Maine
Maine is a draw because of course I need to get there in order to get to ALL New England States, but also because of Acadia National Park. In case it's not obvious, I'm a National Park fanatic. In my big thick campground book, where all my discoveries for this trip were made, I find a campground boasting sites on the beach on Maine's coast. Pricey, but sounds worth it. Book me two nights.
As I nose into Maine for the first time, it doesn't take long for me to chalk it up with Wyoming and Pennsylvania as a favorite and most beautiful state. Then when I arrive at the campground, skirting the Penobscot Bay, it's everything I could hope for.
Again, there's a few pages of photos here, linked together. Follow the "NEXT" links at the bottoms of the pages.
My campsite is private, shaded by trees, and saturated with the sights and sounds of the bay. This is one of my views.
Another view.
Downtown Searsport, a mile from the campground. Tozier's (sign in the foreground), is the small local grocery store where I get some marshmallows.
The view from a deck a few steps down from my campsite.
Another view from the same deck. The trees in the right of the photo are in the area of my campsite.
Same deck, similar view, and if you know what you're looking at, you can see my sight from this photo. It's in them thar trees.
This is from my campsite. You can see some folks taking an early-evening walk on the beach.
I build a fire, kick back, and watch the water.
And cook some dinner! My toasted pizza sandwich specialty, with baby portabellos sauteed in butter, tobasco, and merlot. Yum! Dinner is followed by toasted marshmallows and a lovely cigar that I bought in Provincetown for ocean-side enjoyment.
Some colors of the sunset.
I catch a lovely, unexpected surprise this evening as I catch a few marshmallows on fire: the moonrise over the bay. The first glimpse of a speck of orange over the water and the realization of my luck stops my breath.
A star! Not an easy thing to get my camera to photograph stars.
My moon comes back out from behind the cloud.
And higher.