Downeast Digest: Day 3

Friday, October 7, 2005

Rosie and I slept like stones last night, but Steve was a little restless. We all got going about 8 am, had a light breakfast at the motel, and met a funny old guy who kept feeding hotdogs to the motel dog, Molly.

We headed north on Coastal 1, going north to the Schoodic Peninsula. It was another very foggy day. We first stopped at a little pullover, Long Cove. The tide was way out and we saw a man come walking in from pretty far out, carrying a bucket. It was full of the biggest worms I have ever seen, bloodworms. He said they come from out in the ocean and he sells them for bait.

Then we went on, entering Acadia Park for a while. We stopped off at Frazer Point and walked out onto a pier-not a soul around but us. Then, with the tide still out, we went down to the rocky shore and looked for seashells. We started turning over rocks and found a few crabs underneath, one fairly good sized. I picked him up so Steve could take a photo.

It was so foggy that we couldn't see the Mark Island Lighthouse, darn it. We did see a couple of cormorants spreading their wings shortly past the island though. We drove along the coast but the visibility was very poor.

Our nest stop was Bartlett Main Estate Winery, where we met a couple from Texas who were wine tasting too. The wines here were very good, many made from blueberries. We ordered 6 bottles that will be shipped to us. This winery is Maine's first, but it's not too old, having been established in 1983. The people from Texas recommended a restaurant in Millbridge called 44 degrees North, so we headed there on our way to the West Quoddy Head lighthouse.

Millbridge was a neat little town, with lots of lobster fishermen evidently. We saw many houses with lobster traps piled up outside. The old houses here are very well kept for the most part, but we noticed that they are usually painted only one or two colors, usually white, I suppose to make it easier to paint and touch up. The winters here and the moist air probably wreak havoc on paint jobs so they probably keep the colors simple.

The restaurant was great. Steve had a haddock burger and I had some very spicy chili and beer battered onion rings, perfect for a dampish, cool day.

We headed further north on Coastal 1 to get to West Quoddy Head. It gets dark here about 6 pm and it was 2 pm by the time we finished lunch. The drive was pretty nice but with all the fog the ocean views were limited. We did see several inlets where lobster boats were floating, dotting the water.

By the time we reached West Quoddy Head, the fog was as thick as pea soup. We had fun walking around the lighthouse and Steve disappeared for a while. Rosie and I thought he was trying to sneak into the lighthouse, but he turned up soon and showed us how he'd climbed out onto a rocky bluff to take pictures of the lighthouse. It's a good thing he didn't fall since he had the car keys! The lighthouse was really neat but I thought it would be taller. They don't let you go up in it, but it has a light in it and there's a foghorn that sounds too. I was glad to see it in the fog since that's sort of the whole point to a lighthouse anyway.

We made a quick stop at a little gift shop to pick up a few items and Rosie got a stuffed Puffin that sounds like a cow when you squeeze it. We figured that we'd better head back as we had 60 miles to go to get back to Ellsworth and it was getting later and foggier. On the way back we got a glimpse of another lighthouse called The Sparkplug.

We made good time and got back to Ellsworth at 6 pm, ate at a restaurant called Helen's, and stopped at an LL Bean outlet. We brought slices of pie back to have later at the motel, and battened down the hatches about 9 pm as a storm is predicted for tonight. Hopefully, we'll be able to go back to Acadia and to Bar Harbor tomorrow to see another lighthouse.