In Love With Lighthouses

Sometimes the weather gods gift you with the most absolutely perfect day and that's what Denny and I experienced yesterday when we made a drive up the coast to visit the Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

But first I made Denny stop at the Len Libby Chocolatier in Scarborough, Maine to see "the world's only life-size chocolate moose." Created from 1700 pounds of milk chocolate, Lenny the moose is on display with an 800 pound milk chocolate black bear and her two 360 pound each chocolate cubs. Even I could not eat that much chocolate! And of course the store was lined with candy cases filled with all sorts of goodies and a few made their way into our truck with us. Because we needed a bit of dessert to go with our picnic lunch, right?

Fort Williams Park is open from dawn until dusk and is free to the public. There is a museum at the lighthouse with a $2 charge for adults, but you can freely wander the grounds and take pictures of the lighthouse without having to pay any fees. There are picnic tables located throughout the park and a small hot dog vendor near the lighthouse was doing a booming business. There are large fields for the kids to run around and several people were flying (or attempting to fly) kites.
But of course, Denny and I came for the lighthouse. And a most photogenic one it is! I'm planning on making some calendars up this year and you can bet this photo or a similar one will be on it!


I had climbed down onto the boulders to get a better shot of the lighthouse and the granite ledge it sits upon and neglected to pay attention to the surf. I almost had a salt water bath as the waves came smashing up against the rocks!
Our picnic lunch was eaten under the shade of large trees while we watched crazy kids play in the cold waters of the inlet.A couple sat down at a picnic table nearby and soon had a repast for the gods set out; boiled lobsters, corn on the cob, beer and wine. Now that's how you have a picnic! The scenery was breathtaking and the air was fragrant with the scent of the wild roses growing all around.Lunch over and packed away, Denny and I wandered up the hill to the ruins of the Goddard mansion and over to an abandoned building that teenagers were crawling all over. The Goddard mansion is simply a ruin of itself, but you can see some of its original beauty in the walls still standing. Next to the park you can see the town of Cape Elizabeth in the distance and admire the view of the waterfront homes. On the way back, Denny and I saw our future house--the one we'll buy when we win the lottery. It's right next to the one being offered for sale by Sotheby's, so I'm assuming the price is a little bit beyond our current budget. But who wouldn't want to live in a house where you could toss a lobster trap out your back door to catch dinner?