Maine - Week Two

Friday, July 28, 2017 - It is hard to believe that this is our last day. We left home one month and one day ago. Time has flown.

I love the houses in Belfast. Many have signs showing the date the house was built and the name of the family that built it. Many houses are huge - where an addition was made to connect the main house to the barn. Raspberries were growing near our "home". They were delicious.

We ate lunch here on our last full day. It is a "farm to table" restaurant and vegetarian. It was packed. And it was delicious. You can also just come in and buy the available produce.

For our last day, we returned to Mosman Park. The last time we were here the tide went way out. Today it was the opposite. I thought it was high tide when we arrived, but the tide came in even more while we relaxed.

Our last night consisted of organic nachos from the Belfast Co-op, the Art Walk downtown with musicians on multiple street corners, watching the boats on the harbor, and eating one more ice cream cone.

These water views just never get old. We are going to miss this.

Thursday, July 27, 2017 - Temperature in the 60s, cloudy, rainy. Still loving it!

We started with a treat from the bakery. I had a chocolate croissant (croissants are their specialty) and Alan had a muffin. We then drove over to Winterport to see a winery. We weren't terribly impressed with the area. The winery hadn't opened when we arrived and we didn't wait for it. We decided to drive over to Castine instead. It is a quaint little town with a lighthouse. It is also home to the Maine Maritime Academy.

The lighthouse is also a private residence, but you can walk around the property. In the back, wild blueberries were growing.

Top right - the Maine Maritime Academy boat. Bottom right - Wadsworth Cove. 

After we came "home", we went for a walk. I love looking at the old houses (top right). They are huge. Many are long because the main house was joined to the barn/garage by an addition so that residents didn't have to go outside in the winter as often. Afterwards we went to a free concert on the waterfront. Finally, Alan had wine and music on the deck with supper.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - Our 31st Anniversary!

I made a video for Alan before we left to come on this adventure. It shows one picture of us together for every year since we met. Back in the olden days of cameras with film, we didn't take as many pictures. And once the children came along, pictures of just the two of us were few to nonexistent. Nonetheless, if you wish to view it, click here.

To start our anniversary off right, we went back to the MRC (Midcoast Recreation Center). Alan played pickleball while I used the fitness room and then found a cozy spot to read.

Next was lunch. Then relaxation time. It is another beautiful sunny day and we explored several new spots. The first place we went to was Walker Park in Rockport. It had a playground with lots of kids and moms. It was a small park so we decided to go back to the harbor in Camden (pictured above). There were ducks, boats, construction, and people to watch. In the construction photo, there is a man working on the very top. I said a prayer for him! Parking was limited to 2 hours so we moved on . . . 

Then we checked out a "green" spot on Google maps that had no name. There is a bridge above our heads in the selfie. A road is beside the bridge that brings you to this point. Folks were swimming in this cold water to the large rock shown in the bottom photo. There were also children learning to kayak and others just enjoying the sun. Again, it was a small space with a lot of people so we moved on.

One of Alan's new pickleball friends recommended we stop here. We have seen a big moose statue on the road, but didn't realize that it went to this gorgeous resort area. At the summit, the facility, the flowers, and the views were breathtaking.

We came back to Belfast Harbor to eat an ice cream cone by the water. We sat on the rocks and watched the boats come and go. It was very peaceful here.

At the end of the day, Alan likes to take one more walk. This is the one he took tonight while I vegged on the couch.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017 - Because it was so cool last night, we slept with the windows open. The night breezes were great, but the sun rose at 5:16 AM and woke up the birds. The squawking birds coupled with the sunlight pouring in the windows made for an early morning rise. We got ready and started our adventure for the day. We took the ferry from Lincolnville to Islesboro.

The first place we found was a rocky beach. One other couple was there when we arrived, but they left and we had the place to ourselves. Beautiful scenery.

