Maine - Part 3

Addison, Schoodic Woods, Sea Wall

Day 13

Before heading out to Addison we went back to the Stonewall Kitchen in Camden. The crackers and jam we purchased yesterday were so good that Mitzi wanted to try more of their products. We got clam chowder, chipotle queso, multigrain crackers, and a few other fun tidbits.

Then we drove about 30 minutes north to Belfast. Mitzi's friend Diane from Wild Heron has a sister who owns a store there called Vinolio.

They have an assortment of olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Her sister is out of town so we didn't get to meet her. But we enjoyed shopping there and bought some goodies.

We appreciate old architecture when they actually cared about making interesting designs. Here's a doorway and entry to a very old building. We also stopped in a yarn store and saw amazing hand-made apparel.

This post box looks like a real old one. It was on the door of one of the stores.

Mitzi enjoyed playing with some Folkmanis puppets. They are amazing products!

We had lunch at the Daily Soup. A tiny and highly rated sandwich and soup shop. Excellent!

After lunch we walked around the shopping area in Belfast. It's more casual than Camden and we think more charming. Really enjoyed it. One of the businesses had a flower garden and we got pictures of flowers we've never seen before. So beautiful.

Some cool photos as we continued our walk.

As we were heading to the harbor we passed this little lobster roll shack. I just needed to have a bite or two of another lobster roll. So we stopped.

Since we had just finished lunch we ordered their mini 2 oz roll with just chives and lemon. No mayo, no butter. Just wanted the natural flavors with a little pizzaz added. It was wonderful!

Mitzi got these great pictures at the harbor.

This boat had bay slime dripping off the rudder. It had just come out of the water. The aroma was, well, she described it as horrific haha. There are books tucked in the top. Interesting ride!

We continued our drive to Addison. We crossed the Penobscot Narrows bridge. I love this bridge design. So minimalistic and beautiful.

This is the street leading to our vacation house on the edge of Wohoa Bay. Nice dirt road. Trees and power lines. Glad we have power!

We can't see any people or houses. It's secluded and quiet. There is quite the view out the back and overlooking the bay.

When we walked in Mitzi exclaimed, "These are the exact same tiles I had in my Pleasant Grove house kitchen!" Her mom had taught her to mop tile on hands and knees. Having her face a few inches away from the tile in Pleasant Grove so often, she would definitely recognize this tile anywhere :)

Day 14

Mitzi purchased pancake batter and real maple syrup at Stonewall Kitchen yesterday. She made it for breakfast. Yum! She also made me oatmeal like she does just about every day :)

We purchased some raw milk in Belfast yesterday. She used it in the pancakes. And of course I had some raw. I've learned to love raw milk on this trip!

I checked the tide charts last night. It's amazing how much change happens in such a short time with the tides going in and out. The tide changes right now about 10 feet twice each day.

High tide was at 12:07p today. About an hour before that I got the picture on the left of the view from our back porch.

Then at low tide which was at 6:11p I took another shot from the same spot. The picture on the right. So different! These two pictures were with the Hassleblad.

I also took pictures of the high/low tide with the Leica. This is them.

Mitzi and I took a walk down to the water level at high tide.

Early in the afternoon we drove to Beals island. It's sparsely populated and most of the activity there is related to lobster trapping.

We randomly drove by a post office. From the day we left Panama City Beach we've been looking for a post office. We had a box with Halloween costumes in it that needed to be sent to Sydney and Logan.

Each time we tried the post office was closed. Their hours were strange. One was closed because there was a little construction off in the corner of the building so they shut down the whole operation. That pretty much sums up the reliability of our government right now haha.

So when we ran across this post office in Beals we stopped and thought, let's give it a try! They were open and operational! Mitzi got the package mailed and had a good laugh with the mail clerk inside when she told the story of how hard we've tried to get this mailed all the way from Florida over the last 2 weeks.

There are lobster traps all over Beals.

Another interesting thing we saw – there are two offshoots of the LDS church in Beals.

We drove by this building and saw "Church of Jesus Christ - The Lamb of God" and thought it was another protestant church. There are a lot here. Then we noticed it said Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants on the sign. That was a surprise!

Then a minute later we drove by another building with a sign "Community of Christ". How did two LDS offshoots end up having congregations in the remotes of Maine? I don't know but I'm curious.

