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Road Trip – Washington and Oregon Coasts

My friend Bobbi and I arrived in Seattle early and took off right away to visit with artist Stephanie Burgess. She is the artist behind the Peace and Garden poles that we sold at Carolina Creations. She is delightful! I’m not exagerating when I say we sold many hundreds of her garden art poles. I tried to restrain myself but lost, I purchased the yellow original panel, the second one from the right in the middle photo. The colors are delightful as is the design.




A stop in the historic district of Fairhaven of Bellingham did not disappoint, lovely shops, lots of parking, and flowers everywhere.

Speaking of flowers. This was a lovely time to visit the area, rhododendrons, peonies, roses, poppies, California lilacs, Spanish lavender, and others we did not identify were blooming.

We drove down Chuckanut Drive along the coast where we had glimces of the San Juan Islands where we would be headed, but before that we stopped in Anacortes, then drove down Whidbey Island.

In Anacortes the most noteable thing we saw were these « murals » all over town. They were actually cutouts of people that had lived in the town by artist Bill Mitchell.

The drive down the rest of the Island was pleasant, we visited all the little towns, our favorite was Langley. But the highlight was a stroll through the woods at the Price Sculpture Forest. The park property was purchased by the Price family with the intention of building a home on it. When they decided on another location they contacted a land trust organization to donate the property to so it can never be developed. There is a figure 8 path through the dense woods with a couple dozen sculptures along the way. It was a beautiful hike with the sun peeking through the trees, the birds singing, and beautiful art to look at.

Heading to La Connor we stumbled across Conway Salvage Arts. As we were admiring the collection, artist and owner Tony came out and talked to us. He gave us a tour of the property and talked about his plans. As long as we didn’t ask too many questions, stand too close, or say cool he was glad to show us around. I’ve seen a lot of outsider art but Tony’s had a flair about it I have not often seen. Maybe I should think about turning my yard into a sculpture garden?

I was in La Connor about 10 years ago and remembered how much I liked it. My memory served me well, I liked it just as much this time. We did not do a lot of museums on this trip but did go to the Quilt and Fiber Museum. They had a couple of great shows in their beautifully restored historic home museum, and they were not your grandmothers quilts.


There are some great shops and galleries on the main shopping street. Glad to see Earthenworks is still around. They belonged to the same CRAFT organization I used to be on the board for, and we would see them at shows.

An overnight in Friday Harbor gave me a taste of the San Juan Islands. I’ve wondered what they were like for years. It looks like San Juan Island had the most to do. I think if you were on a boat or a big hiker or wanting to see the whales it would be a wonderful, quiet vacation spot. One more place I can cross off my need to see list.

The sculpture garden had some nice pieces and Roche was interesting. This clay sculpture spins, I saw this artists work in the Denver Botanical Garden too.

Then we headed south for a short stop in Seattle, we both had been there before so just spent a couple hours. The Chihuly Garden and Glass was very nice. Love the intense colors. And a 5 minute stop at the Market for a piece of pizza.

Then we made an uneventful drive through the country side to Astoria with two quick stops, one at Raymond to see the steel sculptures and another at a quirky lavender farm just on the other side of the river from Astoria. I had seen photos of these sculptures which is why we went that way but they were even neater in person!

I’ve been wondering about Astoria for years since getting a sculpture as a gift from there. And this is the first time I have been in Oregon. I’ve been to the rest of the lower 48 but somehow missed Oregon. We had a great room on the river and loved watching the birds, the bridge, the boats, and the sunsets.

We drove up to see the Astoria Column. I knew the Column would be neat but didn’t realize how beautiful the view would be.

The column tells the story of the area.

At the edge of town is one of roughly 75 Indian heads, all different, carved from big logs across the USA by artist Peter “Wolf” Toth. This one, sculpted in 1987, is named Ikala Nawan, “Man Who Fishes », and it is 18 feet tall. He has done at least one in each state and several in Canada. There is one on the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Reservation between Wilmington and Lumberton.

