6/26/21

Today we decided to go check out the town of Belfast and there were a couple of yarn shops Jennifer and I wanted to check out.

The first yarn shop was the Blue Alpaca, they have a small store in town, they also have a ranch outside of town, but I don’t think we will get to that. I bought some Alpaca yarn, so pretty and soft!

While we were in the store, Phil and Rick were buying ice cream cones from the little shop next door. They had hand rolled waffle cones that looked really good, so nothing would do, that we got some as well. Yummy!! It was so warm out that the ice cream was melting faster than I could keep up with it. It was fun trying though!

 We walked around the little downtown area and visited some of the shops. The downtown area is on a bit of a hill, which made it difficult for the hobbler (me) to keep up. We found the other yarn store, on the other end of town. A very nice selection of yarn and everyone was so helpful! In case you are wondering, yes, I bought more yarn.

Doesn't this make you feel good about a place, sort of whimsical, a fun place to be. 

While we were in the last yarn shop, the lady helping me told us about a park where we could go park and get out and walk around, she said it was a pretty area. Phil got the directions and we headed out there. It was on the way back to camp, so no time lost.

 Turned out to be a rather large park, with old homes on three sides and the water on the fourth. There was a nice dock with restrooms and benches along the boardwalk.

Traveled from Kennebunkport, ME to Belfast (Northport) ME.

 6/25/21

 

Travel day, we moved from Red Apple Campground to Northport Campground, in Northport, ME. It is just down the road from Belfast, where my Cousin, Diane has moved from CT. As it turned out, they were down in CT getting their old house ready to put on the market, so we missed them, but we had a good time checking out the area on our own. It has turned cool again, but damp with fog in the evenings.

Above is the pool, below is the frog pond, which was behind and to the side of Rick & Jennifer's rig.

There was a little food truck type of thing set up at the front of the campground, never ate there, looks a little pricy!

Above, Rick & Jennifer, below is our rig

A day of Lighthouses

 6/23/21

 After the yukky weather day we had yesterday, today was sunny and beautiful, but the heat is back. Never happy uh?

The first light we saw was from a viewpoint not far from the campground. It is Goat Island Light, aptly named because that is the name of the Island. Smart uh?? Goat Island is located off the coast directly in front of the Bush Compound, when the Bushes were in office, the Secret Service stayed in the lightkeepers house on the island. They had a wonderful view of the compound, the cliffs and the water

The next light on Phil’s list was Cape Elizabeth Lights (Two Lights). These are now private residences, so could not get to close, but with Phil’s camera zoom, he got some pretty good shots.

This is the second of the Two Lights (Cape Elizabeth), it's signal would have been distinct because of the two slits the light shined through.

The first light of the Two Lights sits right on the water.

 From there we drove out to Portland Head Lighthouse and state park today. Got my Lighthouse Passport Book stamped. Stood at the rail and just watched the waves crash on the rocks for a while. This was one of the most accessible lights we have been to. Ram Island Ledge Light is just offshore from Portland Head.

 Portland Breakwater Light or Bug Light as it is commonly known, is located in Portland Harbor. On the other side of the harbor is Spring Point Light, looks just like Bug Light, but a little shorter.

 Behind the Breakwater Park is a building that looks very much like a lighthouse but it is not a light. It is the Portland Observatory & Signal Tower, built in 1807 by an enterprising gentleman who knew that ship owners couldn’t see their ships coming into port until they rounded in inner most breakwater. The signal tower could see ships as far away as 30 miles (on a good day). With the use of signal flags the ships would identify themselves and then he could notify the owners that their ships were on the way into port. For this service, he charged the ship owners $5/year.

Ram Island Light, just offshore from Portland Head Light

Portland Head Light

Spring Point Light

Portland Breakwater Light (Bug Light)

Portland Observatory & Signal Tower

Our Campsites at Red Apple Campground, while here, we ordered Lobsters (1-1/2 lb) to be delivered, cooked, to our campsite at 5:30. YUMMY!!!!

 6/22/21

 Today was a huge disappointment!! It had been raining for two days straight and finally quit overnight, but the wind was blowing this morning. We had reservations for a whale watching tour and I love to watch the whales, so I was excited to go. We got down to the pier in good time and actually found a parking spot in a lot right next to the dock where the boat was. The water was calm in the little harbor and it seemed like the wind had died down.

 Wrong!!! We no sooner cleared the no wake zone and the wind started up again, enough that we had little white caps on the tops of the choppy water. This wasn’t looking good!!

 And it wasn’t! Not one whale, not even a blow spout!! We saw one large fish, the Capitan called it a Sunflower fish and said they like to eat jelly fish. Sounds like a fine diet for them!

Bummer of a day!! They did offer us a free tours anytime in the next year, which was nice of them, but fat lot of good it did us!!

A sculpture of a Whales Tail 

Our boat

One of the many McMansions along the harbor

This blurb under the water is the Sunflower Fish