Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
We got a late start last fall. The night before we were scheduled to splash Paperbird, Greg discovered that he had developed a hernia. After surgery and the appropriate recovery time, spent in our camper at the Outer Banks walking the beach, we finally started south the first week of November.
We arrived in Wrightsville Beach, NC just in time to enjoy the parade of lights. Then we escaped the cold weather by heading off shore to Georgetown SC!! Then we were able to make one big offshore sail all the way to St Augustine, FL. There we enjoyed more Christmas lights and festivities. We then pushed on south to Vero Beach arriving in time for Christmas.
A highlight of our winter this year was our daughter’s family coming down and spending a week with us on Paperbird!! We had a fantastic time and made some unforgettable memories!!
While we were hanging out in FL enjoying the warm weather, we were able to watch several space launches from our boat. Seeing the SpaceX boosters separate and then return to the launch site was amazing.
We started our trek back north to St Augustine the first weekend of March to attend the wedding of the son of good friends.
After the wedding, we decided to continue slowly north visiting small towns we either like or wondered about along the way: Brunswick GA, Beaufort SC, Oriental NC, Washington NC, Belhaven NC and now Elizabeth City NC.
We’ve enjoyed time with friends and making new friends along the way. We’ve found and been blessed by the fellowship of churches at each little town we visited. We are very thankful for God’s provision and faithfulness this winter.
Walking the beach… No lifting, just miles of walking.
The Outer Banks!
Just ambling along…
Finally!
Bundled up in the cold.
Norfolk is always challenging!
Decorated for Christmas!
A Brunswick GA take-out called Fat & Fine… Enough said.
We love these guys!
Florida wildlife
Close enough to shore to get a cell signal!
Little Washington, NC
Now it’s on to the Chesapeake. Looking forward to time with kids and grands!
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
On the way back south from Maine, we decide to pause and explore a bit of south central PA. We found a small rural campground close to Shippensburg and Chambersburg. Unfortunately, we were a day late and missed the big antique tractor show. We did notice that the campground was pretty full but emptied out shortly after we arrived. It must be a big deal; people had already reserved their site for next years show!
It was a relaxing campground and Shippensburg was an interesting little town where the university students double the population during the school year.
The family of ducks in the creek beside our site was delightful as they played in the water and on bank.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
Sometimes we plan things, and sometimes we are just amazed. After the lobster festival in Rockland, we decided to head inland to explore a different part of Maine. Who can resist a town with a name like Skowhegan with a campground right at the confluence of 2 rivers. As we were checking in to the campground, we noticed a brochure for the Maine State Fair – to be held that weekend. And opening day, on Thurs, was dollar day. So off to the state fair we went.
Our campsite was right on the river.
We made some modifications to the kayak, adding a skeg to help it track better and reduce the tendency to weathervane. A small thing that made a big difference. Now we can glide along without fighting to keep straight.
A different view of the campsite as we came back down the river.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
Rockland Maine is a beautiful sea coast town. We kayaked on Lake Pemaquid, toured several lighthouses as well as spending a day wandering the booths at the lobster festival. We also enjoyed a couple of delicious lobster meals!!
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
Kayaking through a field of lily pads on Lake Pemaquid.
Photo by Krista
Photo by Krista
Lobster festival in Rockland Maine
Photo by Roy
Roy and Krista, good friends we know from cruising, joined us for the lobster festival. We were able to get campsites close together and really enjoyed the fellowship and time together. We had a great time sightseeing, eating lobster and enjoying long discussions each evening!
Owl’s Head Lighthouse
Photo by Roy
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
One of the most unique museums we’ve ever seen: The Sail, Power and Steam Museum in Rockland, ME. The proprietors, collector, and chief storyteller (we suspect mostly true) was Jim Sharp. Jim was on hand, as he usually is, to walk us through some of the exhibits and to spin a yarn or 3. He just had his 89th birthday and still seemed as sharp as when he was the Captain of the schooner Adventure. His memoir is titled “With Reckless Abandon,” a title that tells a lot about him and his life.
A pendulum demonstrating the earth’s rotation.
Lots of old navigation instruments, including some personal ones belonging to Bowditch himself.
