogunquit. We drove to Perkins Cove, which I read was a very pretty but busy tourist area. It was also one of the endpoints for a beautiful oceanfront walk called the Marginal Way. It was packed, and there was a long line of cars trying to find parking places, so we just continued driving.
We also drove down to Ogunquit Beach, but parking was full there.
Kennebunkport
We continued north until we turned around at Mothers Beach near Kennebunkport and started heading back.
Moody Beach
On our way back, we drove over to Moody Beach. Though houses were along the beach, the area was mostly a large salt marsh. The channels in the marsh were currently empty because of the low tide.
Cape Neddick
As we continued south and crossed Cape Neddick, we were amazed to see how low the water level was in the cape and to see boats out of the water. I read later that the tidal range for the cape is over 10 feet. Wow!
York River
As we crossed the York River, we saw similar low water levels and more salt marshes. I was still in awe of the impact of the low tide.
Fort McClary State Historic Site
We decided to stop at Fort McClary again so that I could climb around some more areas that I missed the first time.
Kittery
When we continued south and crossed the Piscataqua River, we saw the effects of low tide.
New Castle
When we crossed back into New Hampshire over the Memorial Bridge into Portsmouth, we drove past the historic buildings of the Strawbery Banke Museum and the pretty Prescott Park to the island of New Castle to see Fort Constitution.
We also got another glimpse of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Founded in 1800, PNS is the U.S. Navy’s oldest continuously operating shipyard. Today, most of its work concerns submarines’ overhaul, repair, and modernization. The shipyard employed more than 6,500 federal employees.
When we got to Fort Constitution, we found that it had a chain link fence around it so we were unable to do much more than peer at it through the fence. There were a few display boards outside of the fence.
The fort was built at the location of a former British fortification site called Fort William and Mary. After the Revolutionary War, New Hampshire gave the land to the United States government, which rebuilt the fort and renamed it Fort Constitution in 1808.
Behind the fenced-off area was also the 1878 Portsmouth Harbor Light. We saw a sign that guided tours are available on certain days.
As we left the island, we got a glimpse of the beautiful Wentworth by the Sea Hotel as we left the island.
Coastal Drive
As we drove along the coast near Rye, we saw more salt marshes, low bays, and estuaries.
Lagos Ice Cream
It was about 5 pm when we got back to North Hampton. We decided to go up to Lago’s Ice Cream before returning to the camper. Their portion sizes were huge! We got back to the camper around 5:30 pm.
Tuesday, July 12
Lisa’s knee hurt a lot today, so we decided to relax at the trailer. By the afternoon, though, she wanted to get out, so we left the camper around 12:30 and took a relaxing drive along the coast.
Coastal Drive
We took about the same route as we did the day before but stopped along the shoreline more often. The estuaries and capes had more water in them than they had the previous day but the tide was going out.
Rays Seafood
We stopped at Ray’s Seafood to take pictures of some of the quirky displays there.
Wiggly Bridge
I also stopped and walked to the “Wiggly Bridge” near York. Like the Cliff Walk, this trail began close to Harbor Beach.
York was settled in 1624 and was a prosperous seaport, but there is little sign of such activity today. Barrell’s Millpond dam was constructed in 1727 across Meeting House Creek and flowed into the inlet to create power for new grist and sawmills at its southern end. The dam’s current version results from a 1922 restoration and leads across the scenic 1930s suspension bridge colloquially known as Wiggly Bridge. Beyond the bridge is the small nature preserve known as Steedman’s Woods.
You could see the tidal flow under the bridge.
Big Daddy’s Ice Cream
North of Wells, we stopped at Big Daddy’s Ice Cream. We enjoyed the advertisements for this small local chain during our stay there, but their ice cream was nothing special.
Wedding Cake House
In Kennebunkport, we stopped at the Wedding Cake House, a historic home built in 1825 by shipbuilder George W. Bourne. Considered to be “Carpenter Gothic” he embellished his house and carriage barn with buttresses with pinnacles. He joined them with intricate woodwork making it look like a decorated wedding cake.
Now, it looked like it was a popular wedding venue. We only stopped briefly in the driveway to admire it.
Storm and Pizza
Around 5 pm, we checked the weather and saw a strong storm coming in, so we turned around in Biddeford and took a different and faster route home. On the way back, we put in a phone order for pizza from M&Y Brick Oven Pizzaria, which was down the street from our campground. We barely had time to get the pizza and return to the camper before the sky fell.
Wednesday, July 13
We packed the camper and headed to Cedar Haven Campground outside Portland, ME, around 9 am.