It wasn’t an impulse buy..you know those things that you pick up in the store that aren’t on your shopping list. They seem to be a good idea at the moment but then you get home and have  ‘buyer’s remorse”? No, it was nothing like that.

Rather it was a change of plans on impulse. It was a beautiful day, so nice it was hard to believe it was the middle of November. I was planning to take a drive to Newport, RI for the day to see what sights and scenes I could find for this space but when I saw how nice it was I got the urge to take a drive up to Maine. It’s a bit farther than Newport but still well within the “day trip” category.

I headed out a little after 10 am and gambled that the expressway through Boston would have cleared out by that time. Luckily I was right and I sailed though the former Big Dig with no hesitation!  

I had selected York, Maine as my destination, home of Nubble Light. It’s said that Nubble Light is one of the most often photographed light houses on the east coast but I just remember the area from my scuba diving days as being extremely pretty.

I pulled off the Highway into York shortly after noon. It had taken me a little more than 2 hours. As I drove through Boston it got really cloudy but here in Maine the sky was clear and a brilliant blue. So far I had remembered my way pretty well considering it’s been over 30 years since I’ve been here but now as I came off the highway my memory seemed to dissolve.

I had printed out directions before I left the house so after a quick check I found myself meandering from one small road to another. I passed alot of fields and some farm houses and then as I came around a corner I saw the sky stretch out before me. That’s when you know that even though you can’t see the ocean yet, it’s really just ahead. Sure enough, down into a little dip and then up to a stop sign and there was the Atlantic!

The beach stretched out before me and off in the distance was the light house gleaming a bright white in the mid day sun.

 I pointed the car along the beach road in the direction of the lighthouse. It looked like everything was closed up tight for the winter.

I found the turn off to Nubble Light. At the end was a fairly large parking area with the metered viewers. There is no access to the lighthouse itself. That sits on an island that is reached by a little cable car. The public is not welcome on the island. Trust me, you don’t need to be on the island to appreciate this quaint little lighthouse.

The parking lot was a busy place with visitors taking pictures with everything but the kitchen sink. It was easy to see how it got it’s reputation as the most photographed light. I decided to wait for sunset so headed back along the beach to see if I could find anyplace for lunch.

I was about to try to retace my steps to the main highway when I spotted a little restaurant that seemed to have a lot of cars in it’s lot. Not surprising being the only open place on the beach.

The Lobster Cove Restaurant looked small inside until I realized there was an upstairs too. The waitress told me to seat myself so of course I grabbed a tabe by the window so I could watch the ocean over my lunch of scallops and coleslaw…very excellent! The people that were coming in were from all over. I overheard one group telling the waitress they drove up from New Jersey, another couple was speaking french…probably Candians, bienvenue.

Lunch complete I drove back to Sohier Park. That’s the name of the park next to the lighthouse. As I mentioned the light house is on an Island. I think it’s called Cape Neddick. The whole area is lovely. There’s a huge building, probably an Inn sitting on another rocky point near the light house so I amused myself trying to cature the waves crashing on the rocks while I waited for the sun to go down.

The lighthouse is situated so that you are looking east. That put the setting sun behind me. I was hoping some clouds would roll in so that I might get some reflected sunset behind the light house but that was not to be today. I had to settle for a series of pictures of the changing light.

 In between I got some sunset shots by turning around and shooting to the west.

Finally as the last of the light was fading I turned my car toward home.

 The drive back was not as easy as the drive up. A Patriots Football game at the stadium in Foxboro, a Bruins Hockey game at the Garden in Boston and the early Thanksgiving Travelers clogged all of the road ways in and around Boston. My trip home was over 4 hours compared to the two it took me to get to Maine but it was definietly worth it.