York County

We had a decent sleep last night, showing that the jet lag has finally passed. We packed up our car and had a chat to some Canadian guys in the car park about their Mini which was brought here for the British car show. We then headed into nearby Stowe for breakfast, which looked miraculously clean considering the celebrations last night. We went to a small cafe for oatmeal and a bacon and ham muffin for breakfast, combined with bad American coffee. We took some photos of the beautiful town before heading to a sight I was interested in.

Before coming to the USA I had heard that the Von Trapp family from “The Sound of Music” had moved here after escaping Austria and, sure enough, there was their lodge about 10 minutes outside of town. It is now an exclusive accommodation with an extensive property and activities for the guests. Fortunately we were allowed to wander inside and take photos, as well as learn the history of the place.

We had planned to visit the towns of Manchester and Portsmouth during our drive today, but only settled on the latter. Manchester didn’t seem that interesting and was somewhat run down. We drove to the area near the City Hall as apparently it was the more diverse area, but didn’t like it much. Portsmouth however was a charming and touristy seaside town. Just like the names, the English influences here are really obvious in the New England states. We had a Mexican lunch down on the water which wasn’t as expensive as we’d anticipated (we still can’t find Coke Zero anywhere though!).

Our arrival into Ogunquit was somewhat slow though as the traffic into town is quite intense. This place is definitely popular with tourists! We checked into our accommodation, which is a good sized room in a hotel which is walking distance to town. Even better, we’re here for two nights meaning we can have a break from driving. We headed to a nearby supermarket as we’re hoping to save money on breakfasts and dinners instead of eating out all the time.

We had a well deserved nap before we decided to change our itinerary slightly. On the way back from Bar Harbor we are meant to be staying in Portland for one night however the accommodation is very expensive, so we have decided to come back to Ogunquit instead where it is half the price. We couldn’t get the same accommodation as now, but the new place is only a few minutes up the road.

We had dinner in the room before heading out for a drink. Firstly we went to the lively Front Porch Piano Bar which was very popular with locals and tourists alike. We met a lady downstairs from Miami who joined us at the local venue across the street, called Maine Street. Not only did we meet some locals, we also found out we’ve been pronouncing the name of this town incorrectly! It’s O-GUN-quit, not OH-gen-quit! We didn’t have a late night but we still had a fun nightEn savoir plus