Northeast: Lighthouses and Sunset

Breakfast Room

I was up early, but the innkeeper, Ann, was up earlier with a full pot of coffee ready to go. I sat outside on the veranda with my coffee, smelling the fresh sea breeze and watched the day awake. The morning views included lobster boats heading out and kids and their dogs walking the long road to their school bus stop. Mona had a pretty good morning, too. ..she didn’t fall out of bed. For her, that was quite an accomplishment as the bed is seemingly taller than she is!

Breakfast was served beginning at 8:00 AM and ending at 9:00. That made it a bit of a challenge for Mona, but she literally rose to the occasion showing up bright and early, ready for her cranberry muffins, poached eggs and sausage. Totally yum!

Portland Head Light

Today was lighthouse day. We visited six lighthouses and got to go to the top of one, the Pemaquid Lighthouse near Boothbay. Amazing stories go with each lighthouse; The Portland Light Head was commissioned by George Washington, the Pemaquid is on the Maine quarter…..etc….etc. Many of them have tragic shipwrecks associated with them, with many lives lost in spite of the precautions of the lighthouses.

In between lighthouses we came to the Inn to visit the lobster dock just below. There we visited with Albert who runs the dock. He showed us how to sort lobsters, crabs and clams and told us a lot about the lobster industry. We learned a lot about how the lobster that cost $3.99 turns into a $36 lobster in Central Illinois.

After our last lighthouse we came back to the Inn yet again to watch the sunset from the Adirondack chairs in the yard. So much beauty! (The sunset, not the chairs.) We took way too many pictures and can’t choose from them so we’ve included a few of our favorites below. We then walked down to the lobster dock again and took a few more pics. Getting to be a bad habit!

At the top of Pemaquid Lighthouse

We had dinner at Cooks. Hard to believe, but this may have topped our list of great meals for the trip. We hope to go back again tomorrow to verify!

As we were leaving the restaurant Mona asked me what time it was. I replied, “8:30.” “Damn!” She said, “Less than twelve hours of sleeping before breakfast!” Such is life at the Harpswell Inn!