Where's Waldo?

Sorry I haven't blogged this trip in a while, but I've been on vacation.  Haha!

I am getting this caught up in the car as we travel south to New Jersey to visit Keith's cousin, Lori. We saw the flash floods on the news this morning, but will be avoiding those area. However, we will be driving through rain. Ugh. 

Back where we continue with the blog, we began our day with another Belfast waterfront walk.  Saleen always gets to greet quite a few dogs on these walks, and so far, likes every dog she meets!

Today we were checking on the progress of a HUGE yacht that is being worked on. The mast has been on the ground everytime we walk by, and the mast alone costs a million dollars.  Wow. 

Here's the boat:

We asked about when it would be going back intoI  the water, because we hoped to watch that, but it sounds like it may happen after we leave town. Boo. 

That afternoon, we made a trip to Mt. Waldo, which was only 30 minutes from the house. Mr. Geraghty had told us about hiking up there about 30 years ago and stumbling upon something interesting in the woods. Mt.Waldo had been mined for granite for a very long time, and part of it was used to make paving stones that had been used all over the world, from New York City to Red Square in Russia, as well as granite for the Washington Monument. He had found a large pile of these paving stones that had never been used.  He described them as all being very uniform in size and shape, like little loaves of bread, rectangular with rounded tops. 

Keith really wanted to try and find them, if they were still around.  Also, we were told it was a really nice hike.  So we headed out to find Waldo, and the elusive paving stones!  

Along the way we found a nice old quarry that was now a sweet swimming hole!  Keith warned me of the leeches in the water, and even pointed one out. I asked him if they hurt ("no"), if they carry diseases ("no"), and if I could get them off ("yes").  After all, this southern girl had never swam with leeches.  Once I got my answers, I jumped in. The water was perfect on a rather warm day.  I admit I did enter and exit rather swiftly, and there was no just floating around. I basically made sure I outswam any leeches!  I'm happy to report that none found me. Here's a few pics from the hike and the beautiful view. 

Oh!  And a huge perk to hiking in Maine - wild blueberries!  Everywhere!  I may have eaten one or two - hundred. 

Oh, and at one point, I'm hiking along, trying to watch my footing, but also the view at the same time.  And I came across this;   

You know when you really just catch a glance of something and it startles you?  Well, my mind told me this was a snake, and I may have yelled a bit and done the snake dance. 

We never did find those paving stones, but did come back to the mountain two days later and make another attempt,  after we interrogated Keith's dad, now that we knew the trail.  We finally did bring home four rectangular paving stones, but they did not have rounded tops. Keith replaced one of his dad's sidewalk squares with four of the stones set in a nice pattern, so now he has a little peice of Mt. Waldo right in his front yard. 

Belfast, Bayside and Camden

Today we really didn't have anything planned for the day, so this morning Keith, his dad, and I took Saleen back to Belfast for a nice walk around the waterfront.

(Keith checking out a Whaler for sale)

After lunch, Keith and I headed to one of my very favorite towns to browse around in, Camden.  Camden has a beautiful harbor, that's always full of boats, and loads of shops that are so much fun to browse in.  On the way, we swung down into another small town close by, Bayside.  Bayside is full of historic gingerbread cottages, and is just one of the cutest towns you'll ever hope to see.

Camden's harbor was full, and the shops were busy with tourists.  I noted that the big blue yacht, the Grumpy, was pulled up to its docks.

(The main reason I took this photo is the man carrying the dog on his chest in what looks like a baby carrier!)

After an afternoon of browsing in Camden, we ended up at the water's edge at Lincolnville Beach, about halfway back to Keith's folks' house, and enjoyed some drinks in some oversized Adirondack chairs, sitting in the sun, feeling the nice cool breeze off of the water.

Heading to Camp for the Weekend

We received a wonderful invitation for the weekend from Brant and Tanya, to travel with them to their camp in northern Maine, located near the small town of Oxbow.  It you look at a map, it's about 20 miles northeast of Baxter State Park.  Bryant and Tanya bought the cabin on 100-ish acres a while back, and use it for hunting.  They mainly hunt moose (when they get a permit - there's a lottery for that), bear, deer, and partridge.

