The Rest of Maine

You get the best lobsters in Maine, we learned that there are nearly 7000 licensed lobster fishermen in Maine and each one can have up to 600 lobster pots ~ that's a lot of lobsters ~ and indeed there were pots everywhere. We had two great experiences eating whole lobsters, one at what is called a "Lobster Pound" and the other at a “Clam/Lobster Bake" which was in conjunction with a boat trip around Boothbay Harbor (check out Cabbage Island Clambakes Maine) ...... I will let the photos tell the story. (click on the photo for more)

Our third week in Maine was spent in the Acadia National Park area, which came as a bit of a shock to be joining hoards of tourists after the quiet and isolation of our previous two weeks. However, Bar Harbor was well worth seeing and exploring. Once again there were many hiking trails and we were able to find some quiet spots, one being a lake where we took a dip and the only other sign of life was a duck who just popped up alongside us, don't know who was more surprised, him, or us.

We never seemed to tire of the jagged coastline of Maine with its numerous lighthouses, and wonderful hiking trails. We found we really had to be careful of where we walked, for, compared to Washington State it was strewn with rocks and roots. However, it's definitely a State we would like to return to. Having said that we would not wish to live there in the winter months ..... way too cold.

After Maine we spent some time with friends in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey. We then continued toward home via the Outer Banks of NC where we acquainted ourselves with the history of the Wright Brothers, as Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills was the area they spent many years perfecting the first successful powered airplane flight in 1903. (Interestingly enough it was a mere 66 years later that Neil Armstrong landed on the moon carrying in his pocket a piece of canvas from that very flight).

Much of the land on these Outer Banks are a Wild Bird Sanctuary and wild ponies are known to roam the beaches, however we did not see any. We greatly enjoyed the town of Ocracoke at the southern most tip of the Outer Banks before catching a ferry back to Cedar Island (a two and a half hour trip) to the mainland. Then it was back to Charleston for a couple of nights before heading back home to Florida.

It was a wonderful trip, and in the 12 weeks we were on the road, we had amazing weather with maybe 3 days of rain ~ yes we even managed to elude Hurricane Earl.

Now it's time to hibernate and recharge the batteries for our next adventure.