The oldest brewery in America

As we drove through New York State and Pennsylvania we began to see signs for a beer neither of us had heard of before - Yuengling Brewery.

At one point I Googled the name, and discovered we would be driving right by the original brewery, and they offer free tours. 

Me: “D, you want to take a brewery tour?”

D: “That’s a stupid question.”

Off we go to Yeungling Brewery in Pottsville, PA to learn about the German immigrant, David Yuengling, who started the brewery in 1829. It is still owned by the Yeungling family today - the 6th generation. The most interesting part to me were the underground tunnels where they stored the beer casks - they were damp and cool, and actually a bit spooky.

Tunnels under the building were at the perfect temperature to store beer

Yeungling doesn't exactly sound German, does it? Apparently, the family surname was originally spelled Jungling, but as with many European immigrants, names were changed when they arrived in North America, for many different reasons. Jungling is German for "young person".

The tour ended with a tasting of two different beers at the brewery’s in-house pub. I’m not much for beer, so I ordered a couple that Drew was interested in tasting. He liked the Oktoberfest so much that he’s been stocking it in the RV fridge ever since!

Marvellous fall colours in the Catskills

Driving through The Catskills in New York State at the beginning of October was like driving through a Thomas Cole painting - the rich and vibrant colours of the sun-filled autumn landscape filled me with an overwhelming sense of awe at the beautiful scenery around us. Or maybe it was the fact that we had climbed 2,000 feet during our relatively short drive and I was suffering from altitude sickness? Nevertheless, I was impressed.

With the speed limit at 35-40mph along the winding, 2-lane highway, it was a relaxing, and definitely beautiful drive, and even D had a chance to enjoy the autumn scenery in all its splendour.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when people said they were vacationing in the Catskills, this is where they were going. Thousands of visitors would travel to the area every summer to vacation and breath in the fresh, clean mountain air. The Ulster and Delaware Railroad, who owned the Kaaterskill Railway, was known as “The Only All-Rail Route To The Catskill Mountains”. At one time, there were holiday cottages, boarding houses, and even a grand 1,200 room hotel along the Kaaterskill route, though today only the foundations of some of the buildings are left, and even those are difficult to make out in the dense overgrowth. Fortunately, the 1913 Ulster & Delaware Train Station at Haines Falls is still standing, and has been fully restored, though not open the day we were there.

The original 1913 U&D train station at Haines Falls

We stopped for a break in Haines Falls and walked several scenic miles along the old Kaaterskill Rail Trail to Kaaterskill Falls, the highest waterfall in New York. Sadly, the falls were merely a trickle as there hadn't been much precipitation over the summer, but still quite pretty.

The railway ties are all that's left of the old railway

Kaaterskill Falls was just a trickle when we visited

Interesting to note: the name Kaaterskill is Dutch for Wildcat Creek, and is thought to be the origin of the name of the Catskill Mountains. the name may have come from a store named for the bobcats that lived in the area.

Breaking the bank at The Breakers

After Boston, we stopped at Cape Cod for a night - where we stayed at our most expensive campground yet at $91US for a no frills site -  then continued on to Newport, Rhode Island. Newport is known for its sailing history (Drew’s heart was racing at all the fibreglass he saw!) and monstrous mansions (my heart raced at all the beautiful architecture and landscaping - not to mention the amazing ocean views!). I’m pretty sure the town was built on a pile of money.

One mansion of note was The Breakers. Built by Cornelius Vanderbilt between 1893 and 1895 as a summer “cottage”, it is considered one of the most prominent of the Gilded Age mansions in Newport. 

The Grand Staircase

With 70 rooms sprawled over 138,300 square feet, marble imported from Italy and Africa, rare wood and mosaics from countries around the world, and architectural features removed from a 16th-century chateaux in France, the mansion is opulent with a capital O.

The fireplace is from a 16th Century chateau in France

Who wouldn't want a marble bathtub?

The kitchen is bigger than our entire condo!

The Breakers was built at a cost of $7 million in 1895 - that would be about $220 million by today’s rates. There are some countries in the world that have a GDP less than that.

At $29US per person, our tickets to view the mansion and its gardens (and the privilege to visit the gift shop and drop more cash) fit the rich theme, but I guess someone has to pay the electricity bill, and it was quite fun to see how the rich and famous live.

How do you say 'market' in Bostonian?

