Maine Day 7

 After our day of active hiking on Monhegan Island, we were very content to lay around the house most of the morning.  I did some reading, and wrote postcards, as has become my habit.  In the afternoon, we visited the Owl's Head Transportation Museum.  This is a fine museum of antique vehicles, with an impressive collection of automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and even a Gemini capsule spacecraft.  This was to accentuate the fact that in the span of one lifetime, humans went from the first powered flight to walking on the moon.  The collection was amazing, and many if not most of the automobiles and airplanes appeared in operational condition.  The museum is adjacent to a county airport, so the airplanes are often flown in demonstrations.  It was a wonderful afternoon, strolling among the historic vehicles.

After the museum, we ate our first lobster of the trip, at last.  Upon the recommendation of some local residents, we visited McLoon's Lobster Shack.  It's a small walk-up business with a large area of outdoor tables near an active lobster boat dock.  In fact, a working lobster boat unloaded its catch while we ate, and we got to see what's involved in the process.  The lobster rolls we ordered were about the best I've ever had.  And the cup of clam chowder was excellent as well.  The predicted rain that afternoon held off, and it was partly sunny and very pleasant as we enjoyed our meal.  Having now had some lobster, our Maine experience is complete!

Plenty of restored automobiles to be seen at the museum

The Curtis Jenny was one of the first airplanes to carry US Mail

McLoon's lobster roll- none better

Our first lobster experience in Maine this trip

The working lobster waterfront nearby as we ate

Maine Day 6

 It was an exceptionally beautiful day, cool and clear, that we chose for our daylong excursion to Monhegan Island.  The island is a small community with a handful of permanent residents, mostly of an artistic sort.  The rest are like us, tourists and visitors staying in one of the island inns or B&Bs overnight or for a few days.  So we booked our tickets the night before with the ferry of the Monhegan Boat company.  It's a 1 hour ferry ride to the island, which is about 10 miles offshore from Port Clyde, which is just down the road from where we are staying.  It was a busy time as the Elizabeth Ann was loaded with passengers and cargo for the trip.  Some were day visitors, like us, while many had luggage in varying amounts and were obviously staying for a longer term on the island.  But we were on our way soon enough, and enjoyed a beautiful and scenic ride out to the island.  Once ashore on the island, we began our time roaming around and seeing the sights.  There were a few art galleries displaying the works of local artists.  At the far end of the island, there is a brewery, which was surprisingly busy.  After sampling their brews, we hiked up a very steep road to the island's lighthouse, which is positioned at what appears to be the highest point of the island and affords wonderful views of the surrounding area.  As we walked, we passed several artists with their paintings held by ingenious folding easels as they captured one astonishing view or another.  Indeed, one set up right in front of us as we sat on a bench near the lighthouse.  As we headed down the hill from the lighthouse, we passed the quaint little town library, and entered their fund-raising raffle to win a painting by a local artist.  We went inside the small library and found it to be surprisingly well stocked.  I made sure the works of Trollope and Dickens were well represented, and they were.  We stopped at a few more shops and galleries before our time on the island was finished.  Boarded the ferry and enjoyed a relaxing trip back to Port Clyde.  Tired from the hiking, and just a little sunburnt, we enjoyed our day and came back with many happy memories.

It's an hour ride from Port Clyde to Monhegan Island

One of the most remote breweries I've ever visited

Artists are everywhere, capturing beautiful scenes

The view down from the lighthouse is spectacular

The small community library

Just one of several well stocked library rooms

Back home in Port Clyde

Maine Day 5

 The day began as a very pleasant sunny, cool day, so we took the opportunity to visit a familiar place nearby: Camden, Maine.  Many years ago, we were frequent visitors to the beautiful small town when we frequently sailed aboard the fleet of Maine Windjammers, many of which are based there.  These old wooden schooners have been adapted to passenger service, and provide cruises of a couple days up to a week, as they roam around Penobscot Bay and the Maine coast.  But today, we stayed ashore and just viewed the beautiful harbor from the land.  Indeed, most of the windjammers were out cruising, with only the Mary Day in port that afternoon.  The bustle of the public landing brought back many good memories of our windjammer cruises long ago.  As did our stroll through the town.  Many things have changed since we were last in Camden, but it still was very familiar.  We had lunch at the Camden Deli, a favorite spot of ours, and made time to browse in the Smiling Cow, a popular gift shop where I naturally purchased some postcards.  It was a lovely afternoon, returning to the scene of so many of our youthful adventures.

