October 9-10, 2026 - Maine Foliage Flight
Down Coast to Wiscasset
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| Now I'm heading southwest down the Maine Atlantic coast. Very jagged. Cold blue water. Lots of boats. Lots of lobsters under the water! |
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Lots of little islands.
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| Color on the coast/ |
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| Approaching Frenchman Bay with Acadia National Park on the other side and Bar Harbor ata its right. |
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| Looking down at the famous Bar Harbor. Never been there. |
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| Cadillac Mountain and Acadia National Park. |
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I see some color on the mountain but also a lot of rock.
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| That's Mount Desert to the left. Interesting name for a mountain. Cadillac Mountain to the right. |
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| Southwest Harbor. |
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| A big Celebrity Cruise ship pulling out of Rockland. |
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Just south of Rockland is Knox County Regional Airporte. I thought about stopping to check on the on-field Owls Head Transportation Museum, which gets very good ratings, but just didn't feel like it so I continued on.
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| A typical coastal Maine scene: lots of boats anchored in a sheltered inlet. |
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Island living.
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| More boats. |
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| Some serious waterview. |
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Boothbay Harbor. I have been to this one.
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Just northwest of Boothbay Harbor is Bath. Just another little town on the side of the Kennebec River, it would be of no consequence to me except for the fact that Bath Iron Works is located here. Bath Iron Works is one of only two shipyards that build the Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer for the U.S. Navy. Between the two yards, 76 Burkes been built with another 24 planned. Unfortunately, the Burke has been the only successful cruiser/destroyer/frigate the United States has built the last 30 or so years; that's why there are so many of them. Various efforts to build a cruiser, a Burke-replacement destroyer, and frigates have all failed with billions wasted. And of course there was the LCS.
Why does this matter? Well, the Chinese are building ten or so cruisers and destroyers every year. The U.S. builds two Burkes. Do the math. The Burke may be a better warship but quantity does have a quality of its own.
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| I count five Arleigh Burkes in this picture. |
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Just northeast of Bath is Wicassset Airport which I usually stop at to top off on my Maine foliage flights. The gas is usually on the lower end of the price spectrum and it is a friendly airport. You can rent a car here making it a good place to overnight.
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