There are a couple great galleries in Astoria, one is owned by a friend of mine. We were there for an opening then enjoyed visiting their home just south of town. The gallery in Astoria they own is called Brumfeld Gallery. We met the featured artist Carla O’Connor. Her beautiful watercolors are done on Yupo , I have some of this and might have to get it out and try it again!

I also succumbed to a neat painting by Jeanie Tomanek. Taking leave in dotted Swiss, I guess I’ll have to look for a Dotted Swiss Dress now.

Their other gallery they own is in Cannon Beach and is called Bronze Coast Gallery. They have beautiful work there as well.

We went as far south on the Oregon Coast as Newport. Bellingham, Cannon Beach and Astoria were by far our favorite coastal towns. Wonder what we missed by not going further?! But then time was limited and we still needed to go to Portland and the Columbia River Gorge.

There were beautiful stops along the way down the coast of course.

Our first stop in Portland was at the Japanese Garden. It is beautiful. At first glance it is daunting, you see people on the path way above you at the treetops, but the winding path is gradual.

I hate to have to say this but we did not love downtown Portland, homeless everywhere, tents on sidewalks, people staggering around. It’s not so much that I don’t want to see it but in our wealthy country why are there so many and what can we do to solve the problems these folks have. Plus it seems dirty and chaotic, I don’t think I’ve been to a city in a long time that I had that kind of reaction to. I was really looking forward to it, so was disappointed.

We stopped for a donut at Voodoo Donuts, which we were told is a must stop, it’s the only donut shop I’ve been in with an armed security guardI.

I’m glad to say we found pockets of the city we liked and that were beautiful. We loved all the yards that were fully planted right to the street. You see a little bit of that in Carrboro, NC, and there is even one house with a yard like that on my street in New Bern.

We were tired and didn’t want to drive to the country to have a winetasting so stopped at a tasting room on Stark Street called ENSO. Five wineries have this tasting room for people like us that didn’t have time to drive to the country.

One area in the city I liked was the Alberta Arts District where several studios share space in the Guardino building.

We spend that night in Troutdale and headed off early to drive historic Highway 30 through the Columbia River Gorge. It is beautiful….. I was surprised at how wide the Gorge is, even though I’ve seen many photos of it. In my mind I was thinking there were parts of it that would be like Glenwood Canyon, super narrow with steep walls. I wasn’t disappointed just surprised. Thats why I like to travel, you learn so much.

We went as far as Hood River, maybe it’s narrower beyond that? We really liked Hood River, it has a nice vibe, nice shops and galleries and we had a wonderful lunch with a great view. The gallery I loved in Hood River is a co-op called Gallery 301. I could have done some major damage there.

I’ve always heard that most of the time you can’t see Mt Hood, but we were lucky that we could see it the whole time we were near. We had sunny weather for all 10 days.

We took the scenic route back to Portland by way of Mount Hood and Timberline. My friend Pam and her husband managed Timberline Lodge for 5 years in the early 80s and I’ve heard her talk about it many times. What a treasure. Everything in the lodge and the lodge itself was made by WPA and CCC workers. The history and story is really great.

It is a national historic landmark. The south side of Mt Hood has been a major recreationsal area since the mid 1840s. In 1916 the forest Service built Timberline Cabin to serve as a summer and winter shelter, a larger tent hotel was erected in 1924 where mattresses were rented and meals were served to climbers and skiers. Then in the 30s it was decided that there should be a permanet lodge built. The WPA and CCC provided the workforce, numbering about 500, many over the age of 55 and in need of employment. The lodge was dedicated in 1937. The workers wove upholstery, hooked rugs, made furniture, glass mosaics, and paintings. The timbers for the structure were hewn with a broadax, skilled European stonemasons taught the unskilled workers how to build the fireplace and stone buttresses. A blacksmith taught workers how to make the gates, light fixtures, ornaments, andirons and furniture. The whole thing is hand crafted. Pretty amazing at 6,000 feet using just hand tools.