We headed home and stopped in at the Tenant's Harbor General Store just as some dark clouds appeared in the sky.  The moment we got home with our groceries, the first raindrops started to fall, and our evening was spent reading and writing to the sound of the pattering rain.

Camden, Maine

Camden Harbor

Mary Day at the dock between cruises

Maine Day 4

 On Tuesday, the fourth day of our trip, the sun came out and it was a beautiful, bright cool day.  We took the opportunity to drive over to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens to enjoy nature in all her splendor.  The drive there was scenic in itself, though I was mostly occupied with paying attention to driving on the narrow, windy two lane roads.  But we arrived, just in time to join a guided walking tour focusing on native Maine plants.  Our guide was a volunteer with the botanical gardens who was obviously very knowledgeable about Maine's native plants.  I learned more about ferns than I ever thought there was to know.  And before the day started, I couldn't distinguish a fir from a spruce...but now I can!  It was an extensive tour and hike, as the gardens encompass over 350 acres, ranging from open manicured lawns to forest trails with rugged slopes, to breathtaking waterside paths.  Along the way, we encountered some of the botanical garden's giant trolls.  These are huge wooden art installations by the Danish artist Thomas Dambo.  It was an enjoyable and educational visit.

After the hike, we were ready for a hearty meal, and headed to nearby Damariscotta where we found a restaurant that had been recommended to us by a friend.  The King Eider's Pub lived up to the promise, and we had a delicious meal of pub food- bangers and mash, and fish and chips.  Our timing was perfect, as we arrived for a late lunch/ early dinner, and managed to get a table quickly at what can be a very busy restaurant.  The drive home was a quiet one, and we reflected on all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the day.

Guided walking tour of the botanical gardens

One of Thomas Dambo's giant trolls

Bangers and mash

Fish and chips

King Eider's Pub- highly recommended

Maine Day 3

 Today began overcast, and ended up being wet for most of the day.  So after a morning of reading and writing postcards, we ventured out to do some indoor things.  Our intended destination was the Owl's Head Transportation Museum, which was just a short drive away.  But when we got there, it turned out to be closed, despite a published schedule of being open 7 days a week.  So instead, we went into town in Rockland and roamed around, exploring the town.  Our first stop was a wonderful small bookstore called Hello, Hello.  We browsed around among the books, new and used, some autographed by the author.  Kathy selected a book she'd long been interested in, and I found a pack of postcards by a local artist.  We then went up the street to the gift shop of the Farnsworth Art Museum.  More postcards there, showing work of Wyeth, the family of famous painters.  Finally, a stop in the Grasshopper Shop, which had a large selection of Maine postcards.

It was then time to head home for dinner.  Today, we got to try the restaurant just down the street from our house:  The Happy Clam.  It's a humble looking little joint, but we found that in addition to standard seafood and pub fare, they offered a selection of German dishes.  Apparently, one of the married couple who are owners was born in Germany, which explains these choices.  Kathy sampled the schnitzel, and I tried "Frikadelien", a sort of German meatloaf with brown gravy.  Both were excellent. Service was also friendly and efficient in the small eatery.  We'll most likely be back before our vacation ends.

