Marginal Way, Maine

A previous post highlighted a few places visited during a May trip to Ogunquit, Maine. This post focuses on one highlight of that trip.

The Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine is one of New England's only paved, public shoreline footpaths. The entry is located off Shore Road, Ogunquit's main street and is surrounded by hotel gardens on both sides until the walkway reaches the coastline. Josiah Chase Jr. donated the land to the town in 1925. The walkway was fully restored in the 1990s. 

A non-profit organization established in 2010 raises funds to maintain and protect the route. Parts of the walkway were badly damaged from nor-easters this past March.

The 1.25-mile walkway offers wonderful coastline views. You can see Grenville taking a photo below. The cliffs can be rocky and dangerous in places. Some are fenced to discourage cliff walkers and people can be seen walking the rocky cliffs in other areas. Wheelchairs and baby carriages can navigate the path; but there are some narrow areas.
The walkway starts in downtown Ogunquit. It ends in the picturesque village of Perkins Cove, a working dock for fishing boats. It also includes shops and restaurants, all packed into a rather small area. A drawbridge opens for larger sailboats. 
Folks who don't walk the Marginal Way to Perkins Cove can drive there, but parking fees are costly. The sweeping panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and walkways lead to rocky beach areas which didn't deter beachgoers and surfers. This is typical for a New England beach area.

The walk has easy bends and inclines. You can rest and admire the views from one of 39 benches along the walkway. 

The benches are dedicated to others who enjoyed and cherished the area. No additional benches are planned as the bench dedication program ended in the 1980s.  

The scenic footpath is called “the margin” because of its patterned development along the edge of Maine’s cliffs. The path winds along the rocky coastline as you can see here. 

We really enjoyed this area and will return after the summer tourist season, which is in full swing now. Ogunquit is a small walkable town and (for us) best when it's uncrowded.

Our selfie on the Marginal Way

Ogunquit, A Beautiful Place

In May, we went on a few short getaways, all were within New England to three neighboring states. I've written about the first two, Boston, MA and Woodstock, VT, in previous posts. The most recent trip was to Ogunquit, Maine, a coastal town that''s been called the prettiest in the state.

Legend has it that Ogunquit (pronounced /o-gun-quit/) received its name from the Native American Abenaki tribe and translates to "beautiful place by the sea." 

First settled in 1641, Ogunquit is a town on Maine’s southern coast. Ogunquit Beach, a 3-mile long, sandy peninsula with grassy dunes, lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ogunquit River. 

Our lodging offered a view of the Ogunquit River beach. We had a panoramic view of the Ogunquit River and watched the tide come in at evening and out in early morning.

Nearby, Marginal Way is a cliff walk that offers coastal views, benches and a lighthouse. This 1-1/4 mile paved walking path draws visitors from the U.S. and worldwide. It has eight pedestrian access points along the route from Shore Road in Ogunquit to Perkins Cove. aBenches are provided to folks to sit and enjoy the views. (More on this popular walkway in another post.)

The Ogunquit Playhouse summer theater is one of New England's historic summer-stock theaters. Built in 1937, it continues to be a showcase for top-rate musical productions. It has hosted the out-of-town premieres of many new productions. 

Many Broadway performers have been known to leave the heat of NYC to perform in the playhouse during summer months. The theatre lobby is lined with the legendary actors who have performed on its stage including Anthony Quinn, Helen Hayes and Bette Davis. 

We attended a performance of Smokey Joe's Cafe, a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, featuring rock and roll and rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Some of their well-known tunes include: Ruby Baby, Poison Ivy, Love Potion #9, Dance With Me, Charlie Brown, and Hound Dog, and Yakkety-Yak.

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art is known for its sculptures and works mostly by Maine or New England artists. This small museum has a permanent collection of more than 1,600 pieces, including paintings, photography, and sculpture. It's the only Maine museum dedicated solely to American art. 

The permanent collection includes paintings, sculptures, photography, and graphics. I didn't take photos inside the museum during. During my visit, the main exhibit, Studio Light, featured 37 paintings by artist Steve Hawley, who lives and works in MA.

It was a beautiful day and I spent time outdoors exploring the gardens and appreciating the ocean views visible from inside and outside the museum. Here's a samplings of a few of the outside sculptures. I don't know the names of these works or the artists.

Here's a few more in the collection, some are more whimsical, of course I had to include a frog sculpture. I failed to get the names of these works or the artists as well. Perhaps I should have kept the museum's printed guide.

These pieces in the outdoor collection were eclectic, amusing and very large. The artist really had a sense of humor and playfulness.

I enjoyed seeing these whimsical wooden compositions so much and and wanted to learn more about the artist. Bernard Langlais, a Maine native, was formerly a well-known modernist painter. He studied in Maine and New York and was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to study abroad. Langlais worked in NYC in the 1950s where he developed a style that featured bold colors in landscapes and still life. He also experimented with abstraction and expressionism.

In the mid-1950s, while renovating a summer cottage in Cushing, ME, Langlais started working with wood scraps, not surprising as his father had been a carpenter. He arranged them into mosaic abstract wood reliefs he labelled "painting with wood" and subsequently left oil painting to develop this new medium. His new works were featured in several NY galleries and shows including one at the Whitney Museum of Art.