It was hard to get a good photo of the lodge because they are working on the entryway, taking down the tunnel. Pam says in the winter the snow covers the 2nd story windows, the without the tunnel it would be hard to get into the lodge.



After Timberline we headed to the west side of Portland to visit wineries. There are dozens and dozens of wineries, over 1000 in the state. We managed to fit in two on our last afternoon of the trip.

We recommend

The next photo is of Mt St Helens in the foreground and Mt Davis behind.

Whats next? A trip to Michigan. I’m renting the house I grew up in on Round Lake for 5 nights, it’s now an air bandb, and am having a small family reunion. It will be fun!

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DAR Art Award

I am honored that the local DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) has presented me with an award for my accomplishments in the field of art.

DAR presents Janet Francoeur with Award for her accomplishments in the field of art.

The Women in the Arts Recognition Award, a national DAR award, is given by the American Heritage Committee. The award is designed to recognize and honor worthy women at the community level for outstanding achievements in the non-performance arts. The recipient of the award is expected to have contributed to her artistic field in an outstanding manner beyond mastery of technique. This may include innovative design work, featured exhibitions, publication, research and technique development.

I was nominated for the Women in the Arts Recognition Award by DAR  member Melanie Dino.

My Mom was a long time member and would be thrilled, she spent 50 years or so helping others trace their ancestry back to their people that fought in the American Revolution.

I was really honored by this letter that friend, artist, and director of CRAFT wrote about me, the committee asked for a letter of recommendation from someone in the field of art.

Daughters of the American Revolution To Whom It May Concern 

It is a privilege to endorse Janet Francoeur for a DAR Arts Award! Her lifelong career as a prolific artist is marked by enduring energy and exquisite quality. 

I have known Janet for more than twenty years and continued to be inspired by her talent and commitment to the arts. In addition to being an artist myself, I am the Executive Director of the nonprofit trade association, Craft Retailers and Artists for Tomorrow. Janet actively served on our Board of Directors for many years, using her extensive experience to help both artists and retailers grow successful art-based businesses. 

Janet’s art is both beautiful and meaningful. She lives in New Bern which was the first capital of North Carolina. It is a picturesque city filled with important historical and architectural treasures. Janet is devoted to capturing the beauty and culture of New Bern in her art, giving both residents and tourists important insights, information and local artistic treasures. Over many years. Janet has captured her city’s history and beauty in annual calendars, ornaments, and cards. 

Janet’s body of artwork is very diverse. She paints in watercolor, gouache, acrylics and oil on canvas, paper, wood and pottery. However all her work is immediately identifiable, united by a strong personal style and an impressive attention to detail. Her love of gardens is obvious in her botanical art. Her devotion to New Bern is apparent in gracious architectural renderings. She embraces wildlife, the seacoast, and the warmth of human connections, making her art-work both important and celebratory. 

Janet embodies the soul of an artist—she is curious about our world and eager to translate its beauty for all of us. As an intrepid traveler, her artwork interprets the magnificent diversity of our world with an experienced eye and a talented hand. We all see the world better through her eyes! 

Sincerely, 

Diane Sulg Executive Director 
CRAFT

Thank you Diane and the Richard Dobbs Spaight Chapter of the DAR for this award.

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Road Trip – Another Two Weeks in Paradise

There are several places I’ve been through the years that I can’t get out of my system. Castine, ME, Amsterdam, NL, Bruges, BE, and Key West, FL. I was lucky to be in the Keys in the early 80s, a little late to the party, Michael came many times in the 70s, I wish I would have seen it them. But even in the 80s, when we lived on Big Pine, KW was still pretty funky. And I still find some vestiges of that today. I love everything about it, the water, the sun, Old Town, the art, the people, all keep calling me back.

I’ve photographed pretty much everything in KW at least once and done paintings of some. But I still find something new each time. I love the weird and wonderful.

