More Than One Morning in Maine
{Once upon a time, I wrote on Tuesdays. That being when school was in session. It’s full blown summer here.}
If you fingered through my children’s books, you’d find a theme pretty easily. I have all kinds but a good many are coastal stories. New England coastal— which is entirely different than our beloved Redneck Riviera. Robert McCloskey, who summered with his family on an island in Penobscot Bay, wrote Time of Wonder and his illustrations earned him his second Caldecot award. The way of life represented in that book {and One Morning in Maine} intrigues me so I jumped at the chance of seeing it with my mom, my niece and daughter. The only disappointment for me was not doing some preliminary research on the history of the area, but considering I left my boarding passes to the boat in Fort Worth, I’m just glad I got to the airport on time. With suitcases. And Julia.
So let me warn you now…. remember, I make this blog into a book every year. I don’t do photo books. This is it. Whatever is here is the momento for the year. Everything is going down right here. I went to Maine. With 3 of my favorite people. There will be lots of pictures. Like more than the beach pictures. I think.
Professional selfie taker got us all in this one at the Portland Airport.
We did the trip on this boat. It was small--- held about 90 people.
This in each of our cabins was our first indication of, well, that this might not be your typical Carnival cruise crowd. Even I felt like a spring chicken on this boat. Julia and Hunter were like the mascots of the ship. And they actually liked the spotlight. Don’t let them tell you any different.
Bar Harbor is a short ride to Acadia National Park. It was breathtaking.
On top of Cadillac Mountain
Because this is what ADPi’s do just about anywhere {I hope I am not breaking some rule, Hunter, by posting this! I’m not a sister but I am your aunt! Does that count for anything? }
There was so much beauty to take in.
And so many different coffee houses to try. Next stop was Belfast. Their sleeves were cutest.
These two-- makes me so happy. Hunter has always been a great cousin-- despite the age gap.
Some sweet lady opened up her dream store-- books plus antiques.
Writing post cards on our deck.... and I forgot to mention, the “young” girls-- I get to be counted as “young” on this boat-- were all down our first afternoon/night. I thought my stubbornness could hold it off but evidently I am not as stubborn as I thought I was. We sailed in open sea just that once and there were ten foot swells aggravating our small flat bottom boat. It felt like the Tempest. On one side of the room I could see the swells of the water through the window and the other side, I could see my clothes swaying in the closet. Hunter took care of Julia for me before she succumbed. We slept in bliss under the influence of “the patch” and awakened happy, normal, hungry people.
Captain’s dinner. Their youth gave us advantage. The captain had 3 daughters so he said our table looked most familiar so he sat with us.
He confirmed the Tempest from Sunday night. He said he was even nauseous in his bed. Not really. But the 10 foot swells were intense.
Our next stop was Camden. The two buildings in the middle -- the church, of course and the library. What more does a town need? {I’ll show you in a minute.}
The view of the harbor from the road in front of the library---I haven’t mentioned the historian that traveled with us. I’m a dork. It was one of the highlights of my trip to have access to someone that grew up in the area and knew EVERYTHING about it. He, Sam Ladley, did a short walking tour of every port we visited {and lectures at night unless we were playing Bingo or some local entertainment. Seriously.}.
Like these kinds of lectures--- the names and WHY they are so different. Who knew? And merely a week later, I was able to answer a question on Cash Cab because of it!
She is not a tourist, but you knew that, didn’t you? I saw her making copies in the back. Her yellow macintosh and head scarf caught my eye. Just another morning of running errands in Camden.
Here’s why I would run errands in Camden---
My favorite store in 5 ports
This is definitely the good stuff.
And this--- We dominated Bingo. Won all the prizes except 2. Hunter was hottest with 2 wins-- and I think her third win she threw her card at Nanna. This night, we weren’t so popular.
The prizes were super cool...... like, our every dream come true.
I warned you. My favorite day is next. Rockland, Maine
Sunday night lying in my bed enduring the Perfect Storm, there was no way I was getting on a small lobster boat with Captain Jack on Thursday. I changed my mind by Monday. So glad I did.
More than just lobsters came up in those traps- sea urchins, spider crabs, baby eels. Captain Jack and his stern man were entertaining and informative. They kept it PG. Lobster people have a lot of drama in their lives. Sam, the historian, “lobstered” for 7 years so he had a few stories of his own to tell. I said they needed their own reality show and someone said they did? Where have I been?
So this was cool-- look again. See all that black nearer the tail? Eggs. Thousands of them. Look closer at the end of the tail. See one of the “fins” notched? That means she’s free for life. The notch means throw her back.
Captain Jack dropped us off here for a lobster bake on shore with our boat peeps. They hadn’t made it yet so we had some time to make friends with the cooks.
And we got to throw our lobsters to their deaths.
And I think because of it, we all enjoyed our lobster a little less....
After the lobsters went the corn..
And then the seaweed so I all could steam.
The corn was my favorite.
When we weren’t playing Bingo or listening to Sam in the Chesapeake Lounge, Mom and I were getting beat in Hand and Foot by these yahoos. It made no sense. At. All. Every night. It’s a stupid game.
Our last stop was Boothbay. It was a gorgeous day for a lovely town.
Blake-- HOW did you turn this beauty out? Oh, Adele, that’s right.
What a treasure to hang out with this special girl for a week. The crew kept worrying about the “young people” asking if we- yes “we”- were having fun. We really just wanted to be together-- it was the purpose of the trip. I truly thought by our layover in Portland on Saturday, the “all together for seven days”
As we left Boothbay Harbor headed back to Portland, we had a wonderful view of this lighthouse. It’s the Cuckolds Light was erected in 1892 off the tip of Southport Island.
I am so grateful to my Mom for making this happen. We saw beautiful things, had new adventures, ate unusual food, met new people every day-- and the fact that we did it ALL together made it that much more impactful.
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