Nomad Life - Day 12

The day began much like the previous one, with an early start to my teleworking day (0545).  At 0745, I walked across the road to pick up breakfast (Sausage McMuffins) at McDonalds and then started a series of meetings that lasted until after noon.  Again, I ordered lunch (tuna sandwich) from Panera and picked up my order at 1230.  Returning to my room, I spent the next 2.5 hours teleworking (more meetings).  This was a good thing, though, because (by local standards) the day was a "scorcha" (high 80s).  By 1500, it seemed to have cooled a bit and I was ready to go out exploring.  Like yesterday, I headed to the Definitive Brewing Company tasting room in Kittery (arrived at 1515) - today, though, I got to enjoy the happy hour prices.  Unfortunately, the nice bartender from yesterday was not there; instead, there was a cynical, bitter older lady who spent most of the time talking to a specific patron.  After sampling a new beer (and getting a pint of one I tried yesterday), I departed (1600).  Driving a bit farther north on US-1, I then cut east towards the Maine Coast on a series of narrow roads.  Reaching the bridge (over Chauncey Creek) to Gerrish Island, I explored a bit - first on the north side (fancy residences along the Gulf of Maine) and then the south side (blocked by a $25 per car entrance fee for Fort Foster.  Backtracking to the bridge, I followed Chauncey Creek until I was able to follow the coastline to the west - I soon reached the little village of Kittery Point and started searching for signs for For McClary State Historic Site.  When I located the landmark, I was disappointed to find they were charging an entrance fee for non-residents.  Instead of staying, I continued west on ME-103, all the way into the center of Kittery.  Turning south on to US-1, I crossed the Piscataqua River again, pausing for a short tour around Badger's Island, and arrived on the New Hampshire side and downtown Portsmouth.  After that, I navigated my way through a maze of one-way streets until I was able to get on NH-1B.  Following that across a series of tiny islands, I soon reached New Castle - a bit later, I located the Fort Constitution Historic Site (1700),  Here, I got lucky that there was a public parking lot (with a warning that it was not to be used for the beach) and was able to walk around nearby.  There was definitely a lot of history from the Colonial Era, as well as the War of 1812, and I kept busy reading and snooping around near the Coast Guard Station (Portsmouth Harbor).  Towards the end of this stop, I did find the beach and, even better, the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.  The rocky coast was covered in seabirds and the harbor channel was full of boats - classic Seacoast!  Heading south after this, I passed through the Ritzy area of Wentworth, a corner of the town of Rye and ended up in on NH-1A as I crossed Sagamore Creek (small world, Cape Codder...).  Gradually, I made my way back into downtown Portsmouth and started looking for a place to park.  Almost everywhere had signs about local stickers or payments.  Fortunately, I was persistent and found a small neighborhood (one-way) street with neither.  Once I was parked, I explored Haven Park and then walked (via Hancock Street) down to the Strawbery Banke Museum.  There was an outdoor concert happening there (1745) but I didn't join or enter the park.  Instead, I next walked north to Prescott Park and explored nearby.  There were even more historical markers (again from the Colonial Era and War of 1812) and a beautiful garden in this area.  Across the harbor, I could see the Naval Shipyard.  When I think about it, almost all of my driving during the whole afternoon was within visual range - maybe about 2 miles as the crow flies.  But, "you can't get there from here" without a boat (or lots of time to drive all the way around)!  Throughout this area, I noticed signs for road and parking spot closures for Friday (August 15) - seems like a good idea to avoid Portsmouth on that day...  During my ramblings, I spotted a small bridge that seemed to head off towards something interesting.  So, after returning to my car, I drove over to what I later learned was Peirce Island.  The remote and isolated location appeared to where locals hang out during the Summer,  with no tourists the wiser.  There was a big marina, a huge swimming pool, walking trails, volleyball courts and other recreational perks.  On the far end of the island, though, was a water treatment plant - perhaps this deters the tourists?  I didn't care, though, and I spent the next 45 minutes (1815 to 1900) walking all over the island and even took a detour to Four Tree Island (and a monument to the town's sailors who were lost at sea).  The sea birds were plentiful again and, combined with the tide going out, really put on a show - terns, gulls and cormorants were diving, swooping and raising a ruckus!  By this point, the heat of the day had been greatly reduced and I really enjoyed getting the rest of my 10K steps there.  As the sun began setting in the distance, I returned to my car and drove back to the Motel 6 (it only took about 10 minutes with all the back roads I found, under the bridges and over to the USS Albacore).  In my room again, I talked with Mollie, did some blogging and reading and then watched some movies. Finally went to bed at 2245.  Feeling good about my choice of Nomad Life Week!