What I REALLY love is walking the Old Town neighborhoods and seeing the conch houses and the flowers and and gardens around them, the shadows from the bright sun and the interesting fences cut into different shapes.



On the way down I like to take the Card Sound Road and see if Alabama Jacks looks any different. It does not! However these days there are as many BMWs as there are bikes. One of my favorite stories about it, I’ve told many times, is about our crazy friend Daryl who lived in on a boat in a not so nice marina in Little Havana in Miami. We were going to Key West and on the way stopped at the Bar. There was a “no swearing” sign with a jar full of quarters. In his usual fashion Daryl’s language was peppered with four letter words. The waitress pointed at the sign with her other hand out. Daryl slapped a $20 in it and said “come back when I’ve used that up and I’ll give you another.”

Every year i walk up Olivia Street near the cemetery and see what new addition is on the directional sign there. It changes a little every year. I Love it! I take photos of directional signs all over the world but this one is my favorite of them all.

This years visit was Michaels kind of visit, more time sitting at the pool and reading. I’m trying to resist buying any more art right now, instead I bought books.



The book about No Name takes place in 1935 when the hurricane destroyed Flaglers railroad he was building through the Keys – we lived about 1/4 of a mile from No Name on Big Pine. I drove out to the end of the main road when the Ferry Terminal was. The island now has electric lines going out there, which only happened in 2013! But it’s still a place where people live that want to live on the edge. No way would I live there! There really has been little development on Big Pine in the past 30 years with the middle of the island still looking uninhabited with dirt roads to no where.

The second book is about a guy, Karl Tanzler, also known as Count Carl von Cosel, a radiologist in Key West, Florida, who developed an obsession for one of his patients, Elena Milagro Hoyos. Elena died from tuberculosis in 1931. With her parents’ permission von Cosel had an above ground mausoleum built for her. He visited the tomb every night and by 1933 he had taken the body home. Creepy!! The author is the husband of artist Helen Harrison, and co owner of Harrison Gallery, that I visit every year.

The third book is a collection of stories by people that lived in Key West during the 60s, 70s, and 80s, with all the wild, and beautiful things that went on then. Its written by the wife of a guy Michael worked for on Big Pine.

One day I spent the afternoon with artist friend Mike Rooney and his wife Annette, listening to Mike play at the Pineapple Pool.

This visit was full of art, I visited all the galleries, went to a street fair and saw friend Tommy with his beautiful wood working, attended a huge show with a painter, a metal worker, a wood sculptor, and a collection of art “after” Mario Sanchez at the Studios of Key West. I met a lady in a shop who told me about an opening for her husband at Salt Gallery so I attended that and met some more new people. Went to the opening of a show at Jag Gallery, by Lincoln Perry, Muralist, then went to hear him speak at the Studios of Key West.

Lincoln Perry



I painted pottery, started painting a couple watercolors, sat by the pool and on the beach, read a lot and rested.

These are some of my paintings of Key West I’ve done previously.

Key West Bait and Tackle
Blue Heaven SOLD
Key West Gate – Available
Cuban Food Truck – Available




The trip home was fun as well. We stopped at the Flea Market on Big Pine that has been going for over 40 years.
Then we visited the Design District and Wynwood in Miami.

We even got to see one of Buckys geodesic domes, quite an entrance to a parking garage.

Jeanie Taylor Folk Art Gallery in Sanford is well worth a trip if you are anywhere close. And the Downtown of Sanford has really taken off the past few years, very nice!

Then we spent the night with friends in Gainesville, also former gallery owners whose gallery was on Los Olas in Ft Lauderdale and had a wonderful evening talking shop and reminiscing, and enjoying their fabulous art collection. Then I dropped my friend off in Columbia and spent the next night with my niece.

Where to next? I found out about a clay workshop in Traverse City Michigan at the end of the month with an artist Michelle Tock York, who I’ve admired for years, and I am also fortunate to have two pieces of her work. I will be going off to that, not really the time I would pick to go to Michigan but what can you do!

