Owls Head and more Lobstahs....

Our morning began with a difficult to start Model A, but Olive ran well and we were off to Owls Head Transportation Museum and a real Downeast Lobster Bake.

We made a stop for a few essentials along the way and that was were really began to have problems with the car.  The car just would not start with out a push from the men.  She didn't want to keep running for quite a bit, but finally started and the trouble was attributed to junk in the carburetor.

We arrived at the Museum about 10:45 and were treated to seeing a 1886 Mercedes Motorwagen replica started and run.  They have many beautiful automobiles and airplanes, all in running condition.  We were treated to a ride in a 1918 Model T and a 1911 Cadillac.  So much fun!

Lunch was a catered Lobster Bake with all the trimmings.  Delicious 1.5 pound lobsters, corn on the cob, boiled potatoes, cole slaw, mussels, corn bread, and blueberry cake were enjoyed by our group.

After lunch, a few of our club members were adventurous and went for a ride in an antique airplane.  

Soon it was time to leave and it was decided to change the carburetor and see if the car would start easier.  That seemed to do the trick, until we stopped at the Owls Head Lighthouse.  We were still having trouble starting the car, but it ran fairly well.

The Owls Head Light is one of the few lighthouses that you can go up in.  The views were fabulous!  The day was clear and sunny and we could see 40 miles across the bay - all the way to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.

We finally got the car started, backfiring and sputtering a bit, but once it got going, seemed to be fine. We arrived at our hotel about 4:30 and it became a major tech session.  

More on that in the next installment... Time to get going on the day!  We are off to Bar Harbor for 2 nights.

Portland and Ducks...

Tuesday morning, we headed to Portland with overcast skies.  We encountered a few sprinkles as we drove the backroads of Maine.  This is where our trip began to become really interesting!  Olive decided that she had a bit of dyspepsia.  She became a bit difficult to start, but ran well.

Upon arriving in Portland, we found a centrally located parking garage and left the cars to explore on foot.

Our first order of business was lunch.  Some of our group went to Five Guys and enjoyed burgers with all the trimmings.  The some of us were after that delectable lobstah!  We ended up at a great waterside restaurant, Portland Lobster Company.  Lobster rolls for most, with a hot dog or two for others.

After lunch, we headed for the Duck Boat Tour.  Most of the tour was over land as we traveled the streets of Portland, enjoying a very humorous history lesson from our guide.  Then it was a splash into the Atlantic for a tour of the bay.

We then went to the Longfellow House and Museum.  Wonderful house, as it is full of all the furniture that the family owned.  The house never was sold to another family and was given to the state upon the death of his sister.  She left the house as a memorial to her brother for the state to maintain.

After our tour, we made our way back to the garage to pick up the cars and head for Freeport for the evening.  The car was difficult to start at each stop, but was still going.

Upon arrival in Freeport, our group decided to go on to the hotel, but John and I went over to the Harraseeket Inn to enjoy a concert being given in honor of MAFCA by the Community Band.  It was here that I was able to reconnect with a high school friend, who I had not seen in 41 years!  She plays the French Horn in the band.  After the concert, John went back to the hotel to participate in a conference call and I went to supper with my girlfriend.  We had a great time and agreed to see each other the next day at the Owls Head Transportation Museum.

Touring Kennebunkport

Monday began with a gathering of the membership for a breakfast buffet in the main dining room of both hotels.  The food was wonderful and the company was even better!

Mr. Peter Brown, Maine Pine Tree As, was our host.  What a delightful and funny presentation he made.  We received a wonderful education on the language of "Mainiacs."  Of course, we didn't want to stick out like sore thumbs, so it will be lobstah or spiders as the locals say, and clam chowdah to mention a couple.

After breakfast, we were off on our adventure of the day.  We started out by adding another member to our group.  So, we are now John and Happy Begg, Danny and Cheryl Austin, John and Twila Cockerill, Tom and Sherry Mack, Mike and Stephanie Petty, and Mr. John Leydon.