Hello Hello bookstore

Rockland Maine on a wet day

German schnitzel

Frikadelien with German potato salad and red cabbage

A wonderful little place, near our house

Maine Day 2

 On our first full day in Maine, we awoke at a decent hour and continued to explore our rental house and the surrounding area.  In the late morning we went over to visit with some old friends who we have known for 30 years.  They joined us in a group of friends who travelled to the republic of Georgia in the mid 1990s.  Since then, we have only seen them once or twice, so there was much to talk about in our all-too-short Sunday brunch. Perhaps we'll see them again later this week.  Then Kathy and I returned to the house and planned our next move.  Did a little reading before deciding on a dinner destination.  Our first plan, a casual clam shack just down the street from the house, was postponed when we learned Sundays was their day for live music.  And when I say we learned of this, it was because we could clearly hear the garage band music from the house.  Since we were in the mood for something quieter, we took a short drive to nearby Rockland and tried out the Park Street Grille, mostly because it was open on a Sunday.  The meal was perfectly pleasant, and included a warm mortadella sandwich and french fries (the fries were especially good) and tasty haddock fish tacos.  A local Maine Beer Company IPA was the perfect compliment to the sandwich.  And along our drive, we gathered future activity possibilities for week, including a planned stop at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum. Then home for a lazy night watching tv and doing our regular Duolingo language lessons.

Rental house living room

Park Street Grille fish tacos

Maine adventure

 It's been several years since we've been on a real vacation (excepting a quick weekend getaway to NYC last October), so today Kathy and I head out to the little seaside village of Tenant's Harbor, Maine to spend some days in a rental house and enjoy life in New England.  We've anticipated this trip all summer, and at last the day is here!  It began early, with final packing and a drive to the Birmingham airport.  As is so common with Delta Airlines, the major carrier in Birmingham, we fly to their Atlanta hub for the connecting flight that will take us to Portland Maine. My anxiety always climbs at bit at this stage of the trip, since our luck with air travel generally is not good.  Delays, and other mishaps seem to be the rule rather than the exception for us.  But by the end of today, I am happy to report that both flights were smooth and nearly ontime.  The flight from ATL to PWM was even long enough for us to be served a meal, which I can't remember happening since our trip to London over five years ago.  I sampled the marinara-braised meatballs, while Kathy had a sort of green curry chicken.  Hers was definitely the more tasty meal.  We landed in Portland and met the local moose at the airport before picking up our rental car and driving the last leg of our journey to Tenant's Harbor.  The drive was scenic and beautiful, with frequent glimpses of nautical scenery: harbors and boats could be seen from the road in multiple locations.  Just before sunset and after 12 hours of travel, we arrived at our destination.  Made a quick stop in the quaint nearby Tenants Harbor General Store to pick up a light snack, and then we settled into our home for the next few days.  We explored the beautiful and cute house and started to unwind from the trip.  With high hopes for many happy memories in the coming days, we nestled in for a good night's sleep.

Early morning departure from BHM

I'm always mesmerized by the flight tracking screen

Surprisingly good green curry chicken

Pretty decent meatballs, but needed a pasta or vegetable to accompany

The moose greets us in PWM

Nearby general store- I suspect we'll visit here often

Take the long way home

 Not for the first time, USPS tracking has provided me with some entertainment and not a little frustration as I've followed the path of a package as it travels to my home.  This time the package is a shipment of new stamps from the USPS itself.  All went well as the package travelled the familiar route from Kansas City to central Alabama.  It covered that distance in a single day, which is unusually fast (I buy a lot of stamps via the USPS web site, and I'm familiar with this route and the normal transit time.  In the Birmingham sorting center on the Friday before the Labor Day three day weekend, I reasonably expected it to be delivered on Saturday the 30th of August.  But instead, the next tracking update showed the package - less than 20 miles from my home; So close, USPS! - next showed up in... San Franciso, California!  Yes, according to the tracking info, the package made it across the continent in a single day.  Whether this is a tracking system anomaly, or the package physically travelled to northern California is unclear.  The package languished there over the holiday weekend, and part of this past week before returning to Birmingham a week later than when it had last been there.  It is now supposedly safe at the Helena post office, and will hopefully be delivered to my home in the next hour or two.  What a roundabout way to get stamps!

Typewriters strike back

 These sorts of articles are written pretty regularly, but it’s always nice to read them.

Click-clack comeback: Toronto shop thriving amid typewriter renaissance

August Postcrossing stats

 The numbers are in for Postcrossing in August.  Despite many other activities occupying my time, I sent 106 cards this month, bringing my all-time total to 11,525.  This is the first time in several months that I have reached my goal of 100 or more cards.  My national ranking by sent cards is holding at 28th out of 76,916 Postcrossing members in the USA, and I am still the #1 Postcrosser in Alabama. I'm looking forward to building on this improvement in September!  Write on.