Whenever David is home, we try to make a trip to see his cousin and her family in Deer Isle, which is in the “downeast” section of Maine, not too far from Acadia National Park area. The eastern part of the coast is referred to “downeast” because during the days of clipper ships sailing out of Boston to ports in Maine, they were sailing east of Boston. The wind would be at their backs or downwind, thus the expression “downeast” was born. Today, downeast is the area from Penobscot Bay to the Canadian border.
This year, we arrived on the island right around lunchtime and had lunch at the Fisherman’s Friend in downtown Stonington. After a nice visit with David’s cousin, we made our way back to Bucksport where we stayed at the Bucksport Motor Inn. That night, we visited with David’s other cousin, Jason and saw his “little house on wheels” that he built. It is 8’ x 20’, very space efficient and adorable. We spent a nice evening visiting with Jason and his girlfriend, Kristin around the camp fire.
Penobscot Narrows Bridge, Ft Knox and the Penobscot River
The next morning, we had breakfast on the porch of the appropriately named Harbor View Grille restaurant, overlooking the Penobscot River, Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.
Before leaving this area, we took a ride down to Castine. I think it was back in 2001 or so, David and I made a trip to Castine in May. It is where the Maine Maritime Academy is located. Castine is a small, pristine village and most of the homes are painted white with black shutters. On our first visit to Castine, David and I were planning to have our house sided and we were trying to decide what colors to have. We found it a difficult decision because once the siding is on, it is fairly permanent unless you have extra money around to redo the siding again. We noticed how crisp and neat the houses looked all in white and decided to do our house with white siding and black shutters. Our house has been that way for close to 15 years now and we are still happy with our decision.
Dyce Lighthouse
We happened upon the Dyce Head lighthouse, while driving through the streets of Castine. Dyce Head was built in 1828 and went into device on November 28, 1828. It was built to help the busy shipping traffic around Penobscot Bay and the Penobscot River. Today, the town of Castine owns the lighthouse, surrounding land and the keeper’s house, which is rented out as a private residence. I always feel that it is a blessing finding one of Maine’s 57 lighthouses in our travels and this was no exception!
Training Ship State of Maine, Maine Maritime Academy
The last time we were in Castine, the Maritime Academy’s training ship was out to sea. This trip, it was in port. It is impressive, no? We rode around the town reminiscing about our trip….the 5 baby squirrels we saw playing around a tree, running in and out of their nest. I had never seen anything like that before, nor have I seen anything like that since. So grateful for the memory.