Our drive started with a scenic coastline drive past the home of the George and Barbara Bush out on Walker's Point.  270˚ views of beautiful Atlantic ocean and Maine coastline - what a sight to wake up to each day!

Then we were off to the Seashore Trolley Museum.  Such a fun place for all who love trolleys.  The history of the trolleys was quite interesting.  I was surprised to learn that the trolley companies ran the lines 7 days a week.  Sunday was a very slow day, so the companies built parks and the trolleys would circle the parks, let passengers on and off at the parks to enjoy picnics and other leisurely activities.  These were the beginnings of our amusements parks of today.  Several 6 Flag Amusement parks got their beginnings from these trolley parks.

Maine or Bust!

We spent two days on the road driving to Maine in our modern truck, pulling a trailer with Miss Olive aboard.  Saturday morning we started out early, 5:00 AM, and headed to the other side of Columbia and breakfast with the rest of our traveling companions in Blythewood, SC.  We enjoyed a great Southern breakfast at the Cracker Barrel along our first of many interstate highways to Maine.

By 7, we were underway and our first rendezvous place with another couple would be in Winchester, Virginia. But, first we had to drive the 450 miles through the mountains of North Carolina and most of Virginia.  We made several stops for gas, as we quickly learned that these trucks do not get the same gas mileage pulling trailers with Model As attached as they do without.  Before getting to Winchester, we stopped at Berky's Truck Stop for what we thought would be a quick lunch.  Not so quick, but quite interesting...  As you can see the restaurant at Berky's was called "The Pedal Car Diner."  It's decor was unusual, in that there were lots of pedal cars hung from the ceiling and mounted to the walls.  But what made this particular stop interesting was the goings on with the wait staff.  We watched as Graduation balloons were brought in and set up at a back table, but the most interesting of all was the wedding gown that arrived shortly thereafter.  I didn't get a look at the gown, but others in our group did and I'm told it was quite the item, with lots of bling!

We finally arrived in Winchester, several hours later than we had hoped.  But our friends were there waiting for us in the appointed parking lot.  One of the trucks was a real nice rig, it was set up to carry a car on its bed, but was also pulling an enclosed trailer.  The fellows quickly unhitched the trailer and loaded our friends A on the truck.  It was a matter of 15 minutes to load the A and reattach the trailer, then we were back on the road headed for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Most of us stayed a a tiny boutique style hotel in Enola and enjoyed a great supper in a local tavern.  The place was nothing to look at on the outside, but served great food.

Sunday morning, we met again for breakfast and were back on the road at 6:50.  We were determined to make Kennebunkport as close to 4:00 PM as possible.  We decided it was going to be comfort/gas stops only, with crackers eaten while driving.  It worked out quite well, as we arrived at the parking facility at 4:13!  Pretty good, considering we had travelled about 1200 miles in two days, with 4 trucks hauling 5 Model As and one modern car as a chase vehicle.

ckers eaten while driving.  It worked out quite well, as we arrived at the parking facility at 4:13!  Pretty good, considering we had travelled about 1200 miles in two days, with 4 trucks hauling 5 Model As and one modern car as a chase vehicle.


After settling the trailers and off loading the As, we were on our way to our respective hotels.  Most of us are staying at The Colony.  The Colony is a lovely old New England hotel on the coastline of southern Maine, in Kennebunkport.  Our accommodations are in the Carriage House area in a beautiful old renovated home.  Our room, which is connecting with the Austins.  The Pettys and the Cockerills are in the main hotel.  We were greeted at the registration desk with a lovely glass of Champagne!  What a great way to begin our adventure in Maine!

We began our stay at The Colony with a complimentary glass of champagne and quickly made reservations for dinner on "The Porch."  Many of us enjoyed our first lobster of the week.  My intent is to eat as much lobster as possible during the week!