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Road Trip – Mid-Coast Maine

I’ve been to Maine 5 times but never seem to have enough time, so this year my friend Pam went with me for 2 weeks. And there still wasn’t enough time!

Our adventure started even before we got there. We let Siri change our route, mistake, however we did end up in Morristown, NJ. where my great, great, great, great Grandfather David Trowbridge, lived from 1730s until his death in 1768. He and his children and many grandchildren lived on a mountain that was called Trowbridge Mountain.

Also Pam just happened to be reading a book about Alexander Hamilton and we saw statutes of Hamilton and many references to his time there.


We had lunch across the street from the Square and enjoyed the sculptures and the flowers at 1776 by David Burke.

Our first stop in Maine was at a neat garden shop I had discovered last year near Kennebunkport called Snug Harbor Farm. So beautiful! In fact we stopped there a second time on our way home. I can see several paintings coming from these photos!


We visited Maine Art Hill and saw some neat whimsical work by David Witbeck.

We saw A LOT of art during this trip!

And we swung by to see Bush’s home on Walker’s Point, which has been in their family for over 100 years.



BLUE HILL

Our first four nights in Maine were spent in Blue HIll at the Blue Hill Inn which was built in 1830.

Blue Hill was a convenient place to start our tour of the Blue HIll Peninsula. The town was incorporated in 1789. It was a ship building and lumber center, also the granite quarried in the area was used to build the Brooklyn Bridge and the New York Stock Exchange.

This is the Peninsula just south of Bar Harbor.

We stopped by Nervous Nellies which wasn’t open but we did get some shots of the grounds. A very funky place indeed.

At the end of that road is Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, it was founded in 1950 as a research and studio program in the arts, offering one and two-week studio workshops in visual arts, music, literature and science. I’ve thought about going there for a clay workshop, and now seeing its location, I might just go.

I can never resist photos of weird signs and directional signs.

STONINGTON

Stonington is a sweet little town at the end of the peninsula on Deer Island with a working harbor.


A gallery in Blue Hill – Jud Hartmann’s Gallery – concentrates on Jud’s bronze work. We were lucky to meet him and hear about his work. He’s been working on a series of limited-edition sculptures entitled: The Woodland Tribes of the Northeast.

He was very interesting and also told us all about the Indians playing lacrosse. Who knew? 

He has been doing sculptures of Indians playing lacrosse for some time and is now working on a small clay sculpture to present to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (not far from my hometown) for a future installation there.

Here is a link to an article about him and his work. 

“The sport has its origins in a tribal game played by all Eastern Woodlands Native Americans and by some Plains tribes in what is now Canada. Among Native Americans it is still referred to as the “Creator’s Game,” and every tribe has its own mythology about it. I read that sometimes the games would include thousands of players covering miles.

You never know what you are going to learn on vacation.

We ran across these little sailboats going back and forth, just a few yards back and forth. When we got close we realized it was an art installation!

CASTINE

In addition to the flowers drawing me back to this part of the country, Castine was the other. Last year I had just a few minutes to spend there and I was enchanted by the storybook flavor of the town.

We took a walking tour of Castine offered by the Castine Historical Society, which clued us in on the history of this lovely town. This free tour is offered every Friday, Saturday, and Monday at 10 AM during the summer for season 2022, and is run by knowledgable volunteers.

“Castine, Maine is a quaint and historic seaside village on Penobscot Bay with more than 400 years of history to explore. The town is on the National Historic Register and home to the Maine Maritime Academy, Dyce Head Lighthouse, several historic military forts, and much more. “

It is one of the oldest towns not just in the state but in all of New England. It was founded in 1613 by Claude de Saint-Etienne de la Tour as a small, coastal trading post. That’s seven years before the colony at Plymouth. There are more than 100 historic markers highlighting points of interest.

