October 12, 2018 - Fly to Maine
Lynnette and the girls were living in up in New York City this weekend so I decided to take Friday off and fly up to Maine to check out the foliage.  I would fly around Maine on Saturday, then come back on Sunday.  The weather forecast looked promising.  As you can see, the foliage should be at or near peak.
   
I wanted to spend time flying around Maine, not Maryland, so I climbed high right away.  That's the Susquehanna River up ahead.
   
That's New York City off to the east.  Lynnette is down there on the Statue of Liberty.
   
It started clouding up below me.  I stayed high as long as I could but finally decided I better get under the almost complete layer.  So I descended through a big hole somewhere in Massachusetts.
   
It sure does look a lot different underneath that it does on top.
   
I'm guessint that is the Sudbury River in Massachusetts.
   
The sun came out briefly, making for a pretty picture.  Starting to see a little color.
   
I turned east towards the coast, hitting it around Hampton, New Hampshire.
   
Looking south at Plum Island and the Rockport/Glouchester peninsula.  Note to self:  I'll have to fly down there one of these days.
   
Hampton river, Hampton State Beach Park (north of the inlet), Hampton Harbor, Seabrook Beach south of the inlet
   
Passing by NextEra Energy Seabrook Station:  a nuclear power plant.
   
A good look at Hampton Beach.
   
Now I'm flying north up the coast and seeing some beautiful ocean-front houses.
   
Flying just outside the Class D airspace of Portsmouth International at Pease (KPSM).  A public airport now, Pease used to be an Air Force Base.  It closed in 1988.  When I was in a P-3 squadron homebased in Brunswick, Maine in the mid-80s, I remember once we had to divert to Pease AFB because of bad weather at Brunswick.
   
Passing by Portsmouth, the mouth of the Piscataqua River, and crossing into Maine.  Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is in the center of the picture.
   
A closer look.
   
Even though the picture is blurry, I thought this was quite the house, all by itself, overlooking the blue ocean.
   

It was bumpy down at 1,000 feet so I put the camera on action mode, snapping off three shots in rapid succession at a time.  This worked, as I would get at least one sharp picture, like this one.

That's Nubble Point and Nubble Lighthouse below.
   
Wow!  That's the massive Cliff House luxury hotel down below, on Bald Head Cliff, near Ogunquit, Maine.
   
The Cliff House luxury hotel is worth another look.
   
Ogunquit beach.
   
Passing by Ogunquit beach.
   
Foliage and the coast, a nice combination.
   
Kennebunkport in the distance.
   
This is as close as I could come to Kennebunkport because there is prohibited airspace around the President Bush compound on Walker's Point.
   
The scenery from the air is getting good.
   
Interesting little community on an island out in the ocean.  It's called Hoyt Neck.  I don't know if I'd want to live there during a storm.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
More nice ocean-view houses on the coast.
   
I guess we'll have to call this one a mansion.
   
Approaching the city of Portland, Maine.
   
I couldn't get as close as I'd like to Portland because its airport has Class C airspace.  So I flew over Casco Bay.
   
A close-up of Portland.  You can see the airport at left center.
   
Typical coastal Maine scenery.
   

This island was unique because it seemed like most of its buildings were painted red.
   
A Lobster-boat, plying its trade.
   
Unusual shaped lighthouse.
   
Approaching the southern tip of Bailey Island.
   
 

Land's End at Bailey's Island.  Lynnette and I drove here the last time we visited Brunswick.
   
Passing by Mackerol Cove.
   
Lots of islands in this part of Maine.
   
We used to buy lobsters at Quahoggs; it might be down there.
   
After flying around Brunwick, Topsham and Bath -- see the next section for that -- I headed over to Wiscasset Airport where I would keep the plane.  I flew the Citabria here many years ago and liked the airport.
   
 
   
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