Wells, Maine and a New Friend

We left The Blue Lotus in New Durham, New Hampshire and drove to Wells, Maine.  We had a companion with us as we were still dog-sitting Coco.

  

We arrived at Moody Beach campground and got settled in.

 

 

Coco made himself at home.

The day after our arrival in Wells, Maine, Sushant and Rashmi drove up from their Boston house to pick up Coco.  All three of them were so happy to be reunited.  

We picked a nearby restaurant from the book they bought us when we went on the road.  The restaurant we went to was the Maine Diner and it was a hit!

 

 

We had to eat outside since we had Coco with us.  

While Al was walking Coco in the campground a man, Ed Rysys, came out of his motorhome to meet Coco.  They got to talking and Al learned that Ed was staying alone in his RV until his wife arrived from their Florida home.  Ed was very familiar with the area and ended up becoming our personal tour guide.

The first place he took us was the cute town of Perkins Cove. 

Then Ed took us to Marginal Way in Ogunquit.  Marginal Way is a 1.25 mi coastal walkway with beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Beautiful Home along the walk

Beachmere Inn

Then we walked around the town of  Ogunquit which was decorated for fall.

 

 

We stopped off at one of the hotels and sat outside and ate a bowl of mussels.  They were delicious!

On our walk back to our truck, we passed this house with all these painted rocks on their wall.

A couple more photos of the very cute town of Perkins Cove.

Thanks for the tour, Ed.

Another day the two of us went to Kennebunkport to see the Bush's house.  We parked the truck where we could and walked to an area when we could see over to the estate on Walker's Point.  First some beautiful houses along our walk.

 

 

The estate was purchased in the late 19th century jointly by Bush's great-grandfather David Davis Walker, and his son, St. Louis banker George Herbert "Bert" Walker. Both built mansions on the point in 1902. D. D. Walker's mansion has since been torn down. In 1921, Dorothy Walker and Prescott Bush were married, and Bert Walker built a "bungalow" on the Point and gave it to them as a wedding present. When Bert died in 1953, his son, George Herbert Walker Jr. ("Herbie"), purchased the property from his father's estate. It was not willed to him. Upon the death of Herbie in 1977, the property again went up for sale and was purchased by his nephew, George H. W. Bush. The estate has since remained in the Bush family.

Bush Compound

For our Friend and 41st President
George H.W. Bush
An 'Anchor to Winward'
As he was for our nation and world during four years of tumultuous and historic change so, too, has Kennebunkport served, in the words of St. Paul, "as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast" to him.

presented by those who love him as much as he loves this special place.

 

 

House and grounds

The estate is situated on a promontory of land called Walker's Point which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. The large central house, built in the New England shingle style, has nine bedrooms, four sitting rooms, an office, a den, a library, a dining room, a kitchen, and various patios and decks. Next to the main house are a four-car garage, a pool, tennis court, dock, boathouse, and guesthouse. There are spacious lawns on either side of the house, on which there is a small sportsfield.

The entrance is gated and guarded by Secret Service officers, though visitors can see the driveway leading up to the main house and a circular driveway, in the middle of which is a large flagpole flying the American flag. When either presidents Bush were present at the compound while in office, the presidential flag was hoisted below the national colors.  

The home and contents were substantially damaged by a strong series of storms in late October 1991. The damage was estimated at $300,000–$400,000. The president did receive an undisclosed amount in flood insurance, but he chose not to take a deduction for storm damage on his 1991 tax return to avoid a conflict of interest as he was the one responsible for declaring Maine as a disaster area. 

 More beautiful homes in the area.

We stopped off at a lobster shack.

Look at this huge guy!  I think he was 3 pounds!

Then we went to the town of Kennebunkport.

Another day Ed took us out again and this time we first went to the Nubble Light House.

The Nubble was home to more than 30 lighthouse keepers between 1879 and 1987. In 1987, it became the last lighthouse in North America to be automated and bade farewell to its final keeper, Coast Guardsman Russell Ahlgren, and his family

Ed also showed us around York Beach.

Ed on his scooter.  (We offered for him to ride with us but he had other errands to run after.)

Ed had one more stop for us and it was a farmer's market.  We bought all kinds of goodies and enjoyed the scenery.

And that ends our time in the Wells, Maine area.  We're so thankful to our new friend, Ed, for showing us around.  We enjoyed meeting you!

We're also happy that we made it all the way to Maine!  Next we're going a bit further northeast to Acadia National Park.