July 14th Day trip to Kennebunkport, Saco and Cape Porpoise today

I went on a short trip today with Bette and among other things, got to get a stamp for Goat Island Lighthouse at Cape Porpoise Maine-at the Kennebunkport Conservation Society- 

Went downtown Kennebunkport, and shopped around a bit, found 3 pins and a Kennebunkport toy boat!

One of the local attractions in town is the bridge, above-  

Maine does not have many movable bridges to begin with. However, of those it does have, through plate girder swing bridges like this are the most "common" which means there are several examples scattered around the state. Furthermore this small number is dwindling as some have been or are slated for demolition. This example remains as of 2012. It carries a large quantity of vehicular traffic in the heart of tourist destination Kennebunkport. This bridge retains good historic integrity including original railings, intact builder plaque, and unaltered girders. It sits on stone abutments. The bridge is a bobtail swing bridge, which is a more complex type of swing bridge where one end around the swing pier is shorter and must be counterbalanced in some manner to function properly. The bridge tender house for this bridge is in good condition; it may be restored or may replicate the original design.
This historic bridge carries ME-9 (Western Avenue) Over Kennebunk River In Kennebunkport, York County, Maine. Kennebunkport Bridge is a Metal Through Girder, Movable: Swing. It was built in 1933. It was built by American Bridge Company of New York, New York. The total length of the bridge is 110 feet, or 33.5 meters. The length of the longest span on the bridge is 52.2 feet, or 15.9 meters.

In the center of town is the Soldiers and Sailors monument:

Up the road in Saco, we went to lunch at the Golden Rooster on Main Street

Also is the York Mills, which today has been converted to Apartments

The huge red brick mill buildings of Saco Island are a reminder of an industrial past which is interwoven with the history of Saco and Biddeford. The region's first industrial complex, a water powered sawmill and iron forge, was built by John Davis in 1653. By 1683 Benjamin Blackman had established a sawmill where Main Street now crosses over to Saco Island. The milling of lumber was a major industry in the region for nearly three centuries. Seventeen sawmills were in operation by 1800, sawing more than 50,000 board feet of lumber per day.
Saco industry diversified in 1811, when Thomas Cutts and Josiah Calef established the Saco Iron Works, later Saco Manufacturing Co. which made cask hoops, cut nails and brads and other iron products. In 1826 the company erected a huge seven story cotton mill, the largest in the United States. After a disastrous fire in 1830, the business was reorganized as the York Manufacturing Company, and Mill #1 was opened in 1832. The York erected four more mills in the next twenty years and ran eight mills by the turn of the century. The establishment of the Laconia Mills (1844) and Pepperell Mills (1850) in Biddeford made the combined mill district one of the largest cotton milling complexes in the country, employing as many as 9000 people. The success of the cotton mills brought allied industries to Saco: the Saco-Lowell Shops manufactured spinning and weaving machinery, and Garland Manufacturing made loom harnesses and other leather products. After becoming part of Bates Manufacturing in 1945, the York Mills were closed in 1958.
The old mill buildings are now being renovated into offices, residences, and an educational facility. The remaining structures include Mill #1 (1832), Mill #2 (1836), Mill #3 (1838), and Mill #4 (1841). The old mills have been enlarged and extended many times over the years. At the turn of the century the old gable roofs with clerestory windows were replaced with flat roofs, some with decorative brackets at the eaves. Two large twentieth century brick mills and several smaller mill buildings have been razed in the last 10 years. Also noteworthy is the Central Maine Power station across the street, begun in 1937.

On the way home, we passed by the offices of Deering Lumber Company, which was once a home where the Marquis de Lafayette stayed.  Who knew?

In this 1950s view, the pictured building was built and owned by Revolutionary War captain Seth Spring. This is the home where Marquis de Lafayette stayed while visiting Maine on his triumphant tour in 1824. Today it serves as the main office of the Deering Lumber Company 

Saw a few new plates today:

Maine Vet Navy Cross sticker 

Tonight, we are having a "last supper" with Trish and Shawn, then watching the All Star game- then tomorrow a couple of hours or so down to Gateway to Cape Cod in Rochester Mass.