We decided to eat lunch at Chipman's Wharf in Milbridge.

There is a lobster boat named Miss Madelyn in the driveway so we had to get a picture for Maddy!

Chipman's Wharf does lobster wholesale and retail here. Their processing operation has a door into the gift shop and restaurant. It was interesting watching them sort out the lobsters that the fishermen brought in.

Can I just say their food is amazing? Yes? Ok ... "their food is amazing!"

We got our first hot lobster roll. Loved it! And a grilled cheese lobster sandwich. We ate outside next to the water. Such a great experience.

We tried an original Moxie soda. It was established in 1884. Fun to experience something localish and unique.

They have rocking chairs made out of lobster traps. Clever!

This was one of our best meals so far. We'll probably go back tomorrow :) Not kidding!

After returning to the house Mitzi walked down to the low tide and collected shells.

And I took some pictures with the Hasselblad. The lighting was soft as golden hour started.

For dinner we had stuffed mushrooms and crab dip from Chipman's Wharf. Along with chips and pretzels from Stonewall Kitchen. A combination of products from two places that may have never have been combined before. And may never be combined again :)

Day 15

Mitzi made corn bread for breakfast. Yum!

She setup a sewing room upstairs here. And has been working on a quilt.

She snuck a picture of me reading "The Secret Life of Lobsters" book. I purchased it yesterday and am loving the learning all about lobsters and lobstering in Maine. Super interesting!

We visited Dyer Bay Farm. I noticed they have Scottish Highland cattle. For several years I've been wanting to get a picture of one of these bulls. And frame it. And hang it on our wall. For Mitzi. Who likes them.

I also wanted to buy some beef.

We drove over and met David. He is 83 years old. Bought this property in 2006 and loves farming. We talked to him for about 45 minutes. Learned his philosophy of being content living a simple life.

He is out of beef so we didn't get any. But we did buy some eggs. He won't handle the money. He has a money box. And trusts people to be honest about what they take and that they pay for it fairly. They don't even have to write down what they are buying. He  trusts them and finds people honest.

What a pleasant experience! To be treated with trust. To meet a grounded and content and happy and experienced person. A seasoned and wise person. We left feeling happy and grateful.

We enjoyed Chipman's Wharf so much yesterday. We went back today for lunch!

The weather was 10 degrees colder. There was no sun. It was foggy.

It was still a very enjoyable experience and interesting how the weather made it so different.

We got another hot lobster roll, another grilled cheese lobster sandwich. And added a lobster mac & cheese.

The fog created a surreal feel. The lobster boats were moored just off-shore and were partially enveloped in the fog. It makes for a gentle and tranquil photo.

We've driven by this house several times. Today we parked down the street. Walked up. And got some proper photos. It has such an interesting architecture.

We enjoyed another successful visit to the post office today! Maine is really coming through for us :)

Mitzi went to a gift shop and found a fun activity book for Navy and Cobalt. We were parked in the parking lot of the post office in Milbridge. So she thought, "might as well try and get it mailed right now."

It worked!

We saw this little mushroom in the grass near the house. Amazing fungi.

Our time in Addison is coming to a close. We checkout by 10a tomorrow morning and head over to Schoodic Woods Campground.

We've enjoyed this visit so much and look forward to new adventures and experiences as we continue our epic trip!

Day 16

We left Addison today and drove over to Acadia National Park. The Schoodic part.

Before leaving I got a few more pictures of the beautiful view from the porch of our vacation rental. The water was so still. There was a light fog. So peaceful.

We stopped in Winter Harbor with about an hour to spend before we could check in to our campsite.

The shopping was fun. The view was incredible! The weather today was amazing. 65 degrees and mostly clear skies. It felt wonderful to sit on a bench and be still for a little while.

Mitzi went over to Cook's Corner and brought back a – yes – Lobster Roll!

After getting settled in our campsite Mitzi went off on a hiking adventure.

Nature is amazing here. Lots of mushrooms, a huge variety. Soft moss.

These pictures she captured deserve a space of their own.

She pulled out her sewing machine. Yay! And the sun was entering the golden hour. The light was soft and perfect for some beautiful photos of a beautiful person.

About 45 minutes before sunset we drove down to Schoodic Point and parked. We hiked about a quarter mile to the edge of the sea just as the sun was setting.

