We had planned to go looking for whales today, but a front
came in and the resulting rain caused our boat trip to be cancelled. We took this as an opportunity to further explore the
Harpswell peninsulas and islands.
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Revolutionary War Vet |
First up was a little geocaching…have to keep our streak
going! Our first cache site was in a
nearby cemetery. We found the cache
quickly and then started looking around.
The cemetery was enclosed with a wall of stacked stones so we were
pretty sure it was old. We confirmed its
antiquity by finding several headstones with American flags and memorial “badges”….obviously
veterans’ graves. We’re used to seeing
similar commemorations on soldiers’ graves in the Midwest. What was different here was that these were
veterans of the Revolutionary War! There
were quite a few of these markers.
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Zoom In On the Head! |
Also nearby, were several headstones dating back to the 1760’s with strange
carvings on them….reminiscent of an earlier city we had visited….Roswell,
NM! See for yourself. Note, these people were buried as English
citizens!
Next up was a hike through the mountains to a cliff
overlooking the bay. The trail lead
through dense pine forest. At the trail
head was a sign about the hunting regulations in effect….moose and bear, no
squirrel, were listed. Damn, why did we
leave the bear bells in the car?
Deep into the forest we came upon this sign about Fairy
Houses. What??!?!?! Just beyond the sign we started seeing these
strange dwellings, none more than a foot high.
We took pictures of about 20 of them, but easily missed another 50.
A little after the Fairy Houses we finally reached our
objective…the cliffs over the bay. We
took a few minutes to enjoy the view, find a cache, and then started back. By this time it was raining pretty good, but
luckily the dense forest kept us fairly dry.
We returned to the Inn to change into dry clothes and to
visit the lobster dock to talk to Albert again.
He reminded us of another trail that led to The Giant’s Stairs so off we
went. The trail to The Giant’s Stairs was
much easier, but it was along the coast with no protection from the rain that
was pelting down. We made it to the
steps and then headed back to the car and back to the Inn for more dry clothes.
We visited with Ann, the innkeeper, for a while and worked
on a puzzle with her. It might sound
boring, but actually it was so pleasant….sharing stories, watching the rain
come down on the bay…and just being warm and comfortable. It was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon
in Maine.
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At The Giant's Stairs |
We had dinner again at Cook’s….more seafood of course. I would hate to count the number of lobsters,
crabs, clams, mussels and oysters that gave their lives for us here on the
eastern shore. Sad for them, but damn
scrumptious for us!
We’re leaving Maine tomorrow….hate to leave, but Vermont
awaits! But of course, we’ll have to
have another breakfast by Richard before we leave!!!
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View From the Cliff Trail |
(For the record....we've just climbed up into our bed. Mona's got the latest episode of Boardwalk Empire on her MacAir. I'm typing this blog on my laptop and using a flashlight to see the keys...gotta love life in the fast lane!)