Maine
July 15, 2013
Fourty two months ago we stepped aboard Why Knot and pointed her to sea. We did not know where we might go other than “out there”. Slowly, ever so slowly, we moved around the Gulf to the Keys and about the time we arrived in Key West, we started to believe that one day we might just sail into the waters of Maine. Many delays and side trips later kept that from happening quickly but we are here now, albeit barely in Maine. Our style of cruising has given us more than a vision of the seaports along the way. Since we stop sometimes and rent a car to travel inland, we have seen some remarkable places we have never visited before and would not have seen from the deck of WK. We took a bit of an inland trip to see Vermont and New Hampshire. We drove through the Green and White mountains to the banks of Lake Champlain. The history nut in me was popping. Burlington, VT is a beautiful city. Whilst there, we visited the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream plant.
We also took a trip up the coast past places like Bath, Me. where shipbuilding has been part of the community for centuries. Our destination was Bar Harbor to see that iconic destination for many cruisers. We were not disappointed. Acadia National Park is nearby. We agree that it is one of the, if not the, most beautiful park we have ever visited. A prominent feature of the park is Cadillac Mountain from which one can see the many islands surrounding the park. During that visit, we decided to spend a few more days here in Kittery/Portsmouth and then start west and south to see some places we passed on our way here. By early August we hope to have visited the Cape Cod Islands and heading where frometh we cometh. We might skip the run up the Delaware River to the top of the Chesapeake but we have a car in Solomons, Md. That means at least one last visit, maybe by car to that place. We have approached this part of our cruise to the “down east” as a part that we may never do again; not because we have not enjoyed it, but because we hear the creaking footsteps of that time when can’t do it again by sailing. If it had not taken so long to get here, it might have left a different impression. Then again, we might.
We cannot express how impressive these waters are to us old Texans. The first impressions are more wonderful than we expected. As it happens, we are here during record-breaking high temperatures. It will be twenty degrees hotter here in Portsmouth than in San Antonio today. Locals are suffering and we won’t admit to the discomfort being from Texas and all. Three things seem in abundance in this area, clams, lobsters and pizza. Methinks there are more pizza places per capita than anywhere else in the US. Bear has overdosed on lobster now and we have learned that some claims are just plain nasty to the taste and the eyes. There are three restaurants within a block of the marina and all specialize in lobsta. It is sort of like the scene from Forest Gump where Bubba talks about the many ways shrimp can be served- broiled, baked, stuffed, stewed, smoked, fried, creamed, sandwiched, poached, etc.
The big bridge near this dock has been under construction for several years. Supposedly, it opens on Wednesday to pedestrian traffic. We might just toddle over it to say we did it.

Picture is of Bear on Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor area