The Honeymooners Part III

Welcome to Part 3 of our Honeymoon Adventure!

Once again we arose early in the morning, early enough to watch the sun rise over the bay.  We made a breakfast of eggs and sausage to go with our morning fire.  We determined that Kate is a far superior fire starter than I, but I’m stronger. 

We were both in need of showers and we discovered that it was 25 cents for 3 minutes; we only had 5 quarters so we decided the best bet would be to use the handicapped bathroom and share the shower to make sure we both got adequately cleaned. 

Once in the room and in the standard showering wardrobe we took our places.  On one wall was the quarter depository and on the other a dial you cranked to turn on the shower.  I dropped the quarter into the slot and then it hit me.  As an avid pinball playing, vending machine using, Laundromat clothes washing guy, I’m more than accustomed to the sound coin makes when you drop it into a slot where a coin is need to active a device.  This sound was not that sound, this was a loud clank of a coin striking the bottom of a metal cup, or in this case a green impenetrable cylindrical wall mounted storage unit.   That’s right ladies and gentleman, this shower was run on the honor system!  It was too late to turn back now, so I dropped in the 5 quarters and we commenced to showering!

We hit the road smelling fresh hoping to find a Laundromat in Machias, which we eventually did.  It was very nice and clean too!  Once I loaded the washer, we had 23 minutes to kill so we strolled over to Bad Little Falls Park.  It’s a beautiful waterfall right in the heart of the city that is completely obscured by the bridge you travel on going over it. You really need to pull over and walk down to the viewing platform to see it. 

Putting the clothes in the dryers we were able to use the wifi there on the laptop and Kate found us a nice cottage to stay at in Bar Harbor that even had a kitchenette in it.  The rate was so good we decided to book our last two nights there instead of just one and camping the last. 

After folding we popped over the Helen’s for a piece of pie, so what if it was 930 in the morning, it was delicious!  Then we got back on the road. 

Our drive was broken up with stops at Prospect Harbor Lighthouse and the Sullivan Reversing Falls.  Just like in Pembroke we hit the tide wrong at this reversing falls.  It was still quite lovely but not very rapid or reversing.

As we told Sylvia we would, see The Honeymooners part 1, we stopped for lunch in Ellsworth at Sylvia’s Café.  We found Pat and told her that Sylvia sent us and had a good laugh.  Lunch was very good and you could see them fresh breading our chicken, haddock, and onion rings.  Definitely a great place to check out and one I would go back to.  It’s located in a strip mall on State Street and if Sylvia hadn’t told us about it we never would have taken the time to find it and try it out, glad we did!

We checked into Barton’s Motel and Cottages at Cottage number 4.  It was very cute and the perfect place to stay our last two nights.  After unpacking and lounging a bit it was time to hit the road for some exploring! 

First stop was the Atlantic Brewing company for a factory tour and tasting of their fine brew.  What they produce in 1 year, the Budweiser plant in New Hampshire brews in 7 minutes!  But Budweiser tastes like crap and except for the IPA, Atlantic Brewing has some nice, solid brews the Porter and Seasonal Leaf Peeper being my favorites!  After the tour we sampled 6 beers and their root beer and blueberry soda, the sodas were excellent!  The tour and sampling is absolutely free, making it that much better!

Next we drove down to Bass Harbor Head Light.  The light and grounds are maintained by the Coast Guard and while some parts or the property are off limits, they allow you to go right down to the light. 

We drove around the island and into the Bar Harbor so Kate could look at the shops.  This was not mindless browsing though, not at all.  You see while Kate was on her bachelorette overnight excursion in Boothbay Harbor (after she was already Mrs. Labbe) she came across a Sea Bag.  A shoulder bag made from recycled sailboat sails that are pretty neat and come with a hefty price tag too! 

We eventually found the bags, the prices were even higher here, however, she couldn’t fine the one she was looking for.  A wrong turn took us down a lane that brought us to SALT, a gift shop where the owner custom made Sea Bags for about $50 less.  She didn’t have a star pattern, yet, but a quick search of the internet later and the perfect one was found.  We would have to come back the next day to pick it up. 

We strolled down to the Bar Harbor Brewing Company store and I had a tasting of their brews.  Apparently Atlantic Brewing bought Bar Harbor Brewing a few years back.  They both brew their own beers still at their own locations.  The sampling was $3 for 4 brews and that got you a $3 coupon to use in the store.  Again the beers were excellent and after expressing my love for Porters I was offered a fifth sample, this of the limited edition Ellen’s Coffee Stout.  It was excellent.  We bought a 22oz bottle of the Stout and each got a glass as well. 

Earlier in the day we had decided to get pizza for dinner and take it back to the room, the clerk at Bar Harbor brewing recommended Rosalie’s Pizza quite passionately!  We grabbed and xtra large pie, some garlic cheese bread and headed back to the room for dinner and some Little House on the Prairie. 

The pizza was good, I wasn’t blown away by it, but it was very good. 

It was a great end to a full day!

Later Readers!

The Honeymooners Part II

             

             Day 3 was bright and sunny so we started the morning with a walk across the World’s Longest Covered Bridge because why not!  There is a covered walking path along the side and it was begging to be walked on.  One Grocery store we went into had a line of products that were called No Name and in fact had plan labels with No Name written on them! 

