Post by Grubb. The Penobscot River was not to be missed since we were going to cross it on the way to Northeast Harbor. The bridge that crosses this expansive river is stayed by a spray of cables streaming down from two giant columns, one of which has the tallest bridge observatory in the world….
Month: September 2023
Nor’easter lobster pound
Post by Ella. I had no idea what a lobster pound was but you see signs all over the place. It’s akin to an animal pound but for lobsters. It’s where lobsters go to die. You can buy live lobsters, or not so live lobsters. When the host of our accommodation in Northeast Harbor (the…
In the fog, a lighthouse
Post by Grubb. Cautiously measuring my stride over the slippery granite blocks of Maine’s Rockland breakwater only confirmed that in my new dimension I was looking through a glass darkly. When, late this morning we arrived at Rockland’s jutting shoreline, the resort hotel purported to be looming over the waters of the bay was lost…
Up the coast: today’s route
Post by Ella. Today, we moved north. From Boothbay Harbor to Northeast Harbor (yep, a million harbors in Maine) with stops at Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse (walked almost a mile in the fog across the breakwater (preview pic below), Camden for coffee, and the Fort Knox Observation Tower (360° views). Okay there’s a preview of the…
Footbridge to the Gilded Age
Post by Grubb. I like to think that when we moseyed across the footbridge over the inlet of Boothbay Harbor I was actually stepping back in parallel time. On the hotel side of the bay the large shingled resorts and lobster restaurants have, according to the plaques, been converted from Gilded Age mansions. Apparently, this…
Dahlias from another dimension
Post by Grubb. Okay, even if I am in a different dimension, you’re sharing it with me, so I guess it’s alright to keep on blogging. I have to admit that it’s awfully exciting to think I’m reporting back from a parallel universe no matter how slight the difference. Yesterday (Thursday in both dimensions), we…
Stepping into another dimension
Post by Grubb. That’s right, it happened while we were walking along a trail in the Boothbay Botanical Gardens (which, given its size and woodsy paths, should be called a Botanical Forest). The rock to my right had an opening that, according to a kindly lady in a golf cart, was designed by an artist…
When in Maine, see the trolls
Post by Ella. In Copenhagen just a few months ago, we found 7 gentle giants. Woodland trolls created by Thomas Dambo (who labels himself a “recycle art activist”), each tucked into a different parkland niche outside of Copenhagen. Made of wood, these woodland creatures were enthralling. Here are the first two stanzas of a poem…
LL what?
Post by Ella. Wednesday, our last stop before our destination, Boothbay Harbor, was Freeport. Freeport’s claim to fame: the headquarters of LL Bean. We had to take a gander at this, along with a million other baby boomers. The big boot with reinforced toe signaled we were at the right place. We took pictures of…
A marginal existence
Post by Grubb. Wednesday morning we left the magnificent house where Joey and Elaine live in Sudbury. (The place has a basement theater off the ping-pong room which is off the pool table room. It has a 100-inch screen and electric recliner seats. It’s lucky I don’t live in such a house or else I…
Thank you dynamic duo, Joe and Elaine
Post by Ella. Whew! What a whirlwind of activity with Joe and Elaine, the amazing dynamic duo. We loved every minute of it. Reveling in Boston’s history, stuffing ourselves with cannoli, and having great conversations. Thank you so much for opening your home to us and letting us have a peek at your lives. One…
Into Maine we go, our route
Wednesday, we reluctantly took our leave of Joe and Elaine after a home cooked 3 course breakfast (would we ever being able to eat again?) and headed up the Maine coast. The weather was on our side. Blue sky, no wind. Beautiful. Our destination was Boothbay Harbor with two stops along the way: Ogunquit (a…
The cannoli to beat
Post by Ella. Tuesday, after walking the Freedom Trail and riding/floating the DUKW, what better than a stroll to Boston’s north end, crammed with Italian eateries and bakeries. The area was hopping. You want Italian?. We got Italian. We dined at Trattoria Il Panino. My choice of pasta, the penne arrabbiata, had a light, spicy…
Duck, duck, boat?
Post by Ella. After a living history tour of the Freedom Trail (see Grubb’s post “The city that gobbled the revolution “), we headed towards the harbor for our Duck experience. If it waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a DUKW. Okay, so it bumps and shakes instead of waddling, but it…
The city that gobbled the revolution
Post by Grubb. When I visited Boston in the early 1980s I went to the top of the Hancock Building for the panoramic view. I remember the green swath of Beacon Hill, historic church steeples poking out of brick neighborhoods, and the embracing bend of the Charles River. There was also a nifty topo map…