One thing we heard about, which is guess anyone who has studied American warfare knows about, is the Penobscot Expedition, which took place here. The Penobscot Expedition was a 44-ship American naval armada during the Revolutionary War carrying more than 1,000 forces under the command of Lt. Colonel Paul Revere. Their goal was to reclaim control of mid-coast Maine from the British, and it was the largest American naval expedition of the war. We lost and the Expedition was the United States’ worst naval defeat until Pearl Harbor 162 years later. There were 560 killed, wounded, captured or missing, 19 warships sunk, destroyed or captured, And 25 support ships sunk, destroyed or captured.


While we stayed in Blue Hill, we met a couple that stayed at the Pentagoet Inn in Castine and raved about it.

In the Historical Society Building they had a beautifully presented and curated exhibit about Clark Fitz-Gerald, a name I was not familiar with. He was a brilliant sculptor, writer, and 2 dimensional artist.

When Fitz-Gerald moved to Castine in 1956, he had already made a name for himself as a sculptor. Throughout his long career, he achieved regional, national, and international renown for his work. There were also his drawings, historic photographs, and writings displayed.



Also on display is the Castine Bicentennial Quilt which is 6” x 24” which was created in 1996. The seven panels of the quilt depict the history of Castine from its settlement in 1613 to its bicentennial in 1996. It was designed and constructed by sixty members of the Castine community and presented to the Historical Society.



We also learned about their Elm trees. “In the 1930s a shipment of logs imported to Ohio by a furniture company for making veneer was infested with a bark beetle. This fungal infection wiped out 77 million elm trees over a period of decades. It was first detected in the Netherlands in 1921 thus the label Dutch elm diseease.

Castine is one of the few towns in the entire country where a large number of elms survived. Many are over 150 years old. A Dr Richard Campana of the University of Maine experimented on the trees with a serum he created to protect the trees from the disease. The town adopted a disease prevention program to monitor the health of the elms. A survey of the trees was done and each tree received a tag with a number.

An Elm tree committee was formed and an offical tree warden was hired and this continues today..

We really enjoyed everywhere we went but we both agreed that Castine was our favorite. 

SEAL POINT

The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden was high on the list for our Maine visit.

“This unique garden at the Preserve holds a prominent place in American garden history, both as the work of a distinguished designer and as the representation of a time of significant growth and development in American landscape design. The combined artistry, imagination, and passion of the garden’s designer, Beatrix Farrand, and her clients, Abby and John D. Rockefeller Jr., gave life to one of the most impressive gardens in the United States. East meets West through the insertion of an English flower garden within an Asian inspired landscape.

Located in Seal Harbor, the garden is designed to be at floral peak in August. It is open from mid-July until early September.  Visitation is by reservation only.“

This garden is adjacent to the spot where their 100 room summer home, the Eyrie, was located. Younger Rockefellers didn’t want to live that way nor maintain it so it was torn down in 1962.

While on that peninsula we visited the Somesville Bridge which sits on the grounds of The Somesville Museum, the building overlooks an ancient mill pond and tranquil Somes Harbor with Sargent and Norumbega Mountains in the distance.

Beside the Museum and bridge, there is a Heirloom Garden surrounding it.

New exhibits featuring Mount Desert Island history topics are installed each summer in the Museum space. The Selectmen’s Building is often described as the most photographed site on Mount Desert Island. It was constructed during the 1780s by John Somes, son of Abraham Somes, who settled in the village in 1761.

Troughout its history it has been a cobbler’s shop, post office, and a museum, the building also served as the Town Office for Mount Desert during the 19th century and until 1911.

I wish we would have counted the post offices we saw, it seemed there was one at every turn.

BELFAST

We have painted bears in New Bern, Belfast has painted chairs and crosswalks.

Belfast is a Main Street Community, like New Bern and their Our Town Belfast is similar to our Swiss Bear Redevelopment Corporation. Some of their programs for public art include painted crosswalks and chairs. Sit Down Belfast provides lots of places to sit on chairs painted by local artists. I have to say the past few years I sit a lot more when traveling than I used to.

