Gorham NH – Southeast MA
Sun September 9, 2018
(~323 miles)
Third time’s the charm for the White Mountain Cafe, with yet another maple cheddar bagelwich…yum. Silas and I were there at 07:00 once again, and enjoyed a quick bite and coffee before the trip home. There were only a few NERds out and about this morning, with some having apparently departed yesterday and many others probably sleeping in a bit on a chilly Sunday morning.
Silas hadn’t brought heated gear on this trip, but layered up to ward off the chill until the sun could warm us up later in the morning. I enjoyed mine set to “slightly toasty” and was snug as a bug. We headed east on US-2, back into Maine, taking a right turn in Bethel to head south on SR-35. This was a nice road down into the lakes region, where Si and his family had apparently spent many family vacations in years past. He recognized many of the roads and landmarks, giving me impromptu history lessons (through our Bluetooth comms) on some of them to pass the time.
Silas up to his old tricks. I hope this doesn’t become a “thing” for NER trips…
Our first stop was at Hacker’s Hill overlook in Casco, with nice views to the distant White Mountains and big Sebago Lake just to our south.
Hacker’s Hill
One of the local landmarks Si had reminisced about was the lock system between Long Lake and Sebago Lake. Apparently, it was once part of a 50 mile canal system leading all the way out to Portland, with 27 locks. Only Songo Lock remains now, and still serves recreational boater traversing between the lakes on the Songo River.
According to Si, the big paddle steamer boat on Long Lake used to traverse the lock (it was built to just fit within the lock dimensions) before the new US-302 bridge across Long Lake was constructed to replace an older swing bridge, to improve car traffic flow.
We skirted the western shore of Sebago, and then followed a nice series of back roads in large zigzags north and south across the region. North back into Bridgton on ME-107, then 117 to the southwest, where we pulled over for a Melting Pot Tour photo of the Denmark ME town limit sign.
Down to Hiram, up to Brownfield, south again to Cornish where there was a planned lunch stop. Being only 10:30, we weren’t quite ready to stop and pushed ahead to the town of Limerick and pulled in to a wonderful overlook donated by private landowners in the area.
Limerick Overlook
One more loop to the northwest from Limerick on some nice hills, then a beeline south for a while on ME-11 and Lebanon Rd to pick up US-202 in the town of Lebanon, another photo bonus for the Melting Pot.
We crossed into New Hampshire a few miles further on and our tummies were rumbling.
“Based on where we are, guess what I’m thinking for lunch?” I asked Si.
“Hmmm, lemme think,” he replied, then came up with the winning response: “Goody Coles? Sounds about perfect!”
I plugged in the waypoint and we rode on in anticipation of partaking in the best BBQ in the area. We arrived around 13:00 and there was no line, sweet! Several minutes later, we were sitting out front with plates of delicious ribs and brisket staring at us.
I cleaned my plate for the first time since first coming to this establishment, maybe it was the cooler temperatures. What a difference in ribs quality from the Road Hawg on Friday night! Spectacular as always.
After a great meal, we continued on to Kingston, where we hopped on familiar back roads to wind our way southwest to I-93 in Salem. From there it was mostly slab back to the barn, with a short detour around some traffic jamming near I-290 and I-495. It had been a great trip to some of the northern- and easternmost areas of New England, and I’d ridden many new (to me) roads. The fresh pavement had been an additional bonus. NER camaraderie was great as always, and I’d go on every one of these trips if I could. Looking forward to Lake George next fall!
Entire Trip Stats
Total miles: ~1724
Lighthouses: 12
Melting Pot Tour bonuses: 10
Border crossings: 2
Pie: 0 🙁