We managed to escape Salem without being captured by ghosts or witches and set off for Kennebunkport. We took the scenic coastal highway which again wasn’t that close to the shoreline but it did take us through a few nice towns, we then headed for Portsmouth which is actually in New Hampshire which is probably the first time they have actually put an English town name in the right county! We stopped at Portsmouth which is actually a really nice town, our first stop was the Portsmouth Discovery Centre which is mostly a gift shop but does have a good film describing the history of the area all be it only 400 years of history. From here we went to the house that is called the John Paul Jones house but he actually only boarded there a couple of times for about 12 months at a time. John Paul Jones was a sea captain who although born in Scotland (UK) actually fought on the side of the Americans during the war of independence and also sailed to England to attack ships leaving port which the Americans celebrate as being a major victory due to the size and reputation of the British Navy versus the American fleet of ships at the time, more though popular mythology than fact John Paul Jones is credited with helping to create the American Navy, after the war of Independence he went to fight for Queen Catherine of Russia but was discredited and moved to Paris where he died at the age of 45. Later in 1904 President Roosevelt tasked the American Ambassador with finding his grave, which he eventually did and having him shipped back to America where he has been buried in the Naval cemetery. We then stopped for lunch before continuing our walk round Portsmouth, we walked down to Ceres Street where since the 1930s there have been a number of tugboats that guide tankers and other commercial vessels through the Piscataqua River channel, the tugs are still used by Moran Towing although they do look like relics which are immaculately maintained but at least they are still used and we got to see them come out into the river. We walked from there to the lift bridge which is actually called the World War I Memorial Bridge, interestingly the dates on the bridge are 1917 – 1919, I know the Americans joined the war late, but I didn’t realise they carried on after the rest of us had finished it. The current bridge was opened in 2013, replacing the previous bridge which existed from 1923 to 2012. During the winter the bridge is only lifted on demand so we didn’t see it, but during the summer the lift section remains partially elevated every half hour between 07:00 – 19:00 for about 15 minutes, you can walk across the bridge and there are a couple of lookout points which we walked to, unfortunately although despite doing this we didn’t actually see it open. We then finished walking round the town and got back in the car to continue the drive to our next stop. We entered Maine just after leaving Portsmouth, then drove round to the Nubble lighthouse you can actually see it as we were driving round the point. What we hadn’t realised was that it was actually on an island, all be it one that is really close to the land! We parked up and walked across the rocks to get a good look at it, this area has a load of lighthouses which we could see from the shore. In 1874 the President granted the sum of $15,000 to build a lighthouse on this “Nub” of land, it opened on 1st July 1879, it became known as the Nubble Lighthouse. From here it was only about 45 minutes to the hotel which is actually called the Grand and is very imposing as you drive into Kennebunkport it is on a slight hill as you drive into the town, we checked in and settled into our room before deciding what we were going to do tonight.