Belfast was a center of shipbuilding and manufacturing and surpisingly photography. In the early part of the 19th century real photo postcards were just coming out and Belfast made a name for itself in that genre. The Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company was a pioneer in producing them, “unlike the mass produced variety, EIP’s postcards were the type known as “real photo postcards” meaning they were actual photographic prints, products of the chemical reaction caused by light onto a light-sensitive surface. “

We saw the former Presidential yacht Sequoia under wraps waiting to be restored, at the base of Maine street. It is 104 feet. It was known as the Floating White House during eight administrations. Even though we didn’t see it uncovered it was neat to see all the same. Somewhere I read that during restoration it will be available for viewing.

I met an artist – Kerstin Engman – and had a long conversation with her about her art. She uses cold wax with her oil paint. I’ve done a little cold wax but it was doing abstracts. Now I’ve got and another thing to experiment with, using it to produce representational work. Just what I need, another project (not).

We loved the architecture in that city.

ROCKLAND

While in Rockland we stayed at the Rockland Harbor Inn which is right on the main drag so it was easy to walk to the shops, galleries, and restaurants.

My favorite gallery in Rockport is Harbor Square Gallery, not only for the art but for the building itself. I is 3 stories with a rooftop garden.

While there we got to see old friends who took us for a ride on their boat, an old lobster boat now converted into a picnic boat! It was lovely to see them and great to be on the water. After we went on the ride we had dinner at the famous McLoons and had their lobster rolls. It was like eating a lobster without the work, huge chunks of meat!

I had been to the Langlais Sculpture Preserve before but the house and studio were not open. It was worth the return trip to see those.



THOMASTONl

Random shots of our touring.

Even though the Olsen House is not currently open this season – 2022 – it was still interesting to see where Wyeth painted his famous ”Christina’s World” painting.

THOMASTON

A European sea captain found what is now Thomaston in 1603, in 1630 a trading post was built, and it was another century before Fort George was built in 1719 at the base of what is now Knox Street. There are more than three hundred 19th century homes , many of which whre contstructed for over 100 sea captains that lived there.

Thomaston is known as a town that went to sea. It seems more wooden, ocean going ships were constructed there than any any place in the country. Ships such as tall masted schooners, and full rigged ships some with as many as five or six masts.

In the 1840 census it was reported that there were seven millionaires in the country and three of them lived in this town. They were sea captains and shipbuilders. Their homes are still in existence and are beautiful. We took a walking tour of the town following the signs of the Museum in the Street signs.

We discovered several towns having Museum in the Streets programs.

Working closely with town historical societies, the company designs a free walking that “foster a sense of historical identity, educate, encourage preservation of local historic sites and promote knowledge of stories, events and traditions.” Most of the Museum in the Streets are in the Northeast US and in France. There is a main sign like the one above then smaller signs in front of the buildings with information about each structure. This program was developed by a local fellow who lives in the area and in France.

If we had this program in New Bern there would be a sign in front of most of the homes in our historic district.

One of the many beautiful homes in Thomaston is Monpelier which was built by General Henry Knox in 1793. It is now a museum.

PEMAQUID

The drive around New Harbor is beautiful and you get yet another glimpse of the fishing industry, while on the way to Pemaquid Point.

I first visited Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in 1973, it’s my favorite one anywhere. Not because the tower is so tall (it is short!) but because of the setting with the rocks below. The museum was very interesting and the movie they show is worth the time. It talks about all the lighthouses up and down the Maine coast, beautifully done.

DARMASCOTTA

This is a sweet little town on Route 1. We mostly shopped there.I love a shop where there are hand written descriptions about some of the pieces and quotes scattered about.

This shop was one of those…

We could not pass up the Waltz Soda Fountain on a block away, they have egg creams, real ice cream, and real sodas. We also enjoyed “Gifts at 136”, they have nice crafts and paintings.

BOTHBAY HARBOR

The Five Gables Inn was the place we stayed we liked the best. It was in East Boothbay, away from the fray, on a deadend street, above the Linekin Bay. You can have your morning coffee watching the boats from the large porch, and watch the fog rolling in.

