We had a drink and snack at Mercy Tavern in Salem, Massachusetts.
Menu:
Frozen cocktails:
Truffle fries:
Refreshing.
Month: July 2025
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
We visited the Salem Maritime National Historic Site in Salem, Massachusetts. It was the first National Historic Site in the US, established March 17, 1938.
The Salem Armory Visitor Center:
Custom House:
A couple of neighboring buildings in the park:
Waterfront:
Light:
Salem Witch Museum
We visited the Salem Witch Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, a somewhat cheesy but interesting presentation of the history of witch trials in Salem, in an old church.
The main presentation has a narration with lights highlighting scenes arranged around the room:
The second presentation is a bunch of exhibits on the history of witchcraft:
Examples of witch hunts though history, with fear, trigger, and scapegoat examples:
Gift store:
Witchside Tavern
We had lunch at Witchside Tavern in Salem, Massachusetts, with appropriately witch-y themed decor:
Menu:
Our lunch:
Pretty tasty.
Bull N’ Claw
We had dinner at Bull N’ Claw in Wells, Maine, as Jenn wanted to experience a classic Maine lobster dinner.
Menu:
Chowder:
Lobster dinner:
Fish and chips:
Jenn with her lobster dinner:
It was an experience… that she didn’t feel a need to repeat.
Fort Williams Park & Portland Head Light
We kinda visited Fort Williams Park & Portland Head Light in Portland, Maine.
I say kinda as we went into the park, but the parking wasn’t cooperating, so we just left again.
An interactive map of the park:
Entrance sign:
Portland Head Light, dimly visible in the marine layer haze:
That’s about it. Would have been nice to explore more, but sometimes it doesn’t work out.
Thousand Trails Moody Beach
We stayed at Thousand Trails Moody Beach in Wells, Maine. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A short stay at a Thousand Trails park.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-06-18
- Check out: 2025-06-22
- 4 nights
Weather:
- Mostly cloudy, some drizzle
- High temps 74-80°F, lows 61-65°F
- Some wind, gusts to 24 MPH
Noise:
- Some road noise
- No train horn noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #314, back-in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Unlevel site; high on passenger side and rear; used hydraulic leveling with blocks on front
- Gravel driveway about 64 feet long by 10 feet wide
- 22 feet to neighbors on both sides
- Just grass between sites
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- No trees
- Clean site
- Elevation 50 feet, front facing SE
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 60 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 200-330 Mbps down, 22-38 Mbps up, 28-35 ms ping
- RoamLink: 3-9 Mbps down, 9-15 Mbps up, 130 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
- AT&T: 4-11 Mbps down, 0 Mbps up, 80-1000 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used (paid)
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Good basecamp
This was a fine place for a short stay, and it was convenient to things in southern Maine. We even took a daytrip down to Salem. We had a back-in site at the front of the park, and it was fine–a little awkward when leaving because the sites are angled in such a way that you have to cut across the neighbor’s site a bit to get out. Utilities all worked well and the site was mostly level. We camped at Thousand Trails Moody Beach in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Other sites:
Tiny homes:
A nice Thousand Trails park. We’d be happy to stay here again.
Video: White River Junction, Vermont to Wells, Maine motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 138 miles from White River Junction, Vermont to Wells, Maine.
Travel from White River Junction, Vermont to Wells, Maine
We drove our coach 138 miles, about three hours of driving, from White River Junction, Vermont to Wells, Maine.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Heading down a narrow road in the campground; fortunately we didn’t meet anyone trying to come up the hill:
I-89 South:
Weigh Station Rest Area closed for the season… why would you need to close a rest area?
Exit to I-93 South:
Rest area:
New Hampshire Welcome Center plus Liquor & Wine Outlet… weird to sell alcohol at rest areas, but seems common in this area:
A very cute welcome center:
Lunch:
I-93 South:
Exit to I-95 toll road:
Toll plaza; we took the rightmost lane as it looked a bit wider:
Maine state line on Piscataqua River bridge:
“Maine; Welcome Home; The Way Life Should Be”:
Route 1 North:
Rainbow crosswalk in Ogunquit:
Arriving at Thousand Trails Moody Beach:
Mini golf out front:
Entrance gate; needed to buzz the office to be let in:
Our site:
Replacing cover on vent fan lid lift motor
Back in 2023 I replaced the rear bathroom vent lid motor after the cover broke.
A little while ago it broke again — the lift mechanism seems to put a lot of strain on the plastic cover. But this time, instead of replacing the whole motor, I just ordered a replacement cover from Amazon (I actually ordered two of them, in case it breaks again).
Here’s the broken cover:
After removing the cover from the motor:
The replacement cover:
The cover on the motor; I needed to unscrew the useless handle to get it on:
Finished:
Let’s see how long this one lasts!