Before we left, I headed back to Belfast with Saleen, to walk the waterfront.  The yacht that had been being worked on, was now in the water, and some new boats had taken its place, and were waiting to be worked on.   

We left with Tanya about 4:00 when she got off work.  Bryant had already been there a couple of days, as he needed to do some outside work before we all arrived. 

At 4:00, we left Belfast with Tanya, and as we traveled north, the towns grew fewer and fewer, and before long, we were just traveling through miles and miles of forest, with nothing else around.  At one point, we pulled over to a Viewpoint on I-95, and had a really nice view of Mt. Katahdin.

Then we traveled about 12 miles on gravel and dirt road in order to reach their cabin, which was far, far in the middle of the forest.  Talk about remote!  We were keeping a careful look out for Moose the entire way, but did not see any.  We arrived rather late, and due to the healthy mosquito population, hurried in, and called it a day, waiting til the next day to look around.

We slept with the windows up, and the temperature was in the high-50's, just perfect sleeping weather.  We didn't have any curtains on our windows, so you could lie in bed and look at the sky just filled with stars.  What a perfect way to fall asleep.  It brought back many memories of my family's hunting cabin in East Texas, and the fun weekends we spent there.  After a very quiet, and peaceful night, Keith got up at the crack of dawn, grabbed his fishing pole, and headed with Bryant down to the Aroostook River, which flows about a hundred yards from the cabin.  It is wide, and shallow and very clear.  He got a fish on his very first cast, and then caught about 4 more during the morning.  He said they were a trash fish called chubs, nothing worth hanging on to, but still fun to catch.

Bryant and Tanya then made a great breakfast of bacon and eggs, and after we all showered, we headed out to explore the area where Bryant was raised, Presque Isle, Maine, about 40 miles away.  His parents had been potato farmers, and as we traveled to Presque Isle, we passed field after field of potato farms.  I had never seen them before.  We also passed a lot of flax fields.  The countryside itself was beautiful, with green, rolling hills, and mountains in the distance.  Besides seeing Bryant's home where he was raised, we also visited a monument to the first successful Transatlantic flight of a hot air balloon.  The monument was actually located in the field where the balloon had been launched from.

After lunch and a stop for ice cream, we headed back to the camp, and some of us sat and visited, while others took a nap.  This was followed by a humorous card game called Golf.  The game itself is not humorous, but Tanya and Bryant are fun company, and we pretty much laughed our way through it.  We had another very peaceful night's sleep, and had to pack up Sunday morning and head back to civilization.  Before we left though, Keith went to try his luck down at the river, and he was so glad he did, because as he stepped down by the water, a huge golden eagle flew out of the tree right next to him, and then made its way up the river.  We then loaded up and headed out, and we had another bit of luck, because on the way out of the 12-miles of gravel road, Mr. Moose finally showed up.  A young moose trotted out of the woods, and then jogged about a hundred yards up the road in front of us, before darting back into the woods.  Unfortunately, I was not quick enough with my camera, so you'll have to take my word for it.  Seeing the moose, was a perfect ending to our time at their camp.  We headed into the nearby town of Ashland and had a really wonderful breakfast at the Ashland Diner, and then headed back to Belmont, where Keith's folks live.

"The Rock", a B-17, Bar Harbor, and the Lobster Festival

(Reader alert - Blogger, the program I use, is inserting some automatic links into this, so until I can figure out how to change that in the settings, please ignore those links.)

So, everytime we leave the Geraghty's house, we pass the Belfast Curling Club.  Yes, that sport on ice, with brooms, and the yelling.  They play it here!

Maybe we'll stop in one day!

Mr. Geraghty shares my interest in geology, and he has been wanting to show me one of the largest erratics in the state  of Maine. He even sent me copies of e-mails and articles that he had received from the Geology professors at the University.  Erratics are large rocks that were carried from their point of origin by glaciers, and left behind when the glacial ice melted.  They are usually rather obvious, because they can be much, much  larger than surrounding rocks, and are made of different material. The Geraghtys have been rather humorously kidding me about taking me to see "The Rock," complete with air quote gestures.  So today we went to see "the Rock."

