Headed back to Maine

Moose at the rest area

July 31 – Up and on the way to Maine again this morning.  I called from the road to get on a lighthouse tour from Port Clyde at 2:30.  I was informed that due to fog they would not know for sure until 1:30.  We thought we would have time to go first a bit north to Owls Head in the Penobscot Bay area.  We were there before but my photos of the lighthouse got erased (new camera issue) and the gift shop was not open to get the lighthouse stamps.  I don’t know where the time went as we didn’t dilly dally on the road but it was taking a lot longer than planned to get where we were going.  I called Port Clyde back at 1 and got the bad news that the cruise was cancelled.  They did tell me that they were open until 5:30 if I wanted to come to get the lighthouse stamps that I missed seeing.  Good news!

Owl's Head Lighthouse

That’s when the map threw us for a loop and screwed up our timeline for the day!  According to the 2003 map we were using (yes, we need a newer map), we thought we were on I-95 heading north, but I eventually looked at the town names on the exits and then the map and we were actually on I-295.  Major Bummer!  Then we enlisted Suri to guide us east to US 1 or I-95 at this point and I don’t think she knew any better than we did.  Grrrr!  We were hungry to boot so pulled into McDonald’s and asked a man coming out and he gave all kinds of directions but in reality he was clueless too.  We ate lunch and had let Suri rest so asked her again and off we went.  We did end up on US 1 but we travelled some of the less travelled roads to get there! 

Off the coast at Owl's Head

We went on to Owls Head and Bill walked to it with me this time and got to see the lighthouse and magnificent view.  Being a beautiful day out there were sailboats, tour boats and pleasure boats and we encountered quite a lot more visitors that on our previous visit there.  The shop was open and I got stamps for there, Curtis Island lighthouse and Rockland Breakwater, which I already had.  I bought a lighthouse t-shirt, which I don’t normally do but it was “special”. 

Puffin on the docks at Port Clyde

Now the question was could be get to Port Clyde before closing?  Of course, we’ve been there before so we knew some road NOT to take this time.  Arriving at 4:45 with time to spare I headed in to the ticket/gift shop confident of getting my lighthouse stamps.  Once again I was in for a let down.  ONLY the boat crew could get on the boat to get the bag of stamps.  I explained I called at 8:30 this morning and then at 1:00 and was assured if I got there before 5:30 I could get the stamps.  The key was remembering who I was to ask for, I said Laurie and it was Jeannie.  We finally got that figured out and she was called and said if I could wait until someone came to open the boat for the evening tour I could get my stamps.  So Bill and I looked in the one store in town, but it was a good store.  General Store, with fresh meat, lobsters, deli, dry goods, excellent wine selection, tourist novelties and more.  We sat in the car a while listening to Sirius radio and I ventured back to the gift shop and was told to come on to the office for my stamps.  I secured Two Bush Island, Tenent’s Harbor, Whitehead Island and Franklin Island lighthouse stamps.  Yeehaa!

Since we really didn’t know how far we would get in a day with all the stops and little roads I

Greeter at Taste of Maine

didn’t make a hotel reservation.  Big mistake!  We didn’t think it would be a big deal since we didn’t have Molly with us this time.  So we meandered south and stopped for dinner at A Taste of Maine.  I think we ate there the last time we were there, 2003 or so.  Very cool décor, lots of stuff to look at and if you’re outside or by the window you have a nice view.  I had lobster pie which was good except a bit too much butter, if that’s possible, and it was running out.  It has a seafood stuffing over the lobster with a side of butternut squash that was yummy.  Bill had some kind of chicken and he really liked the squash too. 

Sun setting over Bath, Maine

So we decided we would drive further than Bath so we could get a better jump on tomorrow.  We considered stopping in Brunswick but again we wanted closer to Portland.  Well, big mistake!  We stopped at 4 places before we found a place for the night at after 9.  We could have had a room at Best Western for $179 or single smoking rooms at Motel 6.  Finally one of the desk clerks at place #4 said they had a call list and our best bet was S. Portland and gave me 3 hotels.  I called from their lot before leaving and secured with a credit card a very nice 2 double bed room at Days Inn.  It included breakfast so that was good.  We were exhausted!  It turned out to be a good thing we ended up there as it was closest to where we start out tomorrow!