Exploring Maine

Hello Fellow Wayward Travelers!!!

Today I will be going for a long drive and will not get back until late, so I am posting this note that if I don't update this posting tonight, then I will update it tomorrow some time. I plan on exploring the coast of Maine and maybe having a Maine Lobster for dinner or such. So, if you don't hear from me tonight, I will talk to you tomorrow night --- with photos!!!

Take care,

Jon

Hello Fellow Wayward Travelers!!!!

I am back to fill in what I did on July 4^th in the part of the country where “Independence” was defined!!! Before I left the Trailer in Hermon, Maine to go site seeing, I had called a friend of one of my friends, Bobbie. The person I called is Martha and she lives in Saco, Massachusetts. Martha invited me to her place for the night instead of driving back to Maine on July 4th!!! I agreed, but told Martha that I would be stopping at a Museum on the way down. This was fine with her since she also had plans for the day. With that arraigned, off I went!!!

As I drove through the country, I saw some things that really caught my eye. One was a lake as I came over a rise in the road --- 

 Another was a cool looking house ---

 

The other was a clock steeple in a town ---

 

Now, steeples are not an unusual thing in this part of the country!!! If you have a town, you have a steeple!!! They go together like Ham and eggs!!! This one just caught my eye and looking at the photo, I don’t know why!!??

Then I came to the Museum!!! This Museum is called the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine. It’s been around for a long time and is pretty well known!! It is most famous for its cars and airplanes, but it usually has a few other exhibits, like the history of energy power. It starts with the horse and goes through water energy, steam energy, gas energy, and electric energy and the power plants that supplied or used that energy. One thing they stated was that in 1908, there were more electric powered cars than gasoline powered cars!!! Now, that was something that I found enlightening!!! Here is a photo of a 1912 Woods Electric Brougham.

 

Just like now, though, the electric car could not compete with the cheaply made gasoline powered car which cost $350 as compared to $3,000 for the electric car.

Since this is a car museum and I consider myself to be a car lover, I will show you some of the cars, but I will show photos of the more interesting ones!!!

Here is an old Model T “Woody” – which was considered a luxury car because the body was custom built and was more expensive than the usual car ---

 

But don’t forget the “Woodie” of the Beach Boys Days --- a 1940 Ford DeLuxe Woodie ---

 

Now, if it was the 1930s and you were looking for luxury, you may have one of these ---

A 1933 Packard Tenth Series Convertible Sedan ---

 

A 1939 Packard Seventeenth Series Super Eight ---

 

A 1929 Rolls-Royce Springfield Phantom ---

 

Now if you need to carry a lot of people how about a bus from the early 1900s??? ---

 

Now, if you want to turn heads --- how about one of the first real “Beatles”!!! This is a 1935 Stout Scarab!!! Only nine were built and I wonder where Germany got the idea for the shape of the VW Bug!!!???

 

Here is a really cool car, but it had no name tag on it, so I don’t know what it is. The decals say it is an Auburn 866, but I don’t know what that is. Here is its photos ---

 

And then, of course, what about a couple of Thunderbirds!!! Here are a 1955 and 1957 Thunderbird ---

 

There were the usual Harley-Davidson Motorcycles there, but what caught my eye was a 1913 Scripps Booth Bi-Autogo!!! It is a very big two wheel vehicle, powered by one of the first V-8 engines, could seat three people, and had out-rigger wheels for the slower speeds (the thing weighed in at 3,200 pounds – you don’t hold it up with your leg!!!). Here are a few photos ---

 

 

 

Now, I told you this museum also had airplanes. Here was a 1900 Clark Ornithopter (with real feathers) ---

 And of course the Boeing Airplane – the 1941 Stearman-Boeing “Kaydet” ---

 

A 1917 Fokker (The Red Baron’s Airplane) ---

 

The Sopwith Pup (no, not the Camel) ---

 

I walked out to the airplane hangar where some volunteers were working on a few of the vintage airplanes. I started talking to one and it turns out that he met his wife when they were both in the air force at McCord AFB near Seattle. We got to talking about what he was doing – he was sewing the wing fabric for one of the airplanes getting it ready to fly again. Now I know what Boeing’s Red Barn must have been like!!!

I left the Museum and continued on to Martha’s house in Saco, ME. She lives near the beach and here are a few photos of her beach ---

 

We had a great Lobster Dinner and then watched the fireworks on television since neither of us are "into" fireworks and didn't want to go anywhere to see them!!! Martha has lived in the Northeast most all her life so she had a lot of stories about the area. She also worked in the area of circuit board design, so we had a lot to talk about. I had a great evening and enjoyed talking to Martha and to see someone from a friend's childhood that I had not seen before.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes and I headed off to see some more museums. I went south to Massachusetts to catch the museums in Salem that I had missed. More on that when I update the July 5th BLOG Post.

 

Well, I am done for that day and I need to get some rest, so, with that, I will go for now, but I will see you all again tomorrow.

Again, to quote that great comedian, Red Skelton, "Good Night and May God Bless!"

Happy Trails ---- Jon