August 1!!
We have been out since late June, and Clem is doing really well....not antsy to go home....and I am thrilled! We are really having a very nice time. I think staying in one place for a good stretch has made a big difference, taking time to just relax and sight seeing when we are in the mood, and he is even working on plans for his new train layout. And even for me, I have not pressured myself to blog each and every day, but do it when I have time. So this morning, I am catching up for the first time since leaving Eastport!
Yesterday, our first morning here in Searsport, it was cool, but sunny and beautiful, and we took our coffee outside, then walked around the campground, exploring their lovely garden of flowers and vegetables, where an older woman was tending, and instructing a teenager, who followed her along with a hose and followed directions! I had to smile, and wish I had snapped a photo!
In the office we encountered the owners, she speaking on the phone in French to a future Canadian camper, and he trading stories with Clem while I checked out the little gift section. I discovered that she also makes jams and pickles, which are sold in the store, and dyes some yarn from her goats, also available! They are very nice, and offered help for suggesting things to see while we are here, and we left with some jam, a very cute little airstream Christmas ornament, and a promise to return with what we had listed so far, so she could perhaps make some additions.
The tide was out, and we walked down to the beach, and I walked all the way out to the waters edge, peeking in tide pools along the way. Big tides here, too! Shot a photo up the way, where Joan’s house has to be perched, though out of site.....I could probably hike down the the rocks, and up the hill and find her, but I sure would want better shoes than my flip flops!
We decided a relaxing day, and staying close, was in order, so I did some housework, and made lunch to have at the picnic table, and the woman from next door came over to say hello......and tell us her life story! She was very nice, though, and is the wife of this week’s resident artist here at camp, and also an avid fiber crafter......”fiber hussy” she says.....and had a project set up on her picnic table, and a sewing machine in the car, and was ready to spend the day there enjoying her craft and the beautiful weather.
We had heard from other campers that they have an artist in residence program, and some had taken a class in felting, and I was looking forward to doing something while we were here, but this week the artist makes chain male! Chain Male!? All I can picture is a knight in armor! Guess I will pass on that! Clem extended our time here....already!!.....so maybe next week will have something of more interest to me.
After lunch, we went to town and explored the Penobscot Maritime Museum, which we discovered was actually a whole collection of buildings along a block, consisting of a Sea Captain’s house turned museum, his daughter’s house across the street, a beautiful old church, unfortunately under renovation, and not open to view, and several other buildings.
Another sea captains house was at the bottom of the street, and furnished in period pieces, and contained the history and photos of some of the more than 500 sea captains who once lived here! Once a thriving port, wealthy captains built large, beautiful homes, which line Rt 1, and are now mostly bed and breakfast accommodations. Women were thought to be bad luck on ships in those days, but this area broke the mold, and some 60 women actually sailed with their husband’s, and bore children on board, and the male descendants also became captains. Charts on the wall show the family names continuing through the years.
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| Those with stars were lost at sea, this shows just some of the sea captains |
Family and history are very important here, and Joan had told us that even the cottages that line her street are rarely sold, but are passed down through the family. When they bought theirs, she was grilled on where they were from, but she finally passed muster when they realized she is in fact a native Mainer, and not someone “from away!” They use that term a lot here, and we have seen it in print.....people “from away” brought ........ Just a local phrase, like you might encounter anywhere, but an interesting one!
Our phones are now back on US towers, and we have enabled our data, but the signals are pretty weak, and the camp wifi is even weaker, so I don’t imagine I can add any photos yet! But I am again using word processing, and will post at least this to the blog, and post photos later.
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