New England trip report - Fall 2015
My family has made many trips out West but our last long trip together was somewhere entirely different, New England. My husband and I met up with Dad in New Jersey where we visited with a relative t...
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OCT 1
As we readied to leave Recompense Shore Campground, we lined the rigs up for a picture. Kohldad in front, us next, and Dad bringing up the rear. All capable rigs providing us with comfortable accommodations on our trip.
We traveled together to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine. This city has a history of ship building starting with wooden sailing ships in the mid-1700s then progressing to steel ships in the mid-1800s. The Bath Iron Works Corporation began building ships for the U.S. Navy in 1890 and still does so today. It was interesting to browse the museum’s many displays on the area’s naval history.
In the Boatshop building were displays on Maine’s lobster industry.
With the nicer weather this day, cool but mostly sunny, we opted to take a tour of the bay. No, we weren’t riding in the lobstermobile although that would have been pretty neat. Instead we went by sea in a vessel called the Pied Piper .
The cruise went a mile or so down the bay, past a few small lighthouses including a pair used by ships to align their travel along the deepwater channel that provides access to the Bath port.
Then the cruise took us back up the river past the Maritime Museum. In the open area next to the museum is a large white structure with tall flags. This is called the Ghost Ship and is a lifesize representation of a wooden sailing ship, the Wyoming.
Passing on upriver, we came to the Bath Iron Works facility where we saw three ships in differing stages of construction.
One ship is starting to take shape but not yet watertight as it sits in the big blue floating dry dock facility.
Next to the dry dock sits another ship that is watertight and floating. It is more complete with its elaborate superstructure in place but its lower portion is shrouded, perhaps being painted.
It’s wasn’t until we began to round the facility that we got a good look at the third ship.
It‘s a Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer. This is the first one of its class to be produced. The oddly angled shape is designed to give it a low radar signature and it has a cutting edge electronics system called the Total Ship Computing Environment Infrastructure. The Navy has had to limit the number of Zumwalts ordered. Originally 32 were planned but this was reduced to 24, then to 7, then to 3 as the design shifted and the cost rose. The total cost for the three ships including research and development is $22.5 billion so the average cost per ship is $7.5 billion. They were designed to require a smaller crew than other, similarly sized ships so perhaps they’ll be cost-effective in the long run but I sure would hate to be the captain that loses one at that price! The first ship seen here, bearing the Zumwalt name, was launched just weeks after we saw it, on October 28.
Buoys show how far boat traffic must stay away from the Iron Works facility and a small security boat came zooming out as we passed to make sure we did.
Just past the Iron Works is the Highway 1 drawbridge which we passed under, giving us a side by side view of the old northbound lanes on the left and the new southbound lanes on the right. Upriver of the bridges, we got a good view of downtown Bath.
This was the furthest upstream extent of our cruise. Upon returning to the Maritime Museum, we were headed back to our campers when we spied one more building across the parking lot. It was intriguing because there was just a small sign over the door saying “Snow Squall”. Inside we found a large piece from the bow of a ship and a sign telling its story. The Snow Squall, was built in Maine in 1851 and is the sole surviving fragment of hundreds of great American clipper ships. A map showed the many voyages the Snow Squall made before its demise sometime in the 1880s. It was truly a world traveler! Clipper ships were built to transport cargo at speed but were eventually replaced with ships that were slower but had greater cargo capacity.
As we got back on the road, I sent my husband on ahead in our rig so I could ride with Dad. We crossed the old bridge over the river that we’d seen on our cruise then kept on along Hwy 1.
Although I love driving my rig, I also enjoy being a passenger as it allows me the opportunity to snap some photos of interesting sights as we pass by.
We diverted off Hwy 1 near Rockland to visit the Owls Head Light Station. This facility aids navigation on Penobscot Bay.
The light station keeper’s house has a nice view of the bay and the two islands in the distance, North Haven Island and Vinalhaven Island. These islands are inhabited but the only vehicle access is by ferry.
After a long day of touring, we were ready to check into a site for the night at Camden State Park but first we stopped at Cappy’s Chowder House on the bay in downtown Camden. Kohldad’s DW had made an excellent pick! We all enjoyed the service, the scenery, and the food. I tried the restaurant’s namesake chowder and it was excellent!
