Portland to Boothbay

 Addie, Claiborne, Luke and Jude joined us in Portland, and we went as far as Boothbay Harbor with them, before they had to fly home.  It was a wonderful week with them, and I'll let the pics explain.  Megan, Stan and Cameron join us Wednesday.  

Jude is a natural at driving the dinghy. 

These pics are from Coastal Maine's Botanical Gardens.  More than just plants, it has miles of walking trails, and five trolls to find on different trails.  It took us over two hours, but we found them all! 

Boothbay has many restaurants, and I have succumbed to all thing blueberry....

Jude at Ocean View Park. 

A jackup boat in Boothbay doing dock work-from Dulac!!

Entrance to Boothbay Harbor. 

Cutting through the islands on the way to Boothbay. 

One of the many old forts here. 

They would not get into the 65 degree water-southern boys! 

These pics are from the Maritime Museum in Bath.  Quite an interesting boatbuilding history, from wooden schooners to modern day destroyers. 

Guess what they serve at this restaurant?? 

Scenes from Boothbay Harbor. 

Hello from Portland.

We docked in Portland yesterday, after we stopped at two of the many islands that surround Portland in Casco Bay.  These islands are served by an extensive ferry service from Portland, as there are no bridges to most of the islands.  The islands are rock edifices, and the ones that are not land sanctuaries, have multi-million dollars homes on them.  I can only imagine what it costs to build these homes on the islands.  Claiborne and family arrive tomorrow, and we are in the process of making the boat ready for guests.    We are incredibly excited to see them! So, I only have time for a short post, and the pics are jumbled again, but here they are: 

One of our stops was on Diamond Island.  It was home to Fort McKinley which was active through WWII.  The fort, officers and enlisted homes and barracks, are now private residences, in a gated community.  Since it is on the national historic register, all renovations have to keep the same look as the old fort.  There is a hotel and two restaurants in old fort out buildings and  on weekends, the ferry is full of people to stay at the hotel.  The hotel is also a destination wedding site, with quite the setup.  This is the restaurant entrance.  Out back it has a large porch overlooking the marina, which fills up at happy hour! 

One of the private homes. 

The trek into Portland takes us around many island, you just have to watch out for rocks and lobster pots!  Absolutely stunning vistas. 

Alexis is still flying her LSU flag, which draws a few comments...

The Dolphin Marina and Restaurant, in Harpswell.  

Diamond Cove. 

I am on the paddleboard by an old Navy bunker on Diamond.  German U-boats would enter the sound and reek havoc on shipping, so a blimp base was added to Diamond Island defenses, protecting the entrance to Portland Harbor.  

Floating docks are a must with a 10' tide. 

I found the true use for the paddleboard! 

 Our marina in Portland is huge.  Even though the boating season is short here, there are thousands of boats.  Lots of fishing goes on here too.  

We made it to Maine!

We are on a mooring at Biddeford Pool, Maine. We arrived yesterday, after a beautiful day on the ocean from Newburyport, MA (one of our favorite stops to date). On the way we saw whales, seals and a big fish! We are off to the islands off Portland for a few days, and are getting excited about our upcoming visits with Claiborne and then Stan, and their families.  Here are some pics from the last week.  

From Salem.  Recognize the lady? 

Salem has embraced its tragic past, and created a "witch" city, complete with an entire street full of witch attire, etc.  I am told it is crazier than Bourbon Street on Halloween!   This was my favorite..

Did not know this. 

Newburyport claims to be the birthplace of the US Navy. 

The above two pics document early duck hunting in Newburyport.  Sounds familiar.  

 

Biddeford Pool.  

Houses on this island are briefly connected to the mainland during low tide.  

Juvenile Eiders?  

We did not get any whale pictures, but this is a pic of a 6-8 ft. fish, I think some kind of shark.  Can anyone identify it from this admittedly poor pic?  

We postponed our departure from Newburyport as weather blew in.