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    The home of the WXToad
  •  The Maine Coast

    September 2012

    We love the coast of Maine and try to make it Down East every year.  We don't always get there, but we did in September of 2012.

    For pictures and comments of all the campgrounds we visited, click on "Campground Reviews" in Top Menu or on the links in the journal.

     11 Sep: We were on the road about 0900 this morning. Got our first glimpse of the ocean at York, where we stopped for lunch within site of Nubble Light. Our destination was Freeport, where we planned to spend a couple of nights in the town parking lot.  Good eats and good shopping  maine12-001
     maine12-004  12 Sep: We had a little extra activity in the parking lot this morning. A woman arrived to unload her carriage and horse; she would spend the day offering rides to Freeport visitors. Note the snazzy braids on Dobbin's mane.
     14 Sep: Yesterday we headed northeast to Camden. Due to a little business stop I needed to make in Readfield, up near Augusta, we didn't see much of the ocean until we got almost to Camden. Today we took a walk down to the shore at Camden Hills State Park, where we're spending a few days.  maine12-007
    maine12-013  A Maine schooner heading back to Rockland, under some beautiful clouds.
     16 Sep: Today we drove a few miles down to Rockport, where we parked at Marine Park for the day beside a typical little Maine harbor. It's a working harbor, as this lobster boat will attest. maine12-027 

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    While enjoying the day, we got to watch a boat owner pull his boat out for the winter.  It was quite a process, especially seeing how he got loaded aboard his trailer.

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     17 Sep: On up the coast we went today to Mount Desert Island (MDI) where we visited an old college friend and her husband. They had bought this property some years ago with a very old, very decrepit summer cottage on it. Eventually they realized that it wasn't worth trying to save it and replaced it with this beautiful, very eco-friendly rammed-earth house. Those big windows look out over the ocean.  maine12-045
     maine12-050 The view from their living room. That's Karl's sailboat moored out in the water.
     18 Sep: After breakfast we said our goodbyes to Sue and Karl and headed down to the south end of MDI and Seawall Campground in Acadia National Park.

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     I couldn't resist playing on the rocky beach, building a small cairn.  I wonder how long it endured?

    One morning we walked from the campground to Wonderland Point. Along the way we came across some interesting things.

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     21 Sep: We departed Bar Harbor this morning, and after a stop at the Big Chicken Book Barn outside Ellsworth, we continued down to Lobster Buoy Campground in South Thomaston. This is one of our favorite Maine campgrounds - a great place for beautiful sunrises. maine12-106