A tasty way to end the day!
To be continued …
As we readied to leave Recompense Shore Campground, we lined the rigs up for a picture. Kohldad in front, us next, and Dad bringing up the rear. All capable rigs providing us with comfortable accommodations on our trip.
We traveled together to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine. This city has a history of ship building starting with wooden sailing ships in the mid-1700s then progressing to steel ships in the mid-1800s. The Bath Iron Works Corporation began building ships for the U.S. Navy in 1890 and still does so today. It was interesting to browse the museum’s many displays on the area’s naval history.
In the Boatshop building were displays on Maine’s lobster industry.
With the nicer weather this day, cool but mostly sunny, we opted to take a tour of the bay. No, we weren’t riding in the lobstermobile although that would have been pretty neat. Instead we went by sea in a vessel called the Pied Piper .
The cruise went a mile or so down the bay, past a few small lighthouses including a pair used by ships to align their travel along the deepwater channel that provides access to the Bath port.
Then the cruise took us back up the river past the Maritime Museum. In the open area next to the museum is a large white structure with tall flags. This is called the Ghost Ship and is a lifesize representation of a wooden sailing ship, the Wyoming.
Passing on upriver, we came to the Bath Iron Works facility where we saw three ships in differing stages of construction.
One ship is starting to take shape but not yet watertight as it sits in the big blue floating dry dock facility.
Next to the dry dock sits another ship that is watertight and floating. It is more complete with its elaborate superstructure in place but its lower portion is shrouded, perhaps being painted.
It’s wasn’t until we began to round the facility that we got a good look at the third ship.
It‘s a Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer. This is the first one of its class to be produced. The oddly angled shape is designed to give it a low radar signature and it has a cutting edge electronics system called the Total Ship Computing Environment Infrastructure. The Navy has had to limit the number of Zumwalts ordered. Originally 32 were planned but this was reduced to 24, then to 7, then to 3 as the design shifted and the cost rose. The total cost for the three ships including research and development is $22.5 billion so the average cost per ship is $7.5 billion. They were designed to require a smaller crew than other, similarly sized ships so perhaps they’ll be cost-effective in the long run but I sure would hate to be the captain that loses one at that price! The first ship seen here, bearing the Zumwalt name, was launched just weeks after we saw it, on October 28.
Buoys show how far boat traffic must stay away from the Iron Works facility and a small security boat came zooming out as we passed to make sure we did.
Just past the Iron Works is the Highway 1 drawbridge which we passed under, giving us a side by side view of the old northbound lanes on the left and the new southbound lanes on the right. Upriver of the bridges, we got a good view of downtown Bath.
This was the furthest upstream extent of our cruise. Upon returning to the Maritime Museum, we were headed back to our campers when we spied one more building across the parking lot. It was intriguing because there was just a small sign over the door saying “Snow Squall”. Inside we found a large piece from the bow of a ship and a sign telling its story. The Snow Squall, was built in Maine in 1851 and is the sole surviving fragment of hundreds of great American clipper ships. A map showed the many voyages the Snow Squall made before its demise sometime in the 1880s. It was truly a world traveler! Clipper ships were built to transport cargo at speed but were eventually replaced with ships that were slower but had greater cargo capacity.
As we got back on the road, I sent my husband on ahead in our rig so I could ride with Dad. We crossed the old bridge over the river that we’d seen on our cruise then kept on along Hwy 1.
Although I love driving my rig, I also enjoy being a passenger as it allows me the opportunity to snap some photos of interesting sights as we pass by.
We diverted off Hwy 1 near Rockland to visit the Owls Head Light Station. This facility aids navigation on Penobscot Bay.
The light station keeper’s house has a nice view of the bay and the two islands in the distance, North Haven Island and Vinalhaven Island. These islands are inhabited but the only vehicle access is by ferry.
After a long day of touring, we were ready to check into a site for the night at Camden State Park but first we stopped at Cappy’s Chowder House on the bay in downtown Camden. Kohldad’s DW had made an excellent pick! We all enjoyed the service, the scenery, and the food. I tried the restaurant’s namesake chowder and it was excellent!
A tasty way to end the day!
To be continued …
