Maine and Massachusetts. June 14 – 21, 2016.

This all started with a promotion by Boothbay Harbor Inn that $99 would get us a “run of the house” room during the month of June.  One thing we wanted to do while we were here last October was to go on a puffin seeing trip, but the cruises stopped in mid-August.  We recently found out how “Project Puffin,” started about 40 years ago by a Cornell Ornithologist, restored puffin breeding on several islands in Maine, so that piqued our interest even more.  CS, who had been on prior nature trips with us, also came along.

Our plan is to stay in Boothbay Harbor for 4 days, and meet up with Joe and family in Portland for a fifth day, and then drive down to Boston for two days, before flying back to New Jersey.

June 14, Tuesday.  CS came by at around 5:45 am to pick us up for the airport.  Traffic was heavy but flowing well.  We got to Newark’s Terminal A without a hitch.  My worries about TSA Precheck were unwarranted, and getting through security was quite straightforward.  The flight was full, departed on time, and was otherwise uneventful other than its bumpiness.

Our Alamo rental car – done through Costco Travel – is a Dodge Dart.  Some prior renter set the mileage to the metric system, I will see later if I can switch it back.  Since CS had never visited Portland before, we drove to Standard Baking Co. on Commercial Ave, where Anne bought a scone, and took a walk along the street.  There being no cruise ship in port, and this is relatively early in the season, not much was happening.  We then went to Fort Williams and visited the lighthouse, followed by lobster rolls at the Bite of Maine truck.

 Another visit to the Portland Head Lighthouse.

 Lobster roll again, of course.

Fish being loaded onto a truck, attracting a lot of sea gulls.

We got to Boothbay at around 1:30 pm, and decided to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden since it was too early to check in anyway.  The garden is well laid out, but this may be too early in the season for flowers.

 Irises at Coastal Maine Botanical Garden.

 Lady slippers, as the sign says.

 Visitor on our balcony.

 Boothbay Harbor.

 Lobster processing pier in Boothbay Harbor.  You can order lobersters at these plants.

Anne and I slept for an hour or so, and then met up with CS for dinner at Mine Oyster.  CS and I shared ½ dozen Glidden Points, they were quite large – and they offer even larger ones!

We called it a day so we could catch up on our sleep.  Both Anne and I got about four hours last night.

Accommodation: Boothbay Harbor Inn (4 nights.)

June 15, Wednesday.  After a rather hearty breakfast at the hotel, we met up with CS at Pier 7, where we would board Pink Lady II for our puffin sighting cruise.  Given the location of East Egg Rock, the trip out there and back took about 1:45 hours, leaving the boat about 40 minutes to circle around the island a little more than twice.  While 150 pairs represent a great success story (in the 1970s there was one pair left), the number is still small, so I expected to see only the occasional bird.  We ended seeing quite a few of them, often in groups of up to eight.  And they are smaller than I expected, measuring about 11” and weighing about one pound.  Along the way we saw quite a few of the many lighthouses that dot this rather hazardous navigation area.

CS with his mirrorless SLR camera got some really good pictures.  Anne also was no slouch and got some nice shots with our point-and-shoot Canon PowerShot SX720.

 Boarding Pink Lady II for our first (ever) puffin watch cruise.

 Pemaquid Lighthouse, enroute to Easter Egg Rock.

 Eastern Egg Rock Hilton where summer students live in tents.  This building is the common area.

 Puffins were cooperating.  I imagine they don't have much fear of humans.

 Nesting terns attack if disturbed.  Observers stay a couple of hours in these blinds.

 Eider ducks are quite common on EER.

Mother and baby seal (barely visible).

For lunch we had hot dogs at Wannawaf whose slogan include the phrase “save a lobster.”

After a few false starts, we decided to drive down to Harpwell again, first over the Capstone Bridge, then to Erica’s Seafood where the three of us had five lobsters and soup.  That was certainly an interesting and in-expensive experience.  After dinner Anne wanted to head down another of those “peninsulas” and managed to find a lobsterman unloading his catch.  They took some interesting pictures.

 Land's End.  Jaquish Island in background, the house - accessible by boat or helicopter - is available as vacation rental.

Erica's Seafood located at end of peninsula.

 The seafood chowder soup is full of goodies.

 CS enjoying the two lobsters.  At about $8 each (cooked) a great bargain.

Ready in fifteen minutes.

Lobsterman sorting his catch.

 Each of these containers hold about 90 lbs of lobster.

 Said lobsterman being picked up by his girlfriend and child.  Not sure things will be so romantic during the winter season.

Pink sky at sunset.

June 16, Thursday.  We began our morning a bit late, at 10 am, and drove to Rockland to visit the Project Puffin Center.  The main attraction there are a 20-minute video describing how puffins were re-introduced to Maine after a long absence, and various artwork of the small bird.  Most artwork are of the “iconical” type where the puffins stand on a rock with many fish in its beak.  We also did a bit of souvenir shopping, a puffin mug and a small “teddy” puffin (for my sister.)

After lunch at a local restaurant, it was time for Captain Jack’s Lobster Boat.  This is a working lobster boat in which a captain and mate take out guests for one-hour runs where they recover trapped lobsters and rebaited the trap.  For the last fifteen years or so the emphasis has been on tourists, although they still collect legal lobsters and bait them with fish heads imported from Norway.  If today was any indication, lobstering – even in pleasant weather – is a difficult job.  Of the ten or so traps we visited, only about 4 lobsters were recovered, many had to be thrown back because of size and sex.  Imagine doing this in cold or stormy weather.

