Confessions of an RVer: KENNEBUNKPORT

We went to Kennebunkport yesterday. We had already planned to take a trolley tour of the area. We went on Intown Trolleys and Ed was our driver/tour guide. Ed has lived there for years, is very familiar with the area and history, and was funny. Ed did a great job.

Kennebunkport was first incorporated in 1663 as Cape Porpus, subject to the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Due to Indian depredations, the town was depopulated by 1689, and not resettled by Europeans again until the early 18th century. The town was renamed Arundel, and the town center located inland at Burbank Hill. In 1821 the town was renamed again, this time to Kennebunkport because its economy was becoming one of shipbuilding and trade along the Kennebunk River.

By the 1870s the town had developed as a popular summer destination, with both hotels and homes constructed along its coastline. Cape Arundel, Cape Porpoise, and Beachwood (now called Goose Rocks) were some of the early summer colonies; although Cape Porpoise was, and still is, a working fishing harbor. Since 1939, Kennebunkport has been home to the Seashore Trolley Museum.

Kennebunkport is also famous for being the summer retreat for the Bush family, especially George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. According to Ed, the town absolutely LOVES the Bush family. He only had great praise for them. The Bush compound, located at Kennebunkport, is known as Walker's Point. This is because the property belonged to George H. W. Bush's mother's family. Her maiden name was Walker.

The estate was purchased in the late 19th century jointly by Bush's great-grandfather David Davis Walker, and his son, St. Louis banker George Herbert "Bert" Walker. Both built mansions on the point in 1902. D. D. Walker's mansion has since been torn down. In 1921, Dorothy Walker and Prescott Bush were married, and Bert Walker built a "bungalow" on the Point and gave it to them as a wedding present. When Bert died in 1953, his son, George Herbert Walker Jr. ("Herbie"), purchased the property from his father's estate. It was not willed to him. Upon the death of Herbie in 1977, the property again went up for sale and was purchased by Herbie's nephew, George H. W. Bush. The estate has since remained in the Bush family.

There is a hotel in town that is right on the water and was one of the sites on our tour. It is famous for having weddings. George Herbert Walker Bush (41) had a boat that he loved to run along the coast. If he saw a wedding at the hotel, he would stop his boat, go on shore, kiss the bride and shake hands with the groom. Our driver said that he always thought that would be bad luck for the couple because the bride would always remember that day as the day the President kissed her and not the day she married the groom!

St. Ann's Episcopal church was on the tour. That is the church that the Bush family attended while in Kennebunkport. It is a beautiful little church. It is also the site at which "41" landed on a parachute jump on his 85th birthday. Barbara said that she encouraged him to land there so if the jump didn't go well, he would already be at the church. She had a great sense of humor.

The Bush family was very accessible to everyone in the town. If you saw them walking in town or dining at one of the restaurants, you could walk right up to them and speak. There were always secret service around, but they wanted to be as accessible as possible. George W. and Laura have now remodeled the main house and moved in. They are continuing the tradition. We found out that they had just left Kennebunkport about 2 weeks prior to our visit.

Again, this area has some beautiful homes and beautiful shoreline.We have also had wonderful weather for sightseeing. Kennebunkport was really crowded and NOTHING was a bargain. The parking was expensive and any souvenirs were expensive. After our trolley tour we drove down to Cape Porpoise because it was suppose to be really picturesque, however, we didn't see that. Not sure if we drove the wrong road or if my idea of picturesque is different than Ed's.