Maine 2016

After leaving the Escapade in Essex Jct, Vt we travelled to the Brattleboro, Vt area. This used to be our home. A trip in to clean up some things, see some friends and family, and take care of some old business. We stayed at Brattleboro North KOA and were pleasantly surprised at the nice park and nice people running it.

Our spot at Brattleboro North KOA

While in the area, all of our time was pretty much accounted for. Getting set up after arrival on friday and just plain resting on saturday and sunday. On monday we headed down to KeyGots Storage to begin the process of cleaning out everything that we had stored there. What a job. What we didn't give away or trash, we kept. Which was very little. Anyways, by the end of Wednesday, we had it emptied out. Tuesday was appointment day: Mary with her Optometrist, me with the Dentist for a teeth cleaning, and our truck to Bellows Falls for service. While in Bellows Falls I took the opportunity to stop in at The Richards Group office and visit former co-workers. It was really great to see Shelby, Sandy B, Deb, and Marj again and I know they enjoyed my stories about our travels.  On Wednesday it was Molly's turn as she had a scheduled visit with her Vet in Deerfield, MA.  On the way, we visited an old stopping place for lunch - the Four Leaf Clover in Bernardston, MA.

Molly's visit went well. The Vet was extremely pleased with Molly's condition and how she is coming along. Molly is pretty unique, in that she has a Vet Specialist in Deerfield, MA, one in Tucson, AZ as well as various vets we've met along the way in our travels. She has to have blood work done every so many months. On the way back we picked up the last of the stuff at the Storage Facility for delivery on the way back to our park.

Thursday our appointments ended with my visit to The Richards Group and Mike M to review our Retirement $. All went well and I got to visit with a lot of old friends and co-workers, share our story, and let them all know that retirement is a good thing.

At the park we had met / made some new friends. Our neighbors for the last 2 days were from St Louis and they also had just come from the Escapade. Small world.  Even smaller when Mary discovered that his wife was a quilter and also an owner of a Bernina Sewing Machine. I am sure that our paths will cross again.

In parting E Dummerston, Vt and Brattleboro North KOA, we got one last look at the resident beasts:

And then it was time to hit the road again for Maine. Our ultimate destination was the Lobsterfest in Hermon, ME, but bookending the event were stays in Belfast and Eastport. The trip from Vt to Belfast was about 277 miles and thankfully was uneventful. We arrived and were presented with our spot, which we think is the best one in the park, especially since we are in a 5th Wheel and backed up towards the ocean.

Words cannot begin to describe how nice a spot this is, so we'll post a few pics and let them tell the story:

The day we arrived, the park sponsored a happy hour. We brought the snacks, they provided the beer and wine. Not a bad deal....

Our neighbors for the first 2 days were from Michigan. Nice people. Even surprised us our first night there with a plateful of homemade lobster stir fry. It was excellent. And then they had to pack up and leave. Sorry to see them go, as it looked like they were really enjoying themselves here.....

I gave them our card and asked them to keep in touch. Hopefully our paths will cross again.

On day 2 here, our friends Chuck & Anita from Brattleboro (and Florida) showed up. We enjoy their company and did a number of things together......

Happy Hour in our "yard"

A Campfire, with marshmellows

A trip in to Belfast and lunch

Speaking of the trip to Belfast, it was really neat. The docks and ships were really something.

Dry Dock

After a stay of 4 days it was time to move on. Our next Maine stop was the Escapee Chapter 3 Lobsterfest Rally in Hermon, Me. For us it was not a very long drive to get there from Belfast- approximately 32 miles.

We arrived on tuesday, 8/9 and got set up in our  new "home"

Site # 62

After getting all settled in and water, electric, and sewer all connected, we joined a group of those already there for a dinner outing at Angler's Restaurant.

The seafood was great and a good time was had by all. We all were amazed at the efficiency of our server, a young man that had a memory and didn't miss a beat. Amazing considering the number of people he was responsible for.

The activities when the rally actually got started on Wednesday included an opening Happy Hour, and a Pot Luck Dinner.

Thursday included another Happy Hour followed by a prepared meal.


Friday's activities included an Eggs in a Bag Breakfast. Mary and I worked on preparing for this as well as setting up and doing the cooking. In all 42 breakfasts were served.

Charlie and I were the cooking crew. 

The breakfast went well and all were pleased. The rest of friday was free and most took advantage of it to tour the area.  Mary and I pretty much stayed around, although we did go out to do some grocery shopping. The headline for Friday night was Here Comes the Judge.  A tradition with the Lobsterfest is a Sheriff whose job it is is to find, observe and write up offenders to Lobsterfest "rules".  Some of the rules include not wearing your badge / nametag, swearing in public, wearing a hat at meal, excessively loud, using the unmentionable 4 letter word - WORK. This year, we not  only had a Sheriff, but a sheriff with a deputy. In addition, there was an undercover sheriff.

