Yarmouth Clam Festival

The Yarmouth Clam Festival

Yarmouth, Maine

http://www.clamfestival.com/home.php

Mid July

Every year in mid July, the town of Yarmouth, a small town in southern Maine, explores part of Maine's heritage - clams. It is the biggest festival of the year, spanning most of a week, with a parade, a stunning number of food vendors and clams prepared in every way possible, music performances of all stripes and shape possible, from kids on up, rides, fireworks, a huge craft festival and a book sale. The Clam Festival has something for everyone and is not to be missed. One of my personal favorite parts is the Beatles re-enactment group they have almost every year.

The opening sign for the festival

There is a large selection of food, prepared by area organizations, that goes far beyond (and better) the usual fair food. There are at least 50 or so booth arranged in a semi circle by the fairgrounds, selling everything from clams and lobster to sirloin tips and hot dogs.

The rides and food vendors that dot the landscape are quite colorful.

More rides and vendors. The roller coaster dominates the landscape.

Some of the ubiquitous fair food

Some places call them doughboys, others fried dough, others more names still. Either way they are a staple of fairs!

One of the few rides I like to go to at festivals, the swings... you go around pretty fast and high.

Step right up and try your luck at the balloon toss game! One of the many games at the festival.

The Scrambler, another fun one.

Tilt-A-Whirl, an old classic

What would a festival be without cotton candy?

Town of Yarmouth sign

They had these big, giant blow up bubbles that you could actually go in on the water, and not get wet. Fun to watch!

Climbing up this rope ladder was harder than it looked.

Horse and buggy rides were available!

And, my favorite part, country singer Blaine Larsen stopped by to put on a concert!

That concludes this tour of the Yarmouth Clam Festival, be sure to join us this year in July!

Camden, Maine

Camden, Maine

Mount Battie and Camden Hills State Park, and Camden downtown

A stunningly amazing view from the top of Mount Battie. You can either drive or hike up Mount Battie to see its views. Supposedly, you can see Rockland, Rockport, Camden, Isleboro, Vinalhaven, and Isle au Haut from here when the weather is clear. No matter what you see, it's a view that you won't soon forget.

The view makes quite an impressive backdrop for taking pictures.

There's a stone tower you can climb, which is quite fun. It is much cooler up there, and the views are still better.

The steps that you climb to get to the top of the tower. Very cool!

The view at the top of the tower is amazing and provides a great backdrop for pictures. Plus, it's just fun to sit up there with the breeze in your hair and admire everything around you. It's a calming feeling.

A bakery in downtown Camden, offering a variety of wares.

A fun sign outside one of Camden's many quirky downtown stores

The town boat landing. No shortage of interesting boats to see here!

A colorful whiteboard full of events going on in the area and surrounding towns. As you can see, no shortage of activities, either.

Some of the many boats that dot Camden's landscape.

One of my favorite things about Camden is there's a waterfall right in the middle of town! Now, how often do you see that?

I absolutely love this shirt! Peace, Love and Lobstah - what more do you need? This shirt says "Maine" more than any t-shirt I can recall seeing in recent memory.

A statue of a puffin outside one of the downtown stores. At least, I'm pretty sure it's a puffin. Puffins are very common in Maine, especially mid-coast Maine.

A statue commemorating the Maine black bear.

This concludes our tour of Camden. Be sure to come and visit to see some more!

Portland - Fore River Sanctuary

Fore River Sanctuary
Portland, Maine
Enter from 1601 Congress St.

Maintained by Portland Trails

Remember, you can click on the pictures to make them larger.

You start out on a nice, grassy trail.

A pond with occasional ducks can be seen to your right.

This sign tells you where you are - the Cumberland and Oxford Canal

There is a strategically placed bench, so that you can look at the pond and all that lays behind it.

There are occasional bridges on the grass trail.

Then you start going through the woods. The shade is nice on a hot day!

At some points, it gets a little steep, but not for long.

You then cross some railroad tracks.

And, after about a 40 minute walk, you get to the final prize - the waterfall, named Jewell Falls! The waterfall is much bigger in spring than it is winter. In winter, it looks almost dried up, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case this time. It's not a huge waterfall, but it's still fun to look at and take pictures of.

Another waterfall view.

The action of the water going over the rocks was interesting to observe, especially close up.

I love this close up of the water in the waterfall!

Look at that water flow!

A bridge at the top leads you to another part of the trail.

If you go right, you can take a narrow path through the woods. I am not sure where it leads to.

Some people may think of dandelions as weeds, but I think they are quite pretty.

I couldn't resist one more view of the waterfall.

And last but not least, there is a bench in front to allow you to get wonderful pictures such as this!

This concludes our tour of the Fore River Sanctuary!

Cape Elizabeth - Crescent Beach

Welcome to Crescent Beach! Crescent Beach, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Crescent Beach is located off Route 77 in Cape Elizabeth, just 8 miles south of Portland.
A fee is charged from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. Crescent Beach State Park has 243 acres in total, including a sandy beach, a picnic area with tables and grills, a playground, a snack bar, and showers. You can reserve picnic tables for group events. Crescent Beach has something for everybody! Crescent Beach is located at 66 Two Lights Road in Cape Elizabeth.

Sometimes you can find some of the most important messages of our time written in the sand!

Nothing like sitting back and letting the waves roll in.

Balancing on that log was actually harder than it looks.

Part of Crescent Beach is actually quite rocky, and the juxtaposition of the rocks against the ocean makes a beautiful scene indeed. I love the ocean, and I love walking rocking on rocks, so for me, Crescent is a perfect combination of both.

As you can see, there are no shortages of rocks to scramble and play on, some offering at least temporary protection from the sun in summertime.

Somebody built quite an exquisite sculpture out of rocks! Reminds me of a mandela.

A little stone village on the beach.

I like the variety of textures in this picture.

This is the sign you see when you get to the very end of the Crescent Beach property, on the side where the rocks are.

A lone tree sits against a grassy backdrop.

A seagull visits a tidal pool by a rocky ocean backdrop.

A "V" formation of birds against a clear blue sky.

A grassy path leads you back from the rocky part of the beach to sandy one. The grass is so green, you almost forget you're at a beach for a minute.

An overview of the beach from the grassy area.

We stumbled upon a wonderful sand castle contest in which very few of the entries actually looked like sand castles!

One of my favorites was the sandwhich. I love the attention to detail, with the seaweed for the fillings and eve a toothpick on top.

There's a metal play structure that is fun for kids of all ages...just be careful because it gets hot! You can get a great view from everything on top.

There is a great swingset, with views of the ocean. I particularly enjoy swinging on this whenever I go to Crescent Beach.


This concludes our tour of Crescent Beach in Cape Elizabeth! Now it's time to wash off that sunblock, get the sand out from between your toes, and go on to the next tour.