I have to take pictures of signs or I can't remember where we have been! Town beach is the secluded beach in the first set of pictures. It is on the south end of Islesboro. We ate lunch at Dark Harbor. The swing was located along the north side of Islesboro. There was a place for cars to pull off, picnic, and admire the view of boats along the coast. And, yes, I have a jacket on in this picture. It was shady and cool by the water. Not bad for July!

The Islesboro Lighthouse is right by the terminal. If you don't have a car for the island, this is all you would probably get to see. We climbed to the top (top photo). The bottom photo is me rejoicing that I didn't fall down the ladder/stairs.

The last ferry leaves at 4:30 PM and there is no guarantee that you will get on it. They recommended that you try for the 3:30 PM ferry just in case. We had an early start so that wasn't a problem for us. We were in line by 1:00 for the 1:30 PM ferry. We were next to the last to get on!

Top left - ferry arrival. The other 3 are as we leave the island. Alan was the roving photographer while I waited in the car.

Next stop - Cellardoor Winery. We visited here 2 years ago, but it was a dreary day and we didn't get the full effect of the beautiful outdoor area. We participated in the free tasting that they offer. Alan selected a bottle for purchase. And then we went outside to place an order for lobster and wait 20 minutes for them to be ready.

These are soft shell lobster. They were a little more expensive than the hard shelled ones that we got last week. They were also larger. They were much easier to crack open. We both liked these better.

Monday, July 24, 2017 - The high today is going to be 6 degrees cooler than the low in Marietta. When we ate breakfast on the porch this morning, I had to go back inside to get a sweater. Our day is cloudy, but it was nice enough for Alan to play pickleball. I walked down to the park to watch.

Comparing the weather

The Belfast Park is very nice. It is on the coast and it is also an arboretum. The trees are labeled. For example, the tree in the bottom left photo is a Norway Spruce.

Alan definitely got his pickleball fix today! The group from this morning told him about evening play for the more advanced players (like Alan) in Rockport at the Midcoast Recreation Center. Play was from 6:30 - 8:30 PM. There was no fee, but donations were accepted. Alan played in the hockey arena (no ice). It also had indoor tennis and a fitness room. I spent a few minutes on the treadmill before lounging and reading my book.

Sunday, July 23, 2017 - Another gorgeous day in Maine! All the folks in GA are burning up and our high was maybe 75 today. We started our Sunday morning with worship at the First Church of Belfast. It wasn't our usual Baptist church, but the message was biblical and the people were friendly. We then set out for an adventure. First stop: Moonbat City Baking Company. It was recommended by our Airbnb host (Todd). The store is only open Thursday - Sunday. We arrived around noon and they close at 1 PM so our pickings were slim, but we managed to make a selection.

Next stop: Fort Point State Park - The lighthouse (top right) is occupied by the park ranger's family. On the bottom left is the bell tower. The bell from 1890 is in the bottom right side of the photo. 

Another part of Fort Point park was the pier. Several fisherman were at the end of it.

We then moved up the coast to Sandy Point Beach Park. This was a popular area (which translates to too many people for us). We took pictures of the birds on the posts (upper right) and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge (bottom). We didn't stay long.

We found our spot back at Mosman Park in Searsport. We were here a few days ago looking at houses. On the bottom left, I took a picture of birds on a rock formation. The tide went out while we sat on shore. After the tide went out, we could walk out to that rock formation. The picture on the bottom right is Alan on the far side of the rocks.

It was so peaceful. 

A view of the Belfast harbor from the vehicle bridge crossing the Passagassawakeag River. The bridge for pedestrians at low tide is on the bottom. 

Saturday, July 22, 2017 - Today we had to take Bill and Diane to Portland so that they could go back to the sweltering heat of Marietta. We will miss them.

On our return trip, we stopped in Bath. The farmers' market on the harbor was just closing as we arrived. We walked around. It was cute, but we like Belfast better. 

Then we made our way over to Boothbay Harbor. Top right - our view at lunch at the Blue Moon Cafe. It appears to be very popular. The harbor area was bustling.

We returned to Belfast. We took an evening stroll to the park by the harbor. We watched the sunset behind the trees. Very peaceful.