Fun times in York, Maine!!! #NubbleLightHouse from our instagram feed!

– ryan & gub

today is national lighthouse day! as you probably are aware, we are big fans of
lighthouses. in fact, we try to explore ones we’ve never seen before whenever we head to the coast.

check out this article about the event! they make an interesting analogy that “lighthouses are to america what castles are to europe.” maybe that’s why we’ve always been fascinated with them.

– ryan & gub

although not as exciting as our other lighthouse posts, we did take some photos of marblehead light while staying with family in swampscott, mass. we passed by on a driving tour of marblehead, which is an adorable little coastal town, and salem, home of the witch hunt.

we’d love to spend more time in swampscott and marblehead on our next maine adventure! we are normally in a rush to get up to maine and don’t spend much time in these cute new england towns. marblehead has lots of shops and restaurants along picturesque narrow streets, all of which are surrounded by historic buildings. it’s really beautiful!

check out our previous posts on lighthouses and this great map of maine lighthouses.

marblehead lighthouse

marblehead, ma 01945

another great lighthouse you should visit if ever in maine is portland head light. we ended up going there right after freeport on our recent maine excursion. the lighthouse offers great views of portland , me and the rocky coast of cape elizabeth. on a clear day, you can also see ram island ledge lighthouse, spring point ledge lighthouse and cape elizabeth lighthouse.

the drive to portland head light is very scenic as well! there are gorgeous mansions along the coast and picturesque views of cape elizabeth. it’s well worth an afternoon treck!

portland head light is on the grounds of fort williams park. besides the lighthouse, the park has lots of green space for walks and picnics and old forts to explore. it’s a pretty huge place, 90 acres in all, and is totally free, so you can’t go wrong!

there is a marker for henry wadsworth longfellow next to the lighthouse. he was frequent visiter and used the views for poetic inspiration.

check out our previous posts on lighthouses and this great map of maine lighthouses.

portland head light

1000 shore road
cape elizabeth, me 04107
207-799-2661

as you may know, we are big fans of lighthouses, especially ones along the rocky coast of new england. one of our first stops in maine this year, as per usual sterritt family tradition, was nubble lighthouse.

it’s really quite a beautiful lighthouse, with plenty of rocks and benches to sit back and take in the scenery. you can’t actually go over to the island and climb it, however the surrounding rocky coast provides enough entertainment. the sky rail to the island looks pretty intense anyways!

if you are ever in maine, you should definitely visit nubble lighthouse, aka cape neddick!

check out our previous posts on lighthouses and this great map of maine lighthouses.

– ryan & gub

nubble lighthouse

sohier park road
york, me 03909

we went and toured the tybee island lighthouse during our recent day trip to the island. with the help of our baby bjorn, clementine was able to climb to the top! i think we were more nervous up there than she was though.

we also had a great view of the old cockspur island lighthouse from the bridge entering tybee. supposedly there are better views from fort pulaski or via boat if interested.

be sure to check out our previous posts on maine lighthouses, southeast lighthouses and coastal lighthouses!

– ryan & gub

another sterritt family tradition when visiting maine is to check out as many lighthouses as possible. a favorite of ours is cape neddick, aka nubble lighthouse, which is close to york beach. the lighthouse is on an island, so you can’t get super close, but it is still gorgeous. the lighthouse keeper travels back and forth to the island on a sky rail type device, you can see it dangling over the ocean in the image above. the surrounding coast is filled with enormous rocks that are fun to explore. one year it was so foggy that we couldn’t even see the lighthouse.

this past summer we visited pemaquid point lighthouse for the first time. this beautiful lighthouse is featured on the maine quarter. we were able to climb to the top for some amazing views of the coast and also walk around the rocky cliffs. afterwards, we ate some awesome seafood at a nearby dockside restaurant that had lobsters fresh off the boats.

we have also been to portland head lighthouse, although we have yet to climb it. the lighthouse offers great views of portland, maine and the rocky coast. ram island ledge lighthouse is also visible from portland head.

another maine lighthouse we have explored is cape elizabeth. the rocky beaches near this lighthouse are amazing, we spent some time taking in the beautiful scenery. we also dipped our feet into the ocean, which was totally freezing!

we have also seen seguin island lighthouse, cuckolds lighthouse, and hendrick’s head lighthouse from reid state park, although they were too far to photograph.

check out this map of maine lighthouses.

– ryan

anytime we head towards the coast, we try to visit nearby lighthouses. they are always fun and fairly historical, plus they provide great views when you can climb to the top. last year we visited a few southeast lighthouses between a trip to hilton head island, sc and our anniversary trip to amelia island, fl.

the amelia island lighthouse was awesome! tours are offered on the first and third wednesday of each month and begin in a small museum with old photos and information on the lighthouse. the tour-guide, who happens to be the granddaughter of the last amelia island lighthouse keeper, gave an oral history filled with stories of growing up on the grounds. it was very interesting. we also walked around the lighthouse, although we couldn’t climb it.

next, we visited the st. johns river lighthouse on our way to st. augustine. the lighthouse was on a naval station, so we could only see it through a barbed wire fence. it was still worth visiting though, especially since we got to take our car on a fun ferry ride on the way.

we also went to the st. augustine lighthouse which was great! the black and white striped painting was one of the cooler designs we’ve seen on a lighthouse. we were able to climb to the top and get a great view of st. augustine and the atlantic ocean!

on a different trip to hilton head we stumbled upon the harbour town lighthouse. although more of a tourist attraction than navigational aid, the lighthouse does appear on navigational charts and has a light that can be seen for 15 miles. you can also climb to the top for a great view of the island.

– ryan & gub

we always visit york beach if we are up in maine. it’s this beautiful little beach town with picturesque houses along the coast. near the boardwalk you’ll find an old timey arcade called the fun o rama as well as indoor candlepin bowling and putt putt. it’s pretty awesome. there are also lots of shops and restaurants to check out as you walk along the cute streets in this new england beach town.

one of the years we visited york beach the fog was so thick you couldn’t even see the ocean. there is a photo of the fog below.

– ryan & gub

gub and i were able to get away for a few days and went to holden beach, nc. we took an afternoon and visited a few nearby lighthouses, which was a blast!. first we went to oak island lighthouse on caswell beach and then took a ferry to bald head island to explore old baldy lighthouse. the ferry departed from this cute little town called southport, nc, where a bunch of dawson’s creek episodes were filmed. the whole area had a new england feel, especially caswell beach and southport.

you could see what’s left of price’s creek lighthouse from the ferry ride, although that’s as close as we can could get. we weren’t able to see the inside of oak island lighthouse either, it required reservations, but we were able to climb to the top of old baldy lighthouse for a great view of bald head island!

we were very excited to learn bald head island and old baldy lighthouse were used for the beach scenes in weekend at bernies! we have since re-watched and confirmed that the beach scenes were in fact filmed there.

– ryan & gub