Schooner Bay Motor Inn Rockport

Here we are now, Doug included, in Camden, Maine! I have never been to Maine and I must say that after experiencing the 'business" of the lower Hudson Valley and the responsibility of schooling virtually all week long, I felt quite comfortable and relaxed up North. We ventured this trip to visit old friends of ours who once lived in Jackson and moved back to Maine, where they are from. Actually, there is a whole little "crew" of friends who used to live in Jackson that were ...

Today we travelled across our fourth Canadian Province, New Brunswick, on our way back to Maine. Each Province is very distinct from the other provinces. Much of Nova Scotia resembles Maine, especially along the coasts. Newfoundland is much more remote and isolated and less developed having lost its two primary sources of income from fishing and timber. All of the Canadian Maritimes have rich old histories ...

... will go back in the morning and spend a little more time. Oh...the hotel? Cabins...down the road. There are so many cabins available in Maine! Next time I'd like to find one on a lake.

It's time to relax a bit and I'll look forward to updating you on our ventures tomorrow. We're headed towards Portland...with a stop at Kennybunkport. I think I have Jim convinced to take a boat trip on the ocean!

... ago and they got matching tattoos in the City as a kind of souvenir I guess. As i looked at her more closely, I noticed that she was quite extensively tattooed and pierced. Just a local girl, freakin out her parents, I suppose.

We're back in our room now, getting some things organized for an early return to Portland tomorrow. We'll take the train from there to Boston and then fly home on Wednesday. Things have ...

... glaze every piece themselves and the result is an exceptional and functional piece of art.

Dennis got Stephne onto the potter's wheel and right before my eyes the morning was transformed into a kind of "Iron Chef" of dueling potters! It was great. Stephne was working a one-pound ball into a sort of bowl at one end of the studio. Not far away, Dennis was at his wheel throwing eight-pound balls into thirteen ...

We didn't take as many pictures today as we could have but we've uploaded a few here to give you a glimpse at Acadia National Park.

We've decided that the east coast has really good PR. It must. Everything seems slightly better than when you actually get there to see it for yourself. That's not to say that places we're visiting aren't great. They are. It is just that what passes here for a "must see" or is ...

... of tiny islands has seen an incredible transition. Many of the islands were once thriving communities of fishermen. They lived out on the islands to save energy getting to their fishing grounds before their were motors in boats. With the advent of motorized vessels, the island communities disappeared and the populations shifted back to the mainland. Some of them were literally abandoned overnight!

Interestingly, as recently as the 1950s you could pick up some of ...

... American. We've had that feeling in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England but it feels especially strong in Maine. I think that's because it is so relaxed and natural here...a little less contrived for the most part. Blue Hill, for example, has American flags hanging from every light post in the town. We see that at home but only when it is the 4th of July or some other patriotic holiday. And it's not they're 'flag-waving zealots ...

... the portions were healthy.  We had a beet salad, which was a wonderful prelude to the coming summer.  The deserts were out of this world-Paul had a soufflé and I had a "strawberry block" which, again, gave me quite a taste of the soon-to-be-here summer.   Tomorrow, we'll hike up the hill in the area that should give us phenomenal views, then dinner at the restaurant at our B&B which has a reputation for being excellent.  Happy Saturday evening!

... the cold catching up with us! We have booked into an RV Park in a small place called Rockport, right on the "beach" (the walk to the beach is 283 steps from the Castle downhill and it is an overlook of the sea with a drop of around 20 ft to large rocks and with the tide down, these rocks are covered in sea weed, there are lovely seats to sit on to watch the water as well as observe the Windjammers sailing out in the bay/sea. This area is famous for the sailing history and ...