Maine Life

Jul 15

2 min read

Arriving in Rockland we were delighted to see AQUAVIT in a slip at Journey's End Marina, with all winter storage maintenance tasks expertly accomplished. We're behind the main office of this large, well-established boatyard. It's comfortable and convenient to downtown Rockland, and quiet.

In fact, this year is inexplicably less active than the past, even during the COVID years. With better weather than last year, it's a mystery to us and the marina. Settling in, we've been busy with a couple of boat projects like installing StarLink and installing a step so Lee can more easily look over the bow when at the helm. Now we are ready to go.

Lee had hoped to go to Denver this past weekend for her beloved niece's wedding. We spent the night in Portland so she could catch a very early flight. But, at the last minute it became obvious that the trip from Portland to Atlanta and Atlanta to Denver was going to be too demanding, so she bailed and we returned to Rockland. She was sad to miss seeing her family and wishes Samantha and Andrew all the best for their future lives together.

On the way back to Rockland we detoured to Orr's Island and Bailey's Island to sightsee. The unique crib stone bridge is a marvel of historic engineering. Built in 1926, using granite slabs from nearby quarries, the bridge structure has endured storms and strong tides for nearly 100 years. The open cribbing permits the tide to ebb and flow freely. On an earlier trip to Maine, we went under the bridge in AQUAVIT with some trepidation about the depth of the channel. And the channel is very narrow, through natural rock jetties on both sides, marked only by inflated red and green buoys.

Bailey's Island is the site of a famed restaurant, Cook's Lobster House. Marvin had visited this iconic restaurant before, over 60 years ago, on a family vacation. A small park near Land's End was a nice, short walk to scenic vistas and a geologic formation dubbed "Giant's Stairs." The rocks in this area are shiny due to mica schist that is layered with quartzites.

Now, we're ready to start our summer adventures. We have hopes to visit some old favorite places and discover some new ones. We also hope to meet up with friends Pat and Judy from East Blue Hill, Raleigh and Eric who own the Lindsey Guest House, and Heidi and Bren at Small Wonder Gallery in Camden. Maybe we'll see others this season as well. Maybe a road trip to Newfoundland is in the cards. Or maybe we'll just take day trips from Rockland.

No worries, it's all good and we are lucky to be enjoying the cooler temperatures and sample seasonal opportunities for music, nature, culture, and lobster! In fact, we are planning on taking in some of the North Atlantic Blues Festival at the Rockland Harbor this weekend..