You can follow along with the pictures and the map of the trip  (note that it may be split onto multiple pages).

Heading east

A friend who works in our Wilmington, Delaware, office invited me to his wedding, outside Boston, Massachusetts, in mid-July. It’s a great time of year for a bike trip, and my friend Johnny immediately jumps on the chance to go back to New England, since we had such a great time a few years ago. As the timing works out, this trip will be immediately before the Sturgis trip, with just a few days home in between. Excellent! Mary, Johnny’s mother, has traveled with us before, and being from the west coast, she would really like to see the north and eastern side of the country.

We don’t get an early start the first day, as usual, but we still get to Gettysburg, PA. Much of the ride was interstate, but we jump off onto US30 for the last stretch. It was good to get off the freeway, and we had a great time riding through the hills.

The next morning, we’re able to spend just an hour or so at the battlefield. For three days in 1863, over 160,000 people fought here, and approximately 50,000 died here (the most deadly battle of the war). The battle is generally considered a major turning point in the war.

After visiting the battlefield, we headed north and east on the interstate, then jumped onto other roads near Newburgh, NY, and headed north along the Delaware River, and made it as far as Kingston, NY, just at the edge of the Catskill Mountains.

Arriving in New England

The third day on the road, we continued north and east, following the scenic Taconic State Parkway. There’s a steady drizzle that turns into a cold rain at the top of the mountains at the edge of New York, but as we descend into Massachusetts it returns to drizzle. We take US2 across the top of the state, was such a pleasant alternative to the interstate, dropping us into small towns every so often. Eventually, it becomes freeway, but by that point in the day, we were needing to get to our destination. Hard rains catch us just about an hour from our destination. Nothing like ending the day with wet gear.

My friends were getting married near Marlborough, MA, and I was invited to the rehearsal dinner, being held at the historic Wayside Inn. This is the oldest operating tavern in the U.S., and it was made famous by Longfellow’s book of poems, ‘Tales of the Wayside Inn’. Nearby, there is a operating replica of a mill, and it is very scenic and certainly worth seeing. It was commissioned by Henry Ford.

Johnny and Mary went ahead to the coast, while I stayed in town for the wedding. The small towns in the area where mine to explore that day. They say it was the hottest day of summer, so the wedding was held in a small, quaint, church that had no air conditioning and a minister that was long-winded. Lucky for everyone, the reception hall had a great central air system, which we tested thoroughly, with the help of a great local band. We continued the celebration late into the night, back at the hotel lounge. It was a memorable event.

Luckily, the next morning was just a few hours of riding to meet up with the others at the Cape Ann Camp Site. Johnny and Mary spent the day riding around the area, and brought back live lobsters and a pot they found at a yard sale. It was delicious!

The following day, we went into the town of Rockport, an incredibly scenic town, quite friendly to tourists. Arrived in Gloucester a few minutes too late to find a boat trip around the peninsula, but we were able to see the end of a medieval fair at the Hammond Castle.

Eager to see more of the coast, we headed along highway 1 and 1A (the ‘A’ for ‘alternate’ usually denotes the original road through the middle of the towns). It was a scenic ride through New England, and each town had its own character. Some towns still kept their charm, and others seemed curiously modern and out of place. It’s a very short distance to New Hampshire, and just a bit further north until you reach Maine.

We stopped at Nubble Lighthouse, one of the more picturesque lighthouses, situated on a small rock, just a few feet from the coast. Unless you have a boat, it’s often difficult to get a good picture of a lighthouse, since they were intended to be seen from the water, not from land. Nubble is situated so that everyone can get a great photo.

After a brief stretch of interstate, to get around Portland, we’re back on local roads when we decide to stop for the night. We’ve seen many little cabins, leftovers from the 1950’s, and they are usually pointed a rustic brown or green. We find a set of these that are all painted in a variety of bright colors, and look like they belong to each of the seven dwarves. They have a larger house that the three of us can stay in, so we rest for the night.

The next morning, we continued the ride up the coast. We stopped at Pemaquid Lighthouse, one of the more notable, since it is the only lighthouse where visitors can climb the stairway to the top of the tower.

Further up the coast we find the Maine Lighthouse Museum, in Rockland, Maine. They featured a dazzling display of the many different types of lenses used to focus and project the light out over the ocean. Even with a conventional light bulb, these was a very bright display.

When we entered the museum, it was a beautiful sunny day. When we were leaving, a storm was passing overhead. Rather than continue riding, we found a convenient room at the hotel across the street. Later that night, we were told that the storm caused downed trees and power lines between Rockland and Bar Harbor, our planned destination, so it’s a good thing we didn’t try to go further. We’re rewarded with an incredible sunset that evening.

Bar Harbor is on an island, accessible from a small bridge. Acadia National Park is also on this island, preserving much of the coastline and features from development.

Heading home

Our next destination is the small town of Rumford, Maine. Johnny and I spent a fun night in a local bar/hotel there, and we were looking forward to seeing it again. The hotel is just a long set of stairs above the bar, so we don’t have to worry about riding. This time, there were about a dozen people in the bar, but we still had fun meeting them.

The following day we leave for Vermont. It’s just a short distance across New Hampshire to reach Vermont, and about the same distance to cross that state, too. We arrive in Burlington, hoping to get a ferry across Lake Champlain. A quick check of the schedule shows that one leaves at regular intervals. After a nice meal, we find out that we were reading the schedule for a different ferry, quite a distance away, and that we’ve missed the last ferry from Burlington.

As it turns out, there is a BMW motorcyclist convention in Burlington, and we spend most of an hour trying to find a room. The only one we could locate, anywhere in the city, cost almost $300 per night, for a suite. We kick back and enjoy a night in a room almost bigger than my house. We decide that we wouldn’t make good BMW ‘bikers’ either, since our leathers are only black.

It’s cold in the morning when we get on the ferry. Just as we arrive in New York, it starts to rain. By the time we get to Lake Placid, the weather starts to get miserable. There’s an Iron man Competition in town, with a marathon, a bike race, and a swimming race. There is not a room in the region. I didn’t feel so bad about the $300 room last night, since we would not have found one here, anyway. We are almost out of the Adirondack Mountains before the rain stops and we find a room for the night.

The next morning, we head in to Utica, NY, for lunch, and decide to take I90 west towards Niagara Falls. It’s a sunny day, but just as we get to Buffalo, there are terribly dark clouds, and lightning, in the direction of the Falls. We change plans, and decide to just continue heading west, since we will be able to stay out of the way of the storm. We get just past Erie, when we stop for the night. We find a small restaurant with a special on fresh lake perch, and it is delicious.

The following day, we ride on US20 to Fairport Harbor, Ohio. This is the town I grew up in, and it is fitting as part of this trip, since the town has two lighthouses. One, in operation from 1871 until 1925, is on land, atop a hill overlooking the lake, and it is now a museum. Visitors can climb the tower, as well. Attached to the museum is the pilot house off of an actual ship that traveled the Great Lakes. The other lighthouse is out on the break wall, and it was in operation from 1925 until about 2004. At the time of this trip, that lighthouse was for sale, starting price was one dollar. The Cleveland Metro parks has since purchased it.