Maine, Day 8: Friday, Aug. 12, 2016

This was our last full day in Maine and so there was a fair amount of washing and packing to do. In the afternoon we went to see a quilt show being put on by a good friend of Marianne's. This was just one of several things we got to do because Marianne has lived in the area so long and knows a lot of the locals -- including local artists! Earlier we had been to the studios of Greg Mort and Barbara Ernst Pray, also acquaintances of Marianne's and wonderful artists! I would gladly have brought home just about anything done by Greg Mort, but had to satisfy myself with a poster and a book :-/

On Saturday, we loaded up the car, bid our sad goodbyes to Marianne and confirmed plans to have another reunion next year--in Tucson!
Drove back to Boston and hung around waiting to check in. We departed first, then Anne and finally, Wendy. Everyone made it safely home. Overall a very good trip.
There are LOTS more pictures posted in a Flickr album.

Maine, Day 7: Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016

At Wendy's urging, we changed our original plans and decided to go to Monhegan Island on the ferry or as it's called there, the mailboat. There was quite a bit of rushing around as we had only one option for departure time and it was well over an hour's drive. But we made it!

We encountered fog on the outbound trip (an hour's ride) and it came and went all morning.

Monhegan is a tiny village with fewer than 50 full-time residents, although the population swells in summer. There were some beautiful flower gardens as we walked around.

We got some food in the village and walked down to lobster cover where we had to shoo away the very bold seagulls while we ate our picnic lunch.

Then we wandered along the south end of the island, encountering an old ship wreck along the way, finding more collections of cairns, and viewing more dramatic coastline.

Back in town, we headed straight for Monhegan Brewing Company to quench our thirst!
As we wandered back through the village, we mosied in and out of gift shops and galleries and Wendy bought art, while I bought great long sleeved T-shirts.
The ferry captain pointed out the building complex that belongs to the Wyeths (of art fame) on a nearby island.

There were lobster traps with their multi-colored buoys almost every where you looked. We got to see a lighthouse both on Monhegan Island and the one at Marshal Point we had previously visited.

Wendy took this very sweet photo of Hal and me on the ferry ride back.

We got into Clyde Harbor about 4:30.

We all felt too tired to cook, so finally settled on a place to eat in Rockland, and headed home after a very full day.

Maine, Day 6: Weds, Aug. 10, 2016

Since Marianne's cottage is right on the Sheepscot River, we decided to take out the flotilla: one canoe, one tandem kayak, and one single kayak.

Unfortunately, it has been a dry summer and the river was very low, forcing us to lift our craft over a rather treacherous beaver dam about 100 yards upriver from launching. We saw and followed a beautiful heron for a bit although I was not able to catch it with my camera--probably Wendy did and maybe she will send me a picture to post...hint, hint.

We made it all the way to Long Pond Lake (I understand there are several bodies of water with the same name in Maine), got rained on a little bit, made it back (over the damn dam), and hung around working on puzzles, reading, and relaxing.

I think this was the day we drove to a veggie stand and got some lovely things to make a salad. We cooked meals at "home" when we were not out and about. The cottage was great for that with a fully equipped kitchen.

Maine, Days 4 & 5: Mon-Tues, Aug. 8-9, 2016

These were our two days to spend in Acadia National Park. Took off reasonably early, drove to Lincolnville with two cars to leave Kamden with Marianne's son, Josh, and his family.

We arrived in Bar Harbor (aka "Bah Hahbah") and it was a zoo! Nevertheless, we scored a parking place and had a good lunch at the Side Street Cafe. We drove into the park and, after a bit of backtracking, managed to arrive at Sandy Beach where we picked up the trailhead for a steep hike around the adjacent headland, Great Head Trail.

We went back and checked into our motel, The High Seas, washed the dust off and a couple intrepid women even checked out the pool. Had some nice wine and then headed back up the road to the Chart Room for yummy fish dinners.

Tuesday morning we had a really un-wonderful breakfast across the street at the Log Cabin restaurant, then headed back to the park. The ranger suggested several trails for us to check out on the other peninsula of the park. We drove up Cadillac Mountain for the views and then drove over to the "quiet" part of the park.

We drove through the "precious hamlet" (so described in Anne's guidebook) of Somesville, and it was indeed precious with a nice little museum we spent time at and a pretty public library.

We drove to Ship's Harbor and did another hike along the headlands. Saw some interesting collections of rock cairns on one of the beaches, including a little arch.

Saw some great tide pools which I took videos of and will post later.

Stopped in Bass Harbor to check out the lighthouse and took the steep stairs down to the rocky shore.

Then the long drive back. Stopped in Belfast to have dinner at one of Marianne's favorite places, Darby's, and went for a walk down to the harbor to watch a beautiful sunset.

We stopped in Lincolnville and picked up Kamden at Josh's; got home very tired.

Maine, Day Two: Sat., Aug. 6, 2016

We visited Marianne's old stomping grounds. She lived in Port Clyde for over 10 years.

We went to Luke's on Tenants Harbor and I shared my first lobster role with Hal. 

Then we strolled to the library in Tenants Harbor (now a home decor shop) where Marianne used to be the librarian for 11 years.

We drove by the house she built in Port Clyde and spent some time at the Marshall Point Lighthouse and Museum.

Maine, Day One: Fri., Aug 5, 2016

We lolly-gagged around this delightful rental cottage that Marianne and her sons built on the Sheepscot River. Then we went to see the house she refurbished and currently has for sale.

Headed to Rockland for the 1st Friday art walk. There was some interesting art along the street.

The Farnsworth Museum was open and free during the art walk, so we checked out the rooftop garden.

And we got to see their collection of Wyeth paintings...fortunately none were for sale :-)

We had dinner at a cafe recommended by Marianne--Cafe Miranda--and it was delicious!