Day 24

We left Falmouth Maine and drove to Portland Maine to check out more lighthouses. Our first stop was at the Portland Head Lighthouse. This is the oldest lighthouse in the state of Maine. It was built in 1791 and is still working today. I have included some photos of the glass lenses used in the past. For over 100 years, the light was lit by an oil lamp and maintained by a lighthouse keeper. In foggy weather, the keeper had to ring a large bell every 10 seconds to warn ships. Talk about getting your bell rung. I am sure that when he stopped ringing the bell all he heard for a few days after that was a loud ringing in his ears.

After leaving the Portland Lighthouse we took a scenic drive along the Maine coast. We stopped at another light house in York Maine. The Cape Neddick Lighthouse, called by some Nubble Lighthouse, was built in 1879. This lighthouse to is still in use today.

Sue found a famous donut donut shop in Wells Maine. Congdons Donuts is the #1 rated donut shop in Maine. We had to stop and confirm if this trivia was true. We ate lunch lunch there and I must say it was great. I had their famous Lobster Roll. We bought some donuts to try later. And yes they were some of the best that I have tasted.

After driving the coast and looking at maps, we learned that the coast line is jagged and treacherous. There are hundreds of lighthouses along the coast. Many were built in the 1800's with a few built in the 1700's.

We finished the day by driving to Portsmouth Maine and spent the night on the cheap by parking at a Walmart Supercenter.

This is the Cape Neddick Lighthouse (also know as the Nubble Lighthouse). If you look on the left side of the photo, you can see the small trolley basket that they used to haul supplies and people across the small channel.

This is a better close up view of the Nubble Lighthouse.

This is a small lens used when the lighthouse was first opened.

This is one of the larger antique glass lenses used in the lighthouse.

Here is an overall view of the Cape Neddick Lighthouse.

Here is a closer view. It just amazes me how old these are and how well they are kept up.