We recently took a trip to Maine. This is what we did on our fourth day of vacation.
X is always a hard letter for the A-Z Blogging challenge because it would much rather be in the middle of a word than at the beginning. I chose xebec, a type of sailing ship, for the letter X. Although xebecs were primarily used by pirates in the Mediterranean, today, we learned about similar ships used in the Maine area.
But first, we visited Renys, a Maine department store with a wide variety of merchandise at good prices. We went looking for souvenirs and whatever else caught our eye (a hooded sweatshirt and kitchen shears). And despite the fact that it was another cold and rainy day, we decided it was time to see some sights. A little Googling during lunch led us to a suspension bridge and river walk in Topsham and later to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Below are pictures from our day.
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| Everyone got to try out their new raincoats on the Androscoggin Swinging Bridge between Topsham and Brunswick, ME. This pedestrian bridge was initially built in 1891. |
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| We walked along a path by the river until the drizzle turned into rain, at which point we decided to head back to the car. |
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Next up was the Maine Maritime Museum, located next to Bath Iron Works. BIW is a US shipyard that has been building ships since the late 1800s. The museum had an entire building dedicated to an exhibit on BIW.
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| This is the current ship they are building. In the summer, you can take river cruises to see the ship-building up close. |
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| Another building was dedicated to the clipper ship the Snow Squall. (It was sort of like a Xebec.) This is what it looked like when it was new in 1851. |
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This is what remains of the Sea Squall today. The green you see is the copper-coated hull, which, among other things, helped keep off critters.
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There were other outdoor exhibits, but we decided to get out of the rain and moved to the main building.
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| Wally went instantly to the rope exhibit. He has always liked tying knots. |
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| The first thing that caught my eye was an exhibit about Maine children's author, Chris Van Dusen. |
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| Ward and Theo discussed the physics of a lighthouse light. |
After the museum, we were happy to return home, put on warm and dry clothes, and have an excellent dinner of fresh haddock cooked by my BIL.Until next time...
Perfect solution to the letter X.
ReplyDeleteIt was stretching it for the letter X, but there are no rules for this challenge. :)
DeleteYou must be done now, since April is over. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteApril is over, but I didn't do any letter while I was on vacation, so I'm finishing up now. Just 2 more to do. Yay!
DeleteI think you're allowed to cheat with x as it's quite a difficult letter. But xebec is a good word.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely.
I usually end up with an X in the middle of the word. I was lucky to find one at the beginning this time.
DeleteI've never heard of the word xebec before. You have enlightened me.
ReplyDeleteWere you nervous on the swinging bridge? It looks like it's very safe, but it can be unnerving to feel the movement when you walk. It definitely looks unpleasantly damp in your pictures.
I couldn't figure out why Chris Van Dusen's name sounded familiar, so I Googled it. He did the illustrations for the Mercy Watson series. If you haven't read them, they are hilarious (even for adults).
Your son was putting his Boy Scout knot typing skills to the test. My son said that he was bored during his graduation ceremony yesterday, and practiced his knot tying on his honor cords. :)
I don't like bridges in general, so I was a little nervous on the swinging bridge. But there was much less movement than there was on the swinging bridges I grew up with that really swung and would sometimes have boards missing. I hated those.
DeleteYour son's knot tying at graduation sounds just like what Wally would do. :)
The Van Dusen exhibit was just about his Maine work, so I didn't make the Mercy Watson connection. As many times as I've handled those books, I've never read one. They're on my list now.
What a wonderful word for beginning with X! It's a new word for me.
ReplyDeleteIt was a new word for me, too.
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