                We crossed back into Maine via Houlton and went to Littleton to the Covered Bridge, which means I have now see all the covered bridges in Maine.  Of course now I need to take Kate to see the others, which I will enjoy doing.   We grabbed a 50 pound bag of potatoes in Houlton for only $10!!

                We stopped in Linneus at Grammy’s Country Inn for lunch, as suggested by a co-worker.  She was right the food was great, but the portions were excessive!  By happenstance we ran in my Uncle Dee who is doing work in the area.  It was nice to see him and quite the surprise.

               

              The drive the Calais was the lengthy but broken up by a stop at the Million Dollar View between Danforth and Orient.   

              The village of Danforth also had this wicked nice building that I just had to snag a photo of.  It looked completely out of place with the surrounding buildings.

                Our next stop was to view Whitlock Mill Lighthouse in Calais, the northern most lighthouse in Maine.  The keepers house is privately owned so now the only way to see it is from a turnout and at a distance.

                Perry, Maine has the distinction of being located on the 45^th Parallel that is marked by a stone marker and down the road a bit a funky gift shop that has a stuffed lion!

               

               Rolling into Cobscook Bay State Park right at 5pm we barely were able to get firewood from the Park Rangers as they were just locking up the fire box.  We decided to stay two nights and as it’s off season it was only $10 a night to camp.  We settled on site 49 and commenced to setting up the tent and starting a fire.  Our site was right on the bay and was just stunning!  We cooked up hotdogs over the open fire, it was awesome!

               
            We arose early and made a breakfast of bacon and eggs on the coleman stove.  Today’s adventure started in Eastport at Raye’s Mustard mill.  The only stone ground mustard mill in operation and we were lucky enough to get there while they were making mustard!  There are no photo’s allowed to be taken but it was very fascinating to check out.  We ended up buying two of their mustards that we can’t get locally and tasted great!  Winter Garden and Moose-a-maquoddy Molasses. 

                We explored downtown Eastport finding a fantastic bakery, Moose Island Bakery, reminded us of the old MacDonald’s Bakery.  The chocolate eclairs were huge and only $2!  Our next stop was in Pembroke at the Reversing Falls.  We got there when the tide was too high so we didn’t get to experience it to its fullest.  However we enjoyed watching the harbor seals and eagles.  The tide did go out while we were there and the water went from calm and silent to very loud and rapid. 

                Next we drove to Lubec and West Quoddy Lighthouse which is also the Eastern Most Point in the United States.  The weather was just perfect.  As a matter of fact the was weather has been perfect since we woke up Tuesday morning. Along the way to West Quoddy and back of course we passed Lubec Channel Light, a spark plug style lighthouse.

                Last minute we decided to go to Campobello Island, however we were concerned about going into Canada with the firewood in the van, we had picked it up at the Ranger Station in case they were closed when we returned, and the bag of potatoes.   I went into the customs office and asked about them, they said the we would definitely loose the firewood going into Canada and they were unsure about the potatoes, so they offered for us to leave them on the lawn on the side of the building until we came back!  One of the guys even came out to give us a hand moving them.  Even more hilarious, I told him the potatoes were in a bag marked Long Island, NY but we bought them in Houlton.  He knew exactly where we got them as he used to work there.  He even said they always buy the cheapest bags they could get! 

                Campobello Island is beautiful! As you drive over the Roosevelt Bridge you can see Mulholland Light off the to the left Lubec Channel Light off to the right.  The Roosevelt International Park was stunning!  They do such a wonderful job maintaining the grounds and the buildings.  When touring the Roosevelt Cottage the staff are very well informed with the history of the place and can answer any question you have.  What I really can’t believe is that it is all free! 

               

                At the far end of the Island is East Quoddy Light, also called Head Harbour Light, the only other lighthouse on the Island.  We drove down to it and hit it just at the right time.  When the tide is low the Lighthouse and it’s grounds are accessible, but if you stay at the lighthouse island too long and the tide comes in you will be stranded for 8 hours until the tide goes out.  In this area the tides are about 22 feet which is tremendous! 

                In order to get to the Light we had to go down a sketchy ladder, traverse slippery seaweed covered rocks, walk across the ocean floor, scale an even sketchier ladder, cross a bridge, go down the sketchiest leaning stair/ladder, once again cross the ocean floor, and finally climb another unsafe ladder onto the lighthouse grounds island, and we paid $5 to do so!

                They “Friends of Head Harbour Light” are doing a fantastic job refinishing the buildings.  The Lighthouse is made of wood and was built in 1820, the keepers house was added in 1840.  We paid for a tour of the keepers house and were able to go up into the lantern room of the light.  Just a wonderful experience!  Then off course we had to cross the obstacle course of doom back to the mainland.  I would do it again! 

                Before leaving the island and Canada for the last time this trip we visited the grounds of Mulholland Lighthouse, marking the 4^th lighthouse of the day! 

                We cooked potatoes and hotdogs over the fire and enjoyed the campfire while listening to some great tunes on the IPOD.  The Potatoes were so good, Kate did a fantastic job on them! I really can’t believe just how good they were!

                It was the perfect end of the day!

Later Readers!