Where are we, again? Determining latitude by artificial horizon and sextant.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
We visited the small town of Eastport planning to tour Raye’s Mustard factory. In 1900 J Wesley Raye, the 20 year old son of a sea captain, founded the business in the family smokehouse to produce mustard for Maine’s sardine industry. In 1903 Wes moved the mill to it’s current location enabling Raye’s mustard to be shipped out by both rail and steamship. Today, the trains and steamships as well as the sardine canneries are just a memory. The original mill still produces mustard but the museum has closed to the public because of disrepair.
In an interesting twist, we stopped at a small local restaurant recommended to us by some locals. We sat in a back room next to one other couple. We asked them what they recommended which started an interesting conversation. Turns out that he is, John Raye, the grandson of the founder of Raye’s mustard factory. He’s also an author who writes for local historical magazines. We’ve since found a couple issues and read some of his articles – they’re pretty good! One ironic tidbit he shared is that his grandfather started the factory to sell mustard to the sardine packing plants. A colleague named French wanted to get in on the business and so they struck up a deal: Raye would get the lucrative sardine business and French would get the tiny consumer business. Of course, we know how that turned out. The sardine business collapsed when it was overfished and French’s Mustard… well, you know the rest of the story.
Raye’s Mustard mill factory.
We visited the town of Calais, Maine and the Native American museum where we learned about hand made birch bark canoes.
The oldest chandlery in the US. Still in business, although it’s more of a tourist shop than a real chandlery.
Unfortunately, they no longer have Sasparilla…
Eastport waterfront
The seaport town of Cutler Maine. Not much town, but a beautiful little harbor.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
One of the joys of traveling is the opportunity to visit churches along the way. It’s a delight to experience worshipping with others and to hear God’s Word preached by different teachers. Of course, the best part is meeting other Christians in those churches. While in Lubec, we found a small (<20) congregation in a beautiful old sanctuary. Friendly and welcoming, indeed! When people found out we were visiting, the topic turned to what our plans were while in town. We shared that one item on our list was a ferry ride up to Eastport, another small town a little to the north. Hmm, was Craig’s response. Not sure if the ferry is running, he said. Let’s ask the Captain. The ferry Captain was in the next pew. Nope, still waiting on parts for the diesel was the response.
No worries, said Craig. I take my boat out just about every day so I’ll call you one day and take you for a ride.
The ride turned out to be a 4 hour tour of the local waters, up into Canadian waters, a stop in the town of Eastport, and an all around fantastic time. What a delightful surprise!
Minke whales are the smallest baleen whale in North America. They grow to about 35 feet long. We watched Minke whales and dolphins eating on the incoming tide.
Head Harbour lightstation located on Campobello island on the Quoddy River in the Bay of Fundy.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
Beautiful Maine!! Lubec is the eastern most town in the US on the Bay of Fundy. There are bumper stickers that say “The real Maine starts east of Ellsworth” We understood the saying as we worked our way up the coast. The crowds went away, the weather cooled off and the pace slowed considerably.
We had a view of Johnson Bay from our campsite.
Mullholland Point Lighthouse. This lighthouse was across the river on the Canadian island of Campobello. Yes, that’s how close Canada is to Lubec Maine.
Low tide…there’s a 24 foot tide in the area of the Bay of Fundy. It was amazing to us to watch these huge tide differences. We also experienced lots of Maine fog!!
We enjoyed several town events in Lubec.
Kayaking at Indian Lake was a favorite way to spend time while in Maine. Yes, we went to a lake to kayak so we didn’t have to take into account where the tides were!
High tide…
All the stories about Maine fog rolling in are true. Temperatures would drop 20 deg and visibility would go to almost nothing in a matter of minutes. We learned to keep a fleece in the car all the time just in case.
West Quoddy Lighthouse is the eastern most lighthouse in the US. We hiked all the trails around the lighthouse…several times!! It has such beautiful views…in bright sunshine and fog!!
The views along the shore were breathtaking. Lots of photographers and painters all around.
Fog rolling in.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
Summer in the mid-Atlantic is hazy, hot and humid. So off to Maine we went!
Cape Neddick Nubble Lighthouse Maine
Maine seems to have more than it’s fair share of ice cream shops. And, of course, we had to sample many of them to compare!
Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, Rockland Maine. An amazing hike out on the breakwater to the lighthouse.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 1Chr 16:10
