Cutler Coast/Eastport

Monday, June 3, 2013

 

This past weekend we ended up skipping out on going to Acadia National Park and heading north up the coast instead. We followed Route 1 and had plans to possible set up camp for the night in Cutler Coast Public Reserve Land. We wanted to be somewhere on the coast that had beauty and privacy.

 

On the way we stopped to view Frenchman Bay. From here you could view the mountains of Acadia.

 

 

 

Driving along seeing steeples of churches poking through the pine and aspen trees made me want to stop and take a shot of one, so we stopped in Milbridge, ME with this one that caught my eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 Across the street was The Fisherman's Wife's Cafe. Pete went in to grab a coffee while I took some photos. When I finished up and went in to get him, there happened to be no one in the restaurant, so in normal Pete style, he was chatting away with the ladies that worked there. As a matter of fact, one happened to be from Ohio! When I walked in, Pete said he had ordered a breakfast sandwich to go. When the cook had asked him what he wanted he had said, "Eh, I don't care what you put on it! Just as long as there's egg and lobster!" It was our first taste of east coast lobster and it was pretty darn good - highly recommend!

 

 

 Stopped to take in this view. I forget which little town this was.

 

 

 

Then driving through Cutler Coast Public Reserve Land, we decided there was no where to pull the camper into to camp. So instead, we decided it was early enough we could fit the short 3 mile (round trip) hike in before heading up to a state park campground. This hike was amazing inside the wooded area and even better on the coast. The dogs had a blast, Mandy, being the old lady started off a bit winded then found her pace. Dewar was in his element, always taking the lead and being the sentinel. We did run into a spot that made us very nervous. We heard what we thought were bear cubs calling out for a sow. We were cautious in our approach onto this new, strange sound that ended up being ravens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a bit hazy out, but we spotted a few fishing boats.

 

 

 

 

 

Having completed our first hike of our long journey, we were filled with contentment and excitement of what lie ahead of us for the rest of our trip. For now, we took off more north to Cobscook State Park. We found a nice spot on a cove and set up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we arrived there it was low tide and we were told you were allowed to clam dig (only allowed to keep a peck- around 100 littleneck clams). We dug and dug (without a shovel only had rocks to use) and only got about a dozen. We had never done this before, and quickly got addicted to trying to obtain more.

 

 

 

 

Sea Urchins.

 

 



 

 

 

A boat that was anchored off shore from our site.

 

 



The night, we had a good rest. It was our first night in the camper that we were able to have the windows open and being able to feel a nice breeze was fantastic.

I awoke early the next morning. You know, the sun does rise here first! 4:07 am to be exact! I peered outside our open windows and caught a glimpse of the sunrise. It was glorious. Especially with the tide down. I couldn't resist to take a few photos.

 

 

 

 

Crunching along below our site, I accidently awoke Pete. He came out to enjoy it with me. Then we hopped back into bed and slept another hour or so before heading back out on the road to head more north.

 

 

 

 

 

Next order of go, to find a town. Then to find a town that had a breakfast joint open on a Sunday. We stopped in Pembroke. I saw a local man out on his porch and asked where to go. He pondered and told me a few places on Route 1 that were behind us. He then told me about Eastport. So glad he did. Eastport is a wonderful little fishing community that looks like it's right out of a movie. A few restaurants were open. We settled for a greek restaurant that happened to be owned by a young lady from Indiana. Us Midwesterners are all over! Great view from our seats on the patio, even better food. Here's a couple of downtown Eastport.

 

 

 

 

And some of the docks.

 

 

We then decided on purchasing some live lobsters to take back to our rental house to boil up with our handful of clams for a Sunday seafood fest. The lady at the wharf told Pete to collect some sea water to boil them in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to admit, even though I am smiling in this picture after stowing away our two bound up lobsters, sold into eatery and on a journey (on a ship-our truck) to their fatal fate, I felt horrible about having to actually do the killing myself.

 

 

 

 

 

On our way down Route 9 we stopped to check out some more public reserved land.

 

 

 

 

I had to get out and save a turtle life....

 

 

...It made up for my murdering of the lobsters and clams. (Even though I made Pete do it, I couldn't even watch.)


All in all, great weather, good food, and beautiful scenery.