RV campgrounds are non-existent near Boston, so we stayed at a Harvest Host outside the city and took the delightful Hingham Ferry past Nut and Spectacle Islands to Long Wharf in downtown Boston. Rather than jumping on one of the funny Duck Tour busses, we opted to do a DIY walking tour of Boston, some of the more prominent sites in the city, including the Granary Burying Ground (where Paul Revere is buried), the Boston Common, Paul Revere's House, the Old State House, and Quincy Market.

Leaving Boston on the Hingham Ferry 

Display at Quincy Market - makes me hungry!

Paul Revere's headstone at the Granary Burial Ground

Boston Common

One of the unique brass bricks in Winthrop Lane
The city installed them as a way to memorialize some of
Boston's most important events
This one is a dig at aggressive Boston drivers!

By the way, Bostonians say maahket, not market. I just love that accent! 

A carnival called Salem

I was really looking forward to visiting the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Who has not heard of Salem and the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and the subsequent annulment of the convictions 20 years later? I was fascinated by the story of a town turning against innocent people because they did not conform with the rest of society, and wanted to explore Salem to learn more.

In some ways, I was glad to have visited, and in some ways, I was truly disappointed.

We toured the Peabody Essex Museum, which had an excellent, in-depth exhibit on the Salem Witch Trials. We visited the thought-provoking Salem Witch Trials Memorial, and wandered through the Charter Street Cemetery - one of the oldest European burial grounds in America. We snapped photos of the 1819 Custom House, and learned that is where Nathaniel Hawthorne penned his famous novel, The Scarlet Letter.

Salem Witch Trials Memorial

Charter Street Cemetery - trees have grown around the headstones

Here's another pic of me, taking a pic of the Custom House

We also marvelled at the spectacle that Salem has become. Today. Salem is a haven for modern witches, goths, and anyone who wants to dress up in black and burn incense. There are gift shops and stores on every corner (and often several in between) that sell all manner of witchy kitsch, ‘magical’ equipment, and other junky trinkets. Sadly, I felt a bit like I was wandering through a Goth theme park rather than a historical city.

A sad display right outside the Charter Street Cemetery

What exactly does Frankenstein have to do with Salem?

At least one on every street

That being said, I’m told Salem is a great place to visit in the month of October, where the witch vibe is ramped up to the extreme, and you are minority if you are not dressed the part! I’m not sure we’ll bother with the 3,400km return trip, however. Once is enough for me.

Lunch at the Light

As if we hadn’t visited enough lighthouses already on this trip, we decided to stop at yet another one. The Cape Neddick Lighthouse just south of Portland, Maine is supposedly one of the most photographed and painted lighthouses in the world.

The weather was cooperating, so we decided to park the RV, fill up a sack with a picnic lunch and take some photos of the iconic lighthouse - along with hundreds of other visitors who all wanted to continue the photographic trend.

Fun Facts about Cape Neddick Lighthouse:

• built in 1879 at a cost of $15,000
• stands 88 feet (27m) above sea level
• nicknamed “The Nubble” because it stands atop rocky Nubble Island
• an image of the lighthouse is included on the Voyager Golden Record (a record of sounds and images significant to Earth) that was carried into space by the Voyager in 1977
• the lighthouse (not open to the public) is accessed by a 300’ cable pulley system from the mainland

There were several artists at work in the park, and I stopped to one if she sold her work. She said, “Sure, why not? I can’t keep them all, and my kids don’t want any more.” I was about to ask her how much she wanted for the one she was currently working on, when I looked down and decided to keep my mouth shut.

Hmmm, a painting only a daughter could love?

What a lovely subject for a painting!

Only in America...

Can you go shopping at an L.L. Bean store at 2am. Apparently, that's what John Travolta does when he’s in Freeport, Maine. It’s quiet then, and no one bothers him to ask for an autograph.

The massive flagship store for the clothing and outdoor gear giant is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I wonder just how many people are in there doing their last-minute Christmas shopping at 5am on December 25th? I didn’t ask if they offer free wrapping during the holidays.

Visiting the home of our Pudgy

A Pudgy awaiting delivery to it's new owner

Those who know us may recall the chubby (but cute) blunt-nosed dinghy on our boat, Instead Of. That tender is called a Portland Pudgy - aptly named as it is made in Portland, Maine, and it is, well...  pudgy. In fact, I think some of you may have even made fun of our little tender, but it truly served its purpose for us.