 On lobsterboat.

Legal lobsters have their clawed rubber-banded before being stored.  They tend to attack each other even in captivity.

Hens (female lobsters) with roe are marked with a notch and thrown back into the sea.  They are spared for the rest of the lives.

I was a bit tired driving down to New Harbor, but a few of the tangy cherries we bought yesterday kept me awake.  On the Hardy Boat puffin cruise were the same three Audubon naturists from yesterday – we actually saw Pete at the Puffin Center.  The boat is smaller, and the ride out is shorter at about 30 minutes.  We didn’t see as many puffins as we did in the morning, but those who took photographs said the lighting was much better.

 New Harbor, Maine.

 There are so many trap buoys.  One must be careful while driving a boat to avoid fouling the propeller.

 Second puffin trip.  The lighting is much better in the afternoon, so I am told.

This shot is taken by Anne.

Gillemots are cute in their own right, but next to the puffins they are just supporting actors.

We had dinner at Shaw’s in New Harbor.  Things seem a lot more expensive than they were last time we visited: 2 lobsters cost around $32.  Our meals were less expensive: I had fried oysters.  It was about 9 pm when we got back, CS could watch the NBA final game 6 from the beginning.

June 17, Friday.  We started relatively late, at 11 am.  We drove to a neighborhood preserve and decided not to walk the short trail, with its warnings about poison ivy and ticks.  We drove by Glidden Point Oysters and bought a dozen, which we shucked ourselves and ate at the picnic tables provided.  Shucking is relatively easy once you get the hang of it.

Red’s Eats was beckoning, so we made our way there, and discovered a line as long as we experienced last October – one hour wait.  We headed back to Damariscotta.  CS didn’t want to eat, he went shopping instead.  Anne and I had a quick bite at the Salt Bay Café.

Shucking Glidden Point oysters.  It gets easier as one does more of them.

In addition to the three of us, a family of four also joined the Oyster Farm and Seal-Watching tour.  We did the same thing last year; this time it was quite boring.  We did see an eagle and an osprey fight, and quite a few seals.

Boat for Damariscotta River cruise.

 Oyster farm on the Damariscotta River.

A group of seals enjoying the sun.

We tried Red’s Eats again, this time there was hardly any wait.  Anne and I shared a lobster roll and a side order of fried sea scallops.  They were not as good as I remembered them.

Red's Eats.

We did some light souvenir shopping after we returned to Boothbay Harbor.

 Traps and buoys at Boothbay Harbor Inn.

Another sunset view at Boothbay Harbor.

June 18, Saturday.  We left Boothbay Harbor at around 10:30 am, and stopped by Whole Foods in Portland for lunch before dropping CS off for his flight back to NJ.  Turns out his flight was delayed for over an hour, but at least he got upgraded to first class.

The Aspen Alternative was in the harbor this morning.  Wonder how it navigated its way past all the lobster traps.  A 164' yacht available for charter at $185,000 a week (plus expenses).  It can accommodate 10 guests!

Joe Jr’s car passed by ours as we were finding parking along Fore Street; they had just returned from a morning trip to Fort Williams where a children’s fair was held.  Emmie as usual was happy to see us, and so was DN, although he was more reserved in his expression.  After the children went to sleep, Joe and Jess went off for a snack by themselves while we watched the kids.  They woke up at around 4:30 pm or so, and their parents returned soon after that.  Both Emmie and DN are very comfortable with us, although they don’t see us that often.  Anyway, it was time for dinner – such is the children’s schedule – and we walked to DuckFat, a sandwich place.  At about 7 pm the children were showing signs of being tired, so Anne and I checked in at our hotel.

Dinner at Duck Fat, Portland.

Accommodation: Portland Travelodge (1 night).

June 19, Sunday.  After checking out of the hotel, our plan was to meet up with Joe at the Tandem Baking Company.  It turned out we didn’t have time for a leisurely stroll, so we took DN in our car and Joe walked with Jess and Emmie so we could meet up at the Casco Ferries terminal.  Our plan was to take the 10:15 am ferry to Peaks Island and then come right back.  We barely made the ferry.  The one that enjoyed the ride the most was Emmie, although I seldom mind riding on a boat.

A ride on the ferry on a nice day is always nice.

For lunch we ate at Eventide Oysters Café where we sampled oysters, many from Damariscotta River.  I guess if I spend time on this stuff I can give the different types different characterizations.  In any case it was an enjoyable meal.

Eventide Oysters.  Most were harvested from farms in the Damariscotta River.

Anne and I head back to Joe’s place and rested a while before we headed over to the Tsai’s for dinner.  Joe and family went straight there.  We brought along some lobster tails at $7 each from Whole Foods Portland (supposedly 50% off) and they tasted quite good grilled.

Father's Day BBQ at the Tsai's.  Lobster tails from Whole Foods.

Accommodation: Putnam Road (2 nights)

June 21, Tuesday.  It was nice to be able to spend some time at Joe’s place.  After a short flight from Boston, we took a Uber car to get home.