Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day, we enjoyed a relaxed, extra-scenic day mostly riding up the Maine coast.  Hmmm...could that have been planned?

We started with a short visit to Fort Constitution near Portsmouth. This site is on an active Coast Guard facility, so we had to carefully follow the blue line on the pavement out to the old fort (you can just see the line in the background of the first picture).

We enjoyed the scenic views from the island this fort is on.

Note the lighthouse; you'll see it again later.

Nim ran around and explored, as she is wont to do.

It was yet again a warm day, so we gravitated toward shady nooks.

After we finished at that fort, it was time to head across the bridge from New Hampshire to Maine.  Nim doubted my judgment in taking a picture while riding on the bridge, but there was a big bike lane so it was no problem.

Shortly after crossing the bridge, it became clear that the kiddo was hungry, so we decided to stop at Fort McClary near Kittery, just across the river mouth from the other fort.  

I fed her saltwater taffy.

It turned out to be not just a day for free entrance into Maine state parks, but also part of the weekend for French and Indian War reenactments at the park.  Naturally, we decided to hang around for an hour for the next battle.  While we waited, we explored the site and all the encampments the reenactors had set up.

Notice the lighthouse we had just been at across the water in the background.

Shaggy kid on a rock.  There was some talk of why a haircut hadn't happened before the trip.

As we waited, costumed people roamed around the site.  Eventually, shots started in the woods, and the battle was on.  It was sort of entertaining wandering about the site to follow the action.

Post battle, it was time to get back on the road and head north.  When lunchtime rolled around, we found an absurdly photogenic hut that sold lobster rolls.

It had delicious root beer

and provided many places to lounge.

Later in the afternoon, for variety from ice cream, we got iced coffee and pastries.  Nim had way too much fun with the snack detritus. (Note that the middle cup is only balanced on one of the other cups -- not both of them.)

 We found dinner in an old mill building next to the river in Kennebunk, a short walk from the hotel for the night.

The usual view of the teen at dinner when a phone signal was available.

Just one day of riding left, and we can declare victory!