It was a beautiful hour's drive up the coast, just shy of Bar Harbor, actually, which is always a nice destination, although we truly did not plan on ending up there today.  First, the main attraction, "THE ROCK."  We gazed at its beauty, and tried to imagine the thickness of the glacier that had carried this huge boulder 40 miles (that's what geologist estimate).

Then, we stopped for lunch in Ellsworth, and noted a sign that said, Acadia Nat'l Park, 18 miles.  Acadia is always at the top of my list of favorite National Parks.  It's just so unique - these massive mountains, sloping right down into the sea, with beautiful rock beaches, and strange weathering events, such as "Thunder Hole," where the sea waves slam into these eroded tunnels in the rock with a loud crash.  We knew we wanted to spend a day or two at Acadia next week, so today we just ventured into the close by touristy town of Bar Harbor, strolled the shops some, and found some yummy ice cream.

However, we encountered the BEST surprise ever, as we reached Bar Harbor - a B-17 giving rides.  Mr. Geraghty yelled, "Stop the car!"  I was driving, so I pulled in and parked. It was in between rides, so people could walk around the plane and even walk through it. It was a stroll down memory lane for Mr. Geraghty, as he had worked on them during the war at a base in England. Matter of fact, the men who worked on the plane kidded around with him that they could really use his expertise. Only you knew that they were not kidding.  

One of my favorite things about traveling?  You just never know what you will find around the next  bend - like this.

(Saleen LOVES B-17's!)

Next, we walked through Bar Harbor:

(That's the ocean at the end of the street)

(Very large yachts visit here)

After Bar Harbor, we headed back, and Keith and I took off to the annual Lobster Festival in Rockland.  We have visited it several times before, and always enjoy the music in the evening, but especially the main event - LOBSTER!  Or as they say it up here, "Lob-stah."  It was the 67th festival, so this has been a tradition for quite a while!  I hate to keep saying it, but the weather is still PERFECT.  You really do need some long sleeves anytime you are near the water, because the breeze is chilly.  

When you first go into the Festival, there is a big map with a sign that says, "Where are you from?"  And it's fun to go by and see where everyone places their pins.  As we were putting ours in the map, a boy behind us said, 'Look, there's only one person from Arkansas!"  With that, we turned around, and said, "We're from Arkansas.  Now, there's two!"

We then made our way to the "Lobstah Tent", and placed our order for two single dinners.  Now, it's not the cheapest place to buy lobster, because you are paying for being at the festival, of course, so a single lobster dinner costs $15.  You could also buy twin lobster dinners, $27, or lobster with steamed clams, or lobster rolls, or lobster Caesar salads - you get the idea, just about anything with lobster in it.  It's ALL GOOD!  We sat at the picnic tables under a huge white tent by the water, and slurped down our lobster - because you dip it all in butter, so then it's very slurpy, and then headed over to the entertainment venue.  

We had not recognized the entertainment for tonight.  Originally, we were going to go Saturday night to the big headliner, which would have been the Winter Brothers, but unfortunately, Johnny Winter passed away last week.  Tonight, however, we were in for a treat.  Even though we didn't know it until he began singing.

We had the pleasure of hearing Dave Mallett, a very talented folk songwriter and performer, who has been at it since the mid-70's, and had written quite a few songs that had been made famous by other artists, especially this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m0LewjkO4s

I can't begin to tell you how many time I heard John Denver sing that.  Even the Muppets recorded it!  So it was  a pleasure to get to hear the man sing who had written it.

 

He was from Maine, and so had quite a local following.  All of his songs were really great, and his band was wonderful, especially his violin player.  His sons have a band (The Mallett Brothers), and they were the act that followed him.  They were pure, hard core country, and also very good, but way too loud for our ears, and we had to eventually move away from the speakers.  It was deafening!

And now, a flash back to 1980. Does it get any better than the Muppets AND John Denver?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FkaN0HQgs