The Judge, making his entrance

No one is safe. Last years Sheriff, Maybelle, got brought up on charges

Even Bob P felt the wrath of the Judge

 
 All the money raised in the collection of fines for offenses, bail for those put in jail, and "donations" to the Judge, went in to the fund to be donated to the Escapees CARE project. Great cause that all were more than glad to donate to.

And then came the day we were all waiting for- Saturday and the Lobsterfest. It was All Hands on Deck right from the get go on Saturday morning. All the pots for cooking our 100 + lobsters, 10 dozen ears of corn, and a bushel of clams had to be scrubbed and dried. Equipment had to be set up, pots filled with water, corn shucked, tables set up. Charlie was the Wagon Master and generally directed all. Pete was in charge of the cooking. Talk about experience.....

Clams ready to be cooked

Everything set up and ready to go

Phil and Pete sharing some thoughts

Charlie and Pete surveying the catch

Charlie offers Molly a clam to sample

Not everyone had lobster

The clams are done

And then it was time to eat!

Mary doesn't waste much lobster meat

The Lobster master at work

Our table- all ate well

When the eating was all done, then it was time to clean up. Again it was All Hands on Deck, and didn't take very long. With everything cleaned up and put away, it became time to rest up for the farewell party that night. As well as take care of some other business- clams. We bought extra clams to start with and then bought a lot of what was left. The plan was to "process" them and then freeze for later inclusion in one of Mary's great homemade Clam Chowders.

Clams!!!

A lot of time was spent saying goodbye to old friends and new friends....

Pete & Maybelle

Mary and her new old friend Maybelle

New friends Bruce & Sue

New / old friends Duane & Jean

 Sunday morning we were up bright and early again. This time for a send off pancake breakfast. Don and I joined Charlie and between the 3 of us, cooked up quite a selection of scrambled eggs and pancakes. Once again, we had plenty of volunteers to get the job done, everything cleaned up and packed away for next year. Everyone said their goodbyes and our friends started pulling out to hit the road. Unfortunately Phil and Cynthia did not leave the way they wished to......

A starter problem had them being towed to local truck garage to get it replaced. Not quite the way they wanted their Lobsterfest to end.

We made sure to make reservations for next years Lobsterfest. This rally is just too much fun.

On tuesday we packed up and headed north to Eastport, a trip of approximately 123 miles. This would be the farthest north that we had traveled and our stay at Seaview Campground was one we were looking forward to. When we got there and settled in to our site, we couldn't believe it. We thought our site at Moorings in Belfast was pretty special - this one was better. We could not get over the tide. It had to be in excess of 10'. And the view was pretty good too.....

Our spot - site # 11

Another view of our spot - from the hill looking out on Passamaquoddy Bay

Low Tide

Low Tide

Somebody named a boat after our Molly

High Tide

These were among our neighbors at Escapade

Tide coming in

Our last night and a Full Moon

The Village of Eastport was kind of neat. We enjoyed walking the town's main street - Water Street, enjoying a breakfast and a lunch at Waco's Diner, visiting the shops, and exploring the waterfront.

Waco's Diner for breakfast- and one Mary had never had before- The Atlantic Scramble(scrambled eggs and salmon and a bagel)

The dock 

The view

The dock

The waterfront walk

Water Street - the main drag

Eastport, ME. Says it all

Our lunch spot at Waco's - and some unbelievably good Halibut

One of the boats tied up at Seaview Campground belonged to the former owner, who now runs a boat charter business- Fundy Breeze Charters. On our next trip here, I am definitely going to take advantage of his services......

A family going out for a morning of fishing 

We did take some side trips during our waaaay tooooo short stay in Eastport. One day we took a ride north to Calais and along the way saw some unbelievable scenery as well as a view of the St Croix River which dumps in to Passamaquoddy Bay. Another interesting thing on this trip was the marker for the 45th Parallel.....

Perhaps the highlight of our trip to Eastport, was traveling down to Lubec and venturing over to Campobello Island, the former home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Mary has been really looking forward to this and especially the Tea with Eleanor. We were not disappointed one bit - other than the fact that we did not allow ourselves enough time to do the things that we should have done. Oh well, reason to come back. We did a tour of the house and grounds, and did the Tea. We did not have time to explore the island and everything that is so unique about it. On our next trip we will definitely plan on spending at least 2 full days exploring this neat island.

The sign says it all

The view from Lubec

Looking to the bridge to Campobello Island

Waiting in line to go through Canadian Customs

One of the many great views

The Roosevelts House

US Customs on the way back from New Brunswick

Our Maine trip was thoroughly enjoyable and we can't believe it is over. This is a part of Maine that we definitely have to experience again,  and so, we are making plans for a return. As the Maine Tourist Group touts:

Maine - the way life should be. We would have to agree.

 As we left the park, we couldn't help but notice the sign:

The only thing we forgot was to STAY LONGER.