Five Gables Inn was built in 1896 and underwent an extensive restoration in 1989. Now it is a boutique hotel with a multiple course breakfast. They also serve afternoon tea and homemade treats.

I will say the food was amazing. 

In Boothbay Harbor we had to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. I discovered it was started with donations. Planning for the garden began in 1991 when a group of residents dreamed of building a public garden. They were so dedicated that in order to purchase the initial 128 acres of land in Boothbay, they used their own homes as collateral. After sixteen years of devoted work by the initial group of founders and supporters, the Gardens opened to the public in 2007 and welcomed 35,000 visitors. As the largest botanical garden in New England, the Gardens covers 295 acres, 17 of which are gardens featuring native plants of Maine and other plants suited to northern coastal conditions.

It is the most extensive botanical garden I’ve been in in the US.

There is a lot of stone in the area, so there is also a lot of stone sculpture. The Boothbay Harbor Region Sculpture Trail wanders through town and points beyond. There is even a Maine Stone Symposium the end of July.

WISCASSET

Wiscasset is a tiny town less than 15 miles from Boothbay Harbor. It has galleries, Sylvan Gallery-was my favorite, and several very nice shops, including Rock Paper Scissors and Birch Home Furnishings. You may think I shop a lot but what it really is is that the retailer is still in me. I love seeing how people do their displays, how they curate what they have, and I still like seeing what is new out there.

One of Wiscasset’s claims to fame is Reds. You can never go by there that there isn’t a long line waiting to place their order, but I know it can’t beat McLoons.

There has been a food stand on this spot at the base of the bridge since 1938 and the red shack dates back to 1954. It has been Reds since 1957, home of one of the best lobster rolls in New England.

On our way home we spotted a sign for Walkway Over the Hudson. It is part of a multi use trail that reaches 750 miles across New York.]

There was one last stop in Charlottesville, VA and that was at the Ivy Nursery. They have an extensive collection of unusual plants.

You can read about my 2021 trip to Maine by clicking here.

Up next – a week in Massachusetts!

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Island Time

Before this trip the furthest south in the Carribean I had been was Cuba. On this trip two friends and I spent a couple weeks on Virgin Gorda.

Lonely planet described Virgin Gorda this way – Somehow, Virgin Gorda keeps a level head and remains a slowpoke, chicken-dotted destination without rampant commercialism. To the chicken-dotted I would add goats, donkeys and cattle.



I contemplated cancelling this trip due to COVID but then thought at least there I would be staying by myself and being outside most of the time. Actually I felt safer there than at home. Everyone wore a mask, even outside if you were around other people. At a grocery store they took your temperature before you could go in, had to sign a contact tracing form at a restaurant even though we were eating outside and no one else was there, every building you went in had hand sanitizer and if you did not use it they told you to within a few steps of entering. We had to take a test within a few hours of leaving the US and returning.



We flew into St Thomas where we spent the night. We climbed down the 99 Steps, built in the 1700s to make climbing Government Hill a bit easier, this staircase is one of St Thomas’s most famous landmarks. We walked around downtown and had a delicious dinner outdoors at Amalia Café. We didn’t get out of downtown  Charlotte Amalie. There are a couple of nice craft galleries, and of course the dozens of jewelry stores that the cruise ship crowd seems to love. Many local shops have not reopened as of yet, hurricanes Irma and Maria and COVID have kept them closed. Cruise ships have just started to return. We saw one on the way out and 3 in port on the way home.

Then the next day we took the ferry to Tortolla to Road Town and had a private tour of the island. There were beautiful views and the West End and Road Town were interesting. I can’t say I loved either St Thomas or Tortolla, but then I’m sure there are beautiful places on both islands. There is a great bakery on Tortolla called The French Bakery and Deli.


This is part of a mural that is painted on a curve on top of Fahie Hill, Ridge Rd depicting life on Tortola.