In the mid-1960s, Langlais wanted to work on a larger scale and relocated permanently to the farmhouse in his native state. In the last 11 years of his life, he constructed more than 65 monumental wood sculptures on the 80-acre River Road property. The wooden carved and carpentered menagerie included lions, bears, rhinos, and elephants as well as a statue of former President Richard Nixon flashing a victory sign. The property was recognized from the large Trojan horse sculpture on its front lawn. Langlais was only 56 when he died in 1977 of congestive heart failure.

One of his best-known commissions, dubbed the World's Tallest Indian, is in Skowhegan, ME, where Langlais attended art school. The sculpture, erected in 1969, is dedicated to Maine's Abnaki Indians. After weathering years of the elements, the work was in need of repair. After a year long project, restoration was completed in 2014. There's more information and a partial photo on the a Visit Maine site. It's on our "to-see" list for a future road trip.

For more information on the art of Bernard Langlais than presented in this post, I watched several online videos, including this one narrated by the Colby College curator for his estate. In 2010, Colby College in Waterville, ME received a large collection of artworks by Bernard “Blackie” Langlais from the artist’s widow, Helen Langlais, and the 90-acre property in Cushing, where the couple lived from 1966 to 1977. 

The 11-minute video shows some of the massive works on the estate grounds. It also describes and shows conservation efforts to restore and preserve many of them in a joint effort by the Colby College Museum of Art, The Kohler Foundation, Inc. and the Georges River Land Trust.

Looking Down or Mainely Manholes

Three weeks on the road can really start getting to you. Lately I’ve been looking down. No, I'm not depressed or anything. How could you be depressed in this beautiful state. BUT i have been looking down as we’ve been walking. It is amazing what you find in streets and sidewalks. Here are some from Rockland and Portland.

So next time you’re wandering around a city check out what’s right beneath your feet. You might be surprised. And don’t forget to check out the walls.

Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad

We were in Portland Maine today, and headed downtown this morning to ride the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad http://mngrr.org/index.php. So what’s the difference between narrow gauge and standard gauge? Standard gauge rails are set        4 feet 8.5 inches apart (4’8.5”). Why this odd size is for another post, but it may have to something to do with wales. Narrow gauge rails are set just 2 feet apart.  These 2-foot gauge steam trains connected rural Maine with
 the rest of the world from 1879 until just before World War II. Shipping everything from  passengers, farming goods, and lumber, these diminutive steam-powered trains served to strengthen Maine’s infrastructure and communication as a great improvement from the days of the rather impractical and weather-reliant horse-drawn buggy. The reign of the 2-footers thundering through Maine’s countryside lasted until the dawning of the modern era of paved roads, trucks, and private automobiles. Some of the appeal for the 2 footers was they were less expensive to build, rolling stock was less costly, and the narrow gauge was able to handle the tight curves that are found in the Maine mountains.

The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad is in process of restoring much of it’s rolling stock from a number of Maine narrow gauge railroads.   

In 2004, the MNGRR's Steam Program fell under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration. This means all four of their steam locomotives now have to go through a thorough inspection. FRA mandated upgrades must then be completed before a locomotive is allowed to run. At the start of 2004, the MNG used it’s available funds to put Monson Railroad engine #4 through the FRA process. To this day, number 4 is their only available steam locomotive.

The museum has since set aside funds to put Bridgton and Harrison engine #7 through the same process. Since #7 is much bigger than #4, the cost for rehabilitating engine #7 exceeds what the railroad can currently afford. They estimate it will cost between $25,000 and $30,000 to put #7 back on track. A fire destroyed much of the engine shed where  #7 was being restored in March. Besides the damage to the shed, #7’s chassis and many tools and parts were damaged. This has put their endeavor further behind.
Steam Engine #4 was not operating today so we were pulled by a diesel with no number. The ride is 3 miles round trip along the beautiful Portland water front. The museum is hoping to extend the line an additional three miles. The problem is a swing bridge that needs repair to the tune of $100,000. Maybe if you cough up the hundred grand they would rename the bridge for you!!!! Here are some of the other rolling stock of the MNGRR.
 
So what is in the museum? Besides the usual displays and gift shops this museum allows you to roam around one of the restoration shops.


So if you are passing through Portland Maine, take time to ride the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad along the Portland Waterfront on beautiful Casco Bay.

FBI or MBNA

Towering about 25 feet tall, with a big feathered headdress and ritual facial scars is – the Freeport, Indian – who also goes by the local nickname of “FBI” or Freeport Big Indian.

When driving along Route 1 outside Freeport, Maine, there’s a landmark you can’t miss – if so, you could need a visual checkup. 

But, in the interests of political correctness, FBI is now MBNA or Maine's Big Native American and constructed of fiberglass, plywood and steel rods.

Originally, FBI/BMNA stood next to the Casco Bay Trading Post, a clothing and gift shop. The building was converted into an auto shop, a clothes store, the Conundrum Wine Bistro. and is now occupied by Winter People Image Marketing. Throughout the store changes, the statue prevailed.

After a recent face lift which included a new coat of paint, the statue is looking better than in recent years. It was created by Rodman Shutt of Strasburg, PA, creator of other fiberglass giants, including the Big Indian in Charlemont, MA, and Amos at the Hershey Farm Restaurant and Inn in Lancaster, PA

FBI/MBNA was transported from Rod's studio in Strasburg, PA via flatbed truck in 1969. According to one account, when it was being transported to Maine, it caused such a sensation on the NJ Turnpike that the state demanded the driver only drive at night.
Just wondered, did they really think that helped people NOT notice?