Heading North - May 27, 2017

Quintessential New England - Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The scary mannequin at the hostess desk.

The Friendly Toast restaurant for breakfast.

Javier, hitting on Miss Red Lips.

Not sure how I kept my appetite.

A skateboard made from a board and wheels from an old set of metal roller skates.  Very reminiscent of something that Steven and I would have made . . . and then injured ourselves using.  The fancy painting makes all the difference.

Happy family.

Found a store nearby called  Ten Thousand Villages.  They sell fair-trade crafts and housewares from Asia, Africa, Latin America & the Middle East.  We didn't buy the finger puppets . . .

. . . but I can ALWAYS talk Rafa into buying a giraffe.  You'll see this one a lot in the next few days.

Enough said.

Onward to Scarborough!!

We had to stop and see Lenny the Moose at Len Libby's on Route 1.  The store actually makes me a little sad, because my memories of this candy shop are all based on stops at the summer store near Higgins Beach, where we would stop when visiting my Aunt Mary in Prouts Neck.  The "other" store is just as good for candy, just not so good for memories.

The Higgins Beach store.

I mean what's better than oodles of candy after swimming in the ocean?  Especially salt water taffy!

Born in 1872, Len Libby was the eighth generation of Libbys living in Scarborough. His great-grandfather, Thomas J. Libby, once owned what is now Prouts Neck in its entirety. In 1883, Winslow Homer moved to Prouts Neck and young Len Libby worked as the artist's houseboy. Len recalled that it was one of his duties to keep Mr. Homer's suits brushed and pressed, and his mother did Homer's laundry.

As a young man Len worked for candy companies in Portland, learning the art of chocolate and confectionery before he began his career as a music teacher in the Westbrook School Department. One of Len's students was Westbrook's favorite son, Rudy Vallée, who continued to visit his old teacher when he returned home to visit.

In 1926, Len Libby began making candy again and selling it out of his home, and then his first store, on Higgins Beach, making Len Libby's Candies the third oldest business in Scarborough, Maine. Len Libby sold his store to Dr. Fernand Hemond in 1949, but stayed on to teach Dr. Hemond's son, Fern, the art of candy making. Young Fern bought the candy store from his father in 1956 and kept the Len Libby name to honor the man who had become known as the Dean of Maine Candymakers.

Rafa likes to stop and visit the 1700 pound chocolate moose and the 380 pound Black Bear Libby and her cubs, Cooca and Chips.

Followed by some Maine humor.

A very strange coincidence at Target near where we picked up the tuxedos.  A framed print of the Resplendent Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, which symbolizes liberty.

You'll have to wait until later to see the tuxedos.

No visit to Maine is complete without a visit to Portland Head Light and Fort Williams Park.

It's one of those places where it's impossible to take a bad photo.  The lighthouse was actually commissioned by George Washington.

In 1787, the General Court of Massachusetts (the Massachusetts legislature) provided $750 to begin construction of a lighthouse. In 1790, when the United States Government took over the responsibility of all lighthouses, Congress appropriated $1,500 for its completion. The original tower measured 72' from base to lantern deck and was lit with 16 whale oil lamps. It was first lit on January 10, 1791.

Construction of the first Keeper's Quarters began in 1790 as the result of a contract signed by Massachusetts Governor John Hancock. A one story dwelling built to replace the first keeper's house was erected in 1816. It measured 34' x 20' with two rooms, a cellar and a porch in the rear.

And I learn something every time I visit.

Looking toward Portland.

And a quick stop in Yarmouth, Maine to visit my old friend Eartha, the world's largest rotating globe.

The globe was finished in 1998 and I worked on construction drawings for the building while I was an intern in college.  The globe measures just under 131 feet around, and 41 feet, one-and-a-half inches across her middle.

For some reason, in my photos, this day seems to end here.  We DID check in to a hotel in Augusta and we DID go to dinner with Jeff, Barb and Shane.