{"id":1642,"date":"2013-06-09T17:47:15","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T00:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=1642"},"modified":"2013-06-11T11:32:17","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T18:32:17","slug":"walkers-point-maine-george-amp-barbara-bushs-piece-of-paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/1642\/walkers-point-maine-george-amp-barbara-bushs-piece-of-paradise","title":{"rendered":"Walker’s Point, Maine: George & Barbara Bush’s Piece of Paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The Bush family seaside home on Walker’s Point is visible in quaint Kennebunkport, Maine.<\/p><\/div>\n

Various members of the extended Bush Presidential family have been visiting Michigan within the last month. Former First Ladies Barbara and Laura Bush were in Grand Rapids to speak at an event just before former President George W came to give a commencement speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sent my advance team in\u2026my mother and sister,\u201d joked the 43rd President.<\/p>\n

In late May, I spent half-an-hour with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother and son to Presidents, at Grand Hotel in Kennebunkport, Maine, where President George H.W. Bush summers at the family seaside home and quaint in the way Mackinac Island is. So for all the Bush visits to Michigan, Michiganders are welcome to visit the Bushes!<\/p>\n

Kennebunkport is 15 minutes south of Portland Airport and 80 miles north of Boston. The Bush home is plainly visible to passersby across a cove on Walker\u2019s Point – a small, rocky outcropping of land 41st President George H.W. Bush has dubbed his \u201cAnchor to Windward.\u201d Visitors can take photos at a giant anchor and plaque placed in his honor between the road and the bay which is also home to his beloved speedboat \u201cFidelity,\u201d at the helm of which #41 has often been spotted alongside, of course, a Secret Service boat.<\/p>\n

Tourists can also visit \u201cGanny\u2019s Garden,\u201d created to honor former First Lady Barbara Bush, who is called \u201cGanny\u201d by her grandchildren, for whom each individual tree was planted. The flowers and subtle statues are in front of the Captain Lord Mansion and Spa, an authentic, historic, romantic, bed and breakfast (think fresh Maine blueberry pancakes!). Innkeepers Rick and Bev Litchfield, Kennebunkport civic ambassadors who have met the Bushes – it\u2019s likely you\u2019ll spot them, too – host informal wine gatherings in the shade on the lawn. Visit www.CaptainLord.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is also plenty of Bush memorabilia in Ken Raynor\u2019s shop at Cape Arundel Golf Club, which is open to the public. Raynor is like family to George and Barbara.<\/p>\n

The Bushes have been known to dine at Mabel\u2019s Lobster Claw, an eastern seaboard-style seafood restaurant on Ocean Ave., the main road, between Dock Square at the corner of town (where you can also get Bush souvenirs) and Walker\u2019s Point. President Bush is said to order a dish called The Dutchess: fresh lobster meat, scallops, and shrimp baked with garlic, Chablis wine and seasoned crumbs, though Jeb Bush, who is also considering a Presidential run, told me, \u201cDad doesn\u2019t eat like that anymore.\u201d Don\u2019t forget the blueberry pie or cinnamon ice cream!<\/p>\n

And as President Bush\u2019s mother told him on childhood vacations to Kennebunkport, \u201cBreathe in that sea air!\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan-based travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at InviteYourself@aol.com<\/a> or via www.TravelTattler.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Bush family seaside home on Walker’s Point is visible in quaint Kennebunkport, Maine.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Various members of the extended Bush Presidential family have been visiting Michigan within the last month. Former First Ladies Barbara… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665,17],"tags":[845061,845072,813728,845062,813730,845063,827347,845064,827460,845065,827627,845066,845056,845067,9708,845068,845058,845069,498664,845059,845070,119284,673,845071,1976],"class_list":["post-1642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","category-courses-and-travel","tag-portland-airport","tag-ocean-ave","tag-kennebunkport","tag-fidelity","tag-barbara-bush","tag-gannys-garden","tag-rick-litchfield","tag-captain-lord-mansion-and-spa","tag-bev-litchfield","tag-ken-raynor","tag-dock-square","tag-cape-arundel-golf-club","tag-george-hw-bush","tag-mabels-lobster-claw","tag-bush","tag-chablis","tag-jeb-bush","tag-the-dutchess","tag-grand-hotel","tag-anchor-to-windward","tag-scallops","tag-lobster","tag-boston","tag-shrimp","tag-maine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2013\/06\/Walkers-Point.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1642"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1645,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642\/revisions\/1645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}