Northbound on US Route 1

Last winter Jim accompanied me to fulfill the first part of a long-time dream: driving the length of US Route 1, which goes from Fort Kent, Maine, on the northern border with Canada, to Key West, Florida, the southernmost town in the Continental United States, 90 miles from Cuba.
See Route 1, Day Eight: Key West!

Tonight we’re in Wells, Maine. We left home at 1:20 p.m., drove down Storrow Drive to the Mass Pike, got on Route 1/I-93 and headed north. We stopped in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for dinner: Jim got some restaurant suggestions from a friend who lives there. From the restaurant deck we could see The Strategic Harmony, a freighter from Singapore. After dinner we walked down the street for a closer look. Two huge cranes were unloading…sand from Chile. Unexpected.

Before we got to the restaurant we found a coffee shop/used book store, browsed for a while and bought about seven books. We’re incorrigible book buyers.

As dusk fell we bought gas in York, Maine and Jim worked his internet magic. First night’s stay: Coast Village Inn, a modest motel with a good deal on Expedia.