I surprised Drew by contacting the company to arrange a tour, since we were driving through Portland on our way to Salem, Massachusetts.

The company recently sold, has moved to new headquarters, and sadly they no longer manufacture the dinghy hulls ‘in house’. Although Mike, the new owner of Portland Pudgy, was out of the office the day we visited, we did get to chat at length with Rob, who showed us around. It turns out, he has been with the company for many years, and was almost certainly the one who made our Pudgy!

D and Rob beside the original mold for the Portland Pudgy

We no longer own Instead Of, or its little tender, but we have fond memories of lazy days touring the west coast in Instead Of and in our little Pudgy.

Hobnobbing with the Whatnots

We’re in the US of A! After provisioning at a grocery store in Calais, ME (beer, wine, cider, gin, rum, coke, lemons and limes… oh, and some food items) we made our way to Acadia National Park.

The park, located on Mount Desert Island and flanked by the quaint town of Bar Harbor, is one of the country’s most visited national parks. Even in mid-September, it was very busy and parking was at a premium (especially for an RV), so we chose instead to drive the scenic route around the park and only stopped once to check out the sights at Thunder Hole and Sandy Beach.

View of Sandy Beach from the trail

Sandy Beach at Acadia National Park - the water was COLD!

The next day we took the free shuttle bus from the campground into Bar Harbor - a very convenient way to travel, and saves having to fight for a parking spot! The weather was perfect for a long walk through town, as we followed the Museum in the Street signs to learn about Bar Harbor’s rich (as in Rockefeller rich) history. Since the late 19th Century, the rich and famous have tried to outdo each other in a no expenses spared battle to have the most lavish home on the block in Bar Harbor. 

A lovely outdoor restaurant/bar in an old mansion

D's photo of me taking a photo

The photo I was taking

Some of the famous people and families who own, or have owned property in the town include John D. Rockefeller Jr. (who donated about one-third of the land in Acadia National Park), JP Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Astor family, Roxanne Quimby (co-founder and CEO of Burt’s Bees), Susan Sarandon, the Roosevelts, the DuPonts, the Pulitzers and the Bouviers (as in first lady Jackie Bouvier Kennedy). That’s pretty impressive roster of socialites!

Today, although you may see local resident Martha Stewart buying fresh produce at the Bar Harbor Farmer’s Market, you’re more likely to run into a mob of middle class grannies in capris and Keds, sporting tour bus ID tags around their necks and shopping bags stuffed with Bar Harbor t-shirts on their wrists. Bar Harbor is still a destination summer resort, though maybe not quite as extravagant as it once was.

When in Maine...! Best lobster cob salad I've ever had.

Crossing the Bar at low tide to visit Bar Island

A pretty little town we could call home

We’re back on the mainland, travelling through New Brunswick on our way to the USA. Decided to stop in a town called St. Andrews, well, because someone suggested we should. Personal recommendations are always the best, no? 

St. Andrews is on the southern tip of a peninsula that extends into the Passamaquoddy Bay, at the mouth of the St. Croix River, only 2km across from the state of Maine by water, though 53km by road. 

Of the 1004 National Historic Sites in Canada, St. Andrews is probably one of the few cities in Canada on the list (Quebec City is the only other one I know of). It’s a pretty little town, full of lovely historic buildings, old fashioned lamp standards with giant hanging baskets blooming with flowers, and homes with perfectly manicured lawns. Quaint. I felt like I was walking through a Hallmark movie set the entire time. 

How can you go wrong in a town with a restaurant called Drewhaven?!

Tides in St. Andrews can be 20 feet!

I spent some $$ here!

Ahhh, lunch by the sea!

A wharf...

... and boats!

The area is also renowned for it’s golf course - St. Andrew’s By The Sea at the Algonquin Resort. Originally constructed in 1894, the course boasts Canada’s oldest clubhouse. I did not feel my golf experience was ‘on par’ for the $145 green fees, so we drove right by, but the views were very pretty! 

Speaking of pretty… we were rather taken with the town itself. It has everything we need - a marina, a golf course, a quilt shop, great restaurants, an ice rink (for hockey for D), and inexpensive housing. Almost tempted to move, if not for the miserable winters! 

Here’s a listing we wanted to look at… 

https://realtor.ca/real-estate/22745325/332-brandy-cove-road-saint-andrews?utm_source=consumerapp&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialsharelisting

What would a place like that be listed for in Vancouver, I wonder?