We saw more beautiful mushrooms along the path. And the scenery at the edge of the sea was incredible. The pictures speak for themselves :)

Day 17

An epic day today! We drove around the Schoodic loop near high tide in the early afternoon. We stopped about 10 times to take pictures.

What a beautiful place! It was peaceful and tranquil.

The weather was perfect, about 70 degrees. Some clouds but mostly sun.

There were so many magnificent photos (Mitzi on the Leica, me on the Hasselblad). I've taken the best and am displaying them individually here so we can see all the details in the photos. 

The road around the area has small divets to park so people can walk out. Here is one of the places we parked.

RV's aren't allowed back here unless they are less than 21 feet. Our Baby Malanah is 19.5 feet. One of the benefits of having a "shorty" van is it can pretty much go anywhere a car can go (unless there is a height constraint). Even though it's small it still has all the conveniences of larger motorhomes – toilet, shower, sink, microwave, stove, king bed.

It's been so nice to have our own bathroom everywhere we go. When we need to "go" we don't have to go searching around for a public restroom. We brought ours with us haha.

We love this little machine!

The Schoodic Education Center has a building with intricate brick work.

Mitzi hiked part of the Sundew Trail and got some photos of colorful moss, black water surrounded by green moss, an uprooted tree that exposes the rocks beneath, a bench, and wooden walkways.

And of course – mushrooms! There are so many varieties here.

After Mitzi's hike we went over to Schoodic Point. The sun was glinting off the water. The waves were hitting the rocks and spraying. We climbed down into the rocks near the water and got these dramatic pictures.

After these amazing hours of enjoying this beautiful area we headed to lunch.

About 20 minutes away in Corea is a place called Lunch on the Wharf. It's literally on the wharf in Corea Harbor.

The wind was almost still. The water was so smooth. Air temperature perfect. We sat on a bench facing the harbor. This environment and setting and experience made for the best meal we've had to this point.

We got a lobster roll, lobster BLT, and an enormous Whoopie Pie.

They had 4 bins of live lobsters at the restaurant. One of the employees opened this full one so we could get a good picture.

One of the many things we've learned about lobster fishermen is they use unique colors and patterns on their buoys to identify who they belong to. This pile of yellow and purple in front of a bunch of lobster cages looked pretty cool.

On our way back to our campsite we stopped at MC's Market. And we turned into lobsters! Guess we've eaten too many haha.

We parked across the street from the market. There was an ice cream store Me & Ben's and we made a last minute decision to go get some. This evidently made Mitzi very happy as you can see in this picture :) I was happy too!

We decided to get a chocolate shake. It was amazing! So chocolaty.

Back at the campsite Mitzi decided to take a walk. She went all the way around both the A and B zones. And found amazing mushrooms.

And she captured this picture. There is so much life growing on this rock. And that tree is growing right out of the top!

As the evening settled in was started a camp fire. Mitzi had fun playing with it and making sparks.

She roasted hot dogs. I prepped the onion, sauerkraut, and toasted the New England buns.

A simple and delicious meal.

Roasting dogs and having a camp fire made Mitzi feel like a young girl again.

She is a master marshmallow roaster. She gets them perfectly brown and toasted.

I wasn't going to have one but when she handed me the perfect s'more I just had to eat it. Delicious!

Today was incredible. We loved hanging out together. Enjoying the beautiful nature. Being outside. Going to the beach – a rocky beach but a beach non-the-less! A serene lunch. And roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a camp fire.

Truly an epic day.

Day 18

Today we drove to our new campground, Seawall in Southwest Harbor.

We settled down by eating a salad. Mitzi found this lettuce leaf robust.

Then we walked down to the water line about a half mile away. Mitzi had fun finding sea shells in the tide pools.

I had fun taking photos.

We relaxed at the campsite until it was dinner time. Mitzi did her sewing. I read my Lobster book.

Mitzi also took a walk and got more mushroom pictures, met a deer, and some beautiful green forest.

We went to dinner at Hearth & Harbor. They sat us at the last two seats available. They were in the front window.

The food was all excellent. We had two items we've never had before. I can't remember their exact names but one was a seafood stew and the other was a tart.

And a classic and high quality pepperoni pizza.