Massachusetts and Maine, June 17-29, 2021.

For a rather modest trip, we decided to visit Maine, specifically the Boothbay Harbor area.  We first visited this area in 2015, and have come back several times.  Both the puffins and the lobsters are a big draw for us.  Practically, the costs of airfare and rental car are relatively high, and our desire to visit Joe’s family also make it unwieldy to plan an itinerary using flights and rental cars, so we decided to take the VW Tiguan, and this will be its first long road trip.

June 17, Thursday.  We drove up to Somerville in the afternoon, traffic was such we ended up taking the northern route via Danbury and Route 84.  Picked up some food from Kebab Corner in Medford before arriving at Putnam Road.

Accommodations.  Putnam Road, Somerville.  (4 nights).

June 18-20, Friday to Sunday.  Basically spending time with family.  Sunday was Father’s Day, and we went over the Tsai’s for BBQ in their backyard.

Anne and I did venture out to Belle Isle, where we also went (with Joe’s family) last time we visited.  We were going to stop by Belle Isle Seafood, but service was slow, so we had Burger King instead.  When we got to Belle Isle, we walked perhaps 50 yards before biting insects began aggressively “attacking” us, so we fled.  (A family trying to picnic but quickly leaving should have been a clue!)

A successful breeding season for the resident Canada geese.  They congregate along Shore Drive, and the parents are still very protective of their offspring.

BBQ at the Tsai's on Fathers' Day.

June 21, Monday.  Emmie and Harrison went off to rock-climbing school, and CC to Daycare.  Anne and I had lunch at Legal Mystic with Jess and Joe (we ate outside, it was pleasant), after which we started our trip up north.

First stop: Erica’s Seafood.  Softshells were not in season, so we got a couple of hardshell lobsters instead.  A bit difficult to crack, but still tasted good.  That was supplemented with cole slaw and fish chowder.  Prices have gone up a little: for softshells it is $6.50 per pound.  The cooking fee used to be $1 per lobster, now it is $1 per pound.  All in all still a great experience.

Our route took us through the town of Wiscasset, so we passed by Red's Eats.  It was around 5 pm, and there was a line waiting to order food.

After checking into the hotel, we walked across the harbor (over the walkway) and had pizza and ice cream (one slice each, and sharing one small dish).  The evening was overcast so we didn’t get to see some of the nice sunset colors we saw on prior trips.  We still have a few days to go.

At Erica's Seafood, Harpswell, ME.

View from Erica's Seafood.

Erica Jade.  Is this the Erica?

The building at the bottom houses the lobster tank, and lobsters are cooked there.  One can order other items (soups, other seafood, etc) at the white building with red trim.

Working on the lobster.

The clouds rolled in this evening.  This is a shot of the footbridge at sunset.  The lights are new.  The house mid-bridge seems to be occupied.

Accommodations.  Boothbay Harbor Inn.  (4 nights)

June 22, Tuesday.  The hotel is offering "reduced contact" services, so breakfast (of pastries) was "grab and go."  Even though mask requirements are (mostly) dropped, I suspect the hotel just couldn't hire enough help for the season, and appreciate the cost savings from reduction of staff.  Customers are conditioned to expect less, for now anyway. After breakfast, Anne walked over to Cap'n Fish Puffin Cruise and found out the sailing this morning was completed booked, and there was a long line of people waiting to get on.  I was still at the hotel, so I booked the 12 noon Hardy Boat cruise leaving Bristol (about 45 minutes away).  While the Hardy Boat tour is 90 minutes, and the Cap'n Fish 150 minutes, the extra time is to get to/from Eastern Egg Rock.  The seas were rough today, so the reduced travel time was quite acceptable.

We saw the "usual" puffins, guillemots, eider ducks, common terns, and sea gulls.  We might have caught sight of some porpoises, but the swells made it difficult to tell.  It was a nice outing, and many of those around us (we were in the bow seats) were from out of state: NH, VA, and TX.

Shaw's Restaurant was too crowded, so we decided we would drive to Wiscasset to see if we could get something from Red's Eats.  The line was quite long, so we settled for its competition across the street.  Sprague's was doing reasonable business, and it took us over 45 minutes from parking to getting our food.  The food was okay, but frankly the experience wasn't as good as what I remember of eating at Red's.

It started to rain when we were about done, so we decided to call it a day.  We picked up some food at Hannaford to tide us over the evening.

We attended Pastor Chang's lecture on OT Theology.  This was the last session for Part I.  Part II will start in September.

The boat departs from New Harbor, Bristol.

Eastern Egg Rock in the distance.  It is a 30 minute trip to get to the island from New Harbor.

Puffins perched on the rocks in front of the Eastern Egg Rock Hilton.  The flying birds are gulls and terns.

A cormorant spreading its wings.

We saw quite a few puffins.  When a group is swimming in the water, it is called a "raft."  When on land, it's a "circus."

Some overflow parking at Sprague's is paid.  Of course anyone can put up this sign.  We did put $2 in the box.

Plenty of seating at this location, and there are more seats by the river.

Lobster Roll ($25.65) and Crab Cake Basket ($13.99).  I stacked the two crab cakes together so I could put ketchup on the fries.

June 23, Wednesday.  Today was going to be a "lighthouse" day.  We ended up visiting three lighthouses, two in the Rockland area.

Before we got to our first lighthouse, we drove by this Hazel's Takeout a couple of miles from our destination.  We stopped to have a lobster roll, a crab roll, and a fish soup.  The place was busy, the service was friendly, and the food was okay, although we were somewhat let down when we saw a truck stopped by delivering frozen supplies.

The Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse is located at the end of a (you guessed it) breakwater, a rather long one at about 0.8 miles (per my Apple Watch).  The plaque provides more specifies.  The top of the breakwater is quite smooth.  However, when one walks fast, the unevenness (both height and size of the granite blocks) would mean additional stress to one's knee: so I had to be careful with how fast I walked.  Anne also managed to make it both ways.  If I remember correctly, the lobster boat tour where we were brought to various lobster trap locations stopped by this breakwater to haul up one of the traps.

The next lighthouse is Owl's Head, located a few miles from Rockland Breakwater.  The passage down below can be treacherous, especially on a foggy day.

The third one we saw was Marshall's Point Lighthouse.

We have been having late lunches the last few days, and therefore simple dinners.  Tonight's was a slice of pepperoni pizza.  Of course we have a lot of snacks in the room.

Hazel's Takeout in Rockland.  Doing good business, food was okay.

Looking from land I couldn't tell how long the breakwater was.  The lighthouse can be made out in the background.

At the start of the Breakwater.

Taken from the vantage point provided by a floating dock.

The plaque mentions it took 18 years to complete this lighthouse and the breakwater.

Looking from the lighthouse along the breakwater.

Owl's Head Lighthouse was easy to get to.

This passage certainly could use some navigational aids.

St. George evidently was also patron of seamen.

Marshall Point Lighthouse.

This location across the Harbor from our hotel provides a good view of MacFarland Island.

Still amazes me how the iPhone (even the 12 Pro Max) can make out the structure on the moon.

Colors at sunset were more subdue today.

June 24, Thursday.  Today was spent mostly in Camden and the surrounding areas.  We went on another Lighthouse and Lobster Cruise, and saw a couple of additional lighthouses.

Lobster Roll, Crab Roll, Clam Chowder at Camden Deli.  The lobster roll, while good, didn't measure up to the ones we have had so far (including the one this evening).

Many of the building along the main street in Camden have parts over the Megunticook River (name from Google Maps) which flows through town.

Riverhouse Bridge, a quaint bridge maintained by a nearby motel.

Camden Harbor has a certain commercial feel to it.

This pair of Canada geese is looking after 11 goslings.  Quite successful.  We also saw many adult geese without any young ones trailing.

One cannot tell from this photo, but the River is quite dirty.

Camden Hills State Park is only a couple of miles from town.

This structure on Mount Battie is what's left of some rich family's summer home.

Lively Lady would take about 20 guests on an one-hour Lobster and Lighthouse Cruise.

Curtis Island Lighthouse is just outside of the harbor.

Indian Head Lighthouse is no longer in use.  The Island was bought for $1000 during the depression.  The same family still owns it.  The guide/stern(wo)man didn't know much about the current situation.

The second trap hauled during this trip had a lobster in it.  It was just shy of legal size, and was thus released.

McLoon's on Sprucehead Island was quite busy when we showed up at around 5:30 pm.  We were done a bit after 6, and that was quite efficient.

A working dock right next to McLoon's.

Prices are not cheap.  Lobsters cost around $24 for one (1 1/4 lb) or $35 for two, if memory serves.  We decided to skip the lobsters.

Just before sunset at Boothbay Harbor.

Nice sunset colors.

There is a tall ship festival this weekend, and some have already pulled into port.  The one on the left is from Bermuda (!), and the one on the right is from Nantucket.  We also saw one called "Nao Santa Maria."

This was taken at 9:08 pm, more than 30 minutes after sunset.

June 25, Friday.  It was raining quite heavily while we were checking out, which made us appreciate the good weather we had for the last few days.  We had a few options: wait in town for an hour for a local "lobster shack" to open, go back to Erica's for lunch, or check out this random place called "Five Islands Lobsters that we randomly found on the map.  We decided on the third option.

We got there about 15 minutes before the place opened, and used the time to check out the rather scenic area.  It is a working dock, and we see lobster being dropped off and weighed.

Prices were slightly higher than Erica's, but still very reasonable.  We got soft shells at $8.50/pound, which came with butter (Erica's charges $0.75).  Traffic back to Somerville was busy but not too bad.

Five Islands Lobster Company is located on an island (Georgetown Island).  There are a few islands from this small enclave on the eastern edge of the island.

It's a working dock.  Fishermen were bringing in their catch.

You throw a few canoes together and you get a nice photo spot.

For comparison, soft shells are $6 or so at Erica's.  There cooking adds $1 per pound, and butter costs $0.75.

Three young men working away at lobster meat.

These two were to become our lunch.

Together with a pound of steamed clams.

Accommodations: Putnam Road, Somerville.  (4 nights).

June 26, Saturday.  We had lunch with ACCESS board members.

In the afternoon we decided to go canoeing at Mystic River.  The folks there said it was quite windy so gave us two single-person kayak instead (we weren't charged additional).  The two grandchildren could sit in front of us: Emmie with Anne and Harrison with me.  We did a bit more than 30 minutes of rowing and saw the same waterfowls: Mallards with ducklings, Canada geese with goslings, a cormorant and a couple of swans.  A occasional swallow would fly by.

Lunch with ACCESS colleagues at Mulan in Waltham.

Emmie and Anne shared a Kayak on the Mystic River.

June 27-29, Sunday - Tuesday.  On Sunday we visited Anny W who moved to the Boston area to be with her daughter's family.  Walked around the Minuteman Commuter Trail near the Arlington Mall.  Spy Pond provides a quiet picnic spot.  Took DD to South Station on Monday to see the trains.  The engineer on an Amtrak train invited us to take a look at the cockpit - that made DD's day.  We did an early celebration of the upcoming DD birthday.  After dinner and ice cream cake, we said goodbye and left a bit before 8 pm.  Even though thunderstorms were in the area, we managed to thread the needle and avoided the heavy downpours.  We got home at around 12:30 am.

We put about 1,400 miles on the VW.