East Coast - Maine to New York

Tuesday 3 August


We made it!  Pacific to the Atlantic

Had breakfast at the Soda Fountain Cafe in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.   We sat in a little booth listening to the jukebox and I was expecting to see The Fonz at any moment.

We walked miles along the beach to the Pier.  Dipped my toes in and soon shot out again, the Atlantic ocean was freezing.  Our aim was to walk off our large breakfast but somehow we got a bit thirsty.   Just had to visit  Hooligans Landing on the pier for a beer!  Love the name.

Nearby we found a peaceful fishing village where time stood still.  The only sound was the seagulls squawking  above us.  It was perfect.  Allen disappeared for a while then came back and announced "We can't leave Maine without trying fresh lobster!"  He had discovered a wonderful fish shop just around the corner - the rest is history.




Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts - a place I'll never forget.

We spent two days at this massive re-created 1830's village.  We explored over 40 antique buildings, 3 water powered mills, caught up with the blacksmith, the cooper, the potter, shopkeepers and all the farm hands who worked there.   Everyone was dressed in period costume.  I even had a go at the stick and hoop game...I was a natural.

Our first day was incredibly hot and stormy and the humidity was off the chart.  Allen was suffering big time.  We had been walking around the village for ages, and suddenly the heavens just opened,so we decided to catch a ride on the horse drawn wagon.  Al and I sat in the middle seats and Martin sat in the back row.  The driver was an elderly gentleman who was giving a running commentary along the way.  We stopped under one of the covered bridges and the driver turned around to talk to us when all
of a sudden an almighty bolt of lightening hit the tree behind us.  The noise was deafening as it echoed through the tunnel.  The
two horses got spooked and started charging off with us hanging on for dear life.   To his credit the driver was able to slow the horses down without any injuries.









The next day we went back to inspect the tree.  Got some amazing photographs of the damage.


















Promised Land State Park, Pennsylvania - spent two wonderful nights here.

  Al took us on one of his magical mystery tours and we stumbled across the Promised Land village green where the locals were holding a Clam Bake - Everyone Welcome!!  We had no idea what a Clam Bake was but we could hear the live band playing  and could smell the most amazing food being cooked on the BBQ so we sent Al to investigate.  He came out smiling with 3 tickets in his hand.  For $15 each we could eat and drink until we dropped.  For starters I think we ate 6 dozen clams, actually I lost count.  We had an absolute ball talking to the residents and being part of their special day.