Sunday, September 25 through Tuesday, September 27
Sunday morning (9/25) started with oatmeal, packing up, and then showers before we hit the road. We first went down to Stonington with the idea that we might take the mail boat over to the island of Isle Au Haut but it was cold, raining off and on, and windy our whole way there. We arrived around lunch time and after walking around the small town, we ate a huge lunch at the Fisherman’s Friend restaurant (Patty had seafood chowder and crabmeat grilled cheese sandwich, I had blackened haddock tacos and lobster bisque) and left with a doggie bag.
We liked Stonington but the weather hadn’t improved during lunch so we decided to skip Isle Au Haut and continued downeast. We stopped at the Pumpkin Island Lighthouse and took a few pictures and then, with the weather improving, decided to camp at the Camden Hills State Park outside of Camden, Maine. The park was nice and had some of the highest elevation of the downeast coast (maybe the highest) with a great view overlooking the town of Rockport and out into the waters in both directions.
The campsite itself was nice and the bathhouse ok but compared to Canada, it was a step down in quality and a significant step up in cost. It was chilly when we arrived so we made some hot tea to enjoy inside the camper while we read and relaxed and then had leftovers from lunch for dinner before bundling up in bed for an early night.
Tuesday (9/27) morning was chilly, mid-40’s, when we got up and, since we hadn’t cooked last night, the camp stove and propane tank were still tucked away inside. Instead of setting up to cook outside like we usually do, we made the bed up quickly and made our coffee on the inside stove. Patty made BLT’s with the leftover bacon and we ate them for breakfast.
We left the State Park pretty early, probably before eight, and drove down to Port Clyde to check out the possibility of visiting Monhegan Island for the day. Monhegan is a small island, 26 miles from Seguin, that we could see on a clear day from our summer home. We arrived at Port Clyde just as the mailboat office was opening and we were able to get a place to park on the dock and tickets to Monhegan on the 10am mailboat, returning on the 4:30 mailboat.
Shortly before 10, we boarded along with overnighters and their luggage and a variety of things islanders were having shipped over including a hot water heater, milk and bottled water from the local dairy distributor, clean linens for some hotels, and lots of other odds and ends.
Once we cleared Burnt and Allen Islands and passed the Pemiquid Point, we were able to see Seguin on the horizon. It took about an hour to cover the ten mile crossing from Port Clyde to Monhegan where we arrived to the hustle and bustle of people waiting to take the return trip, locals ready to unload provisions from our boat, a few trucks (there are a very small number of vehicles on the island) there to carry visitors and luggage to some of the island hotels and cottages. We walked off the mailboat and made our way up the hill to the lighthouse and museum which wouldn’t open until the afternoon.
We hiked several of the trails on the island and then made our way to a restaurant named Novelty where we got a pizza and drinks. For some reason I ordered a large pizza and then had to deal with almost half of it as leftovers. I asked for foil which they didn’t have but between some extra paper plates and saran wrap, I was able to get it into my daypack without making a mess. The owner looked at me like I was nuts for turning down a box. So did Patty.
After lunch, we hiked a little more and then went back up to the lighthouse and toured the museum and a summer art exhibit. We were disappointed that the tower itself was not open for visitors. Their museum was outstanding though and we spent a long time in there looking at the photos and other exhibits related to the lighthouse and life on Monhegan.
We ended our day on the island at the Monhegan Brewery where we both actually bought t-shirts, our first purchases like that since leaving North Carolina with the exception of some Seguin swag. We’re not generally into buying “stuff” but we really liked the beer and wanted to support the brewery and the couple that owns it (he’s a lobsterman in the winter in addition to working in the brewery during the summer). We asked him what channel he uses and were glad to hear it was not 78, the one we used all summer. We don’t know any of his personal life!
The weather today was beautiful but the forecast for the night and tomorrow calls for rain so we decided to take a hotel night and checked in at the Hampton Inn. Honestly, aside from the rain, the real reason we wanted a hotel was to watch the first debate between Clinton & Trump. Yeah, we’re geeks. It was painful to watch and listen to one of the contenders too. Enough said.
For dinner, pre-debate, we finished up the leftover Monhegan pizza which survived the trip unscathed although Patty said her cold weather headband smelled like pizza. We also had spinach salad in the hotel room with left over pork chops from our second night in Bar Harbor.
Tuesday morning (9/27, today), it was raining pretty hard as predicted and we were glad to be dry and inside a nice room with a nice bathroom a few steps away from the bed. We ate up our free Hampton Inn breakfast before leaving to visit the Maine Lighthouse Museum a couple miles away in Rockland. The museum had an extensive collection of old lenses, fog horn, photos, and all kinds of other stuff related to light stations through the years. Several people over the summer suggested visiting the museum and it was definitely well worth it.
We left the museum and drove down to Boothbay Harbor, another place many folks recommended we visit. Boothbay Harbor is pretty big from what we saw walking around, at least by Maine coastal town standards. Not as big as Bar Harbor but still a decent size. We walked around and then ate lunch at the Harbor Tavern on the waterfront (chowder for me, burgers for both of us).
We left Boothbay Harbor and drove down to the Hendrick’s Head Lighthouse on Southport, one of the lighthouse we could see from Seguin. The road leading to the lighthouse said private property so we weren’t able to get very close. The weather by now was getting better so we scoped out a campground on Southport and thought we’d stay there but first drove to the other side of Southport to see the Cuckolds Lighthouse which is now a B&B and sits on a small island just off the coast of Southport. Cuckold’s was also visible to us from Seguin. While we were taking some pictures of the Cuckolds Light with Seguin in the background, we noticed what we thought might be a hotel just across the harbor and drove around to see if that’s what it was. And it was.
It was the Newagen Seaside Inn and from the property Seguin is visible in the distance. Well, we had to stay so we could finally have the chance to see the Seguin light at night from a distance. The hotel is listed in the guide of Historical Hotels of America along with other notable places like the Island House Hotel (Mackinac Island) and the Williamsburg Inn (Virginia) but was really reasonably priced for a night (less than the Hampton Inn last night).
At sunset, we went down to water along the hotel property and got some spectacular pictures of the setting sun and a beautiful pink sky above and around Seguin.
Happy Ramblers 