Maine weekend #1: Lobsters
I rode the bus up and after taking some wrong turns and missing some others, we finally made it to the house around 11 PM. (thanks for saving us becky or we may never have made it!) The family had lobster that day and got us each one too. We got to the house and they had the water boiling for us and in a cardboard box on the kitchen floor, 2 fidgeting lobsters were awaiting us! We're talking fresher than fresh authentic welcome to Maine. We each grabbed our lobster (hold the tail curled under so they don't flick you) and escort it head-first into the pot. We got the quick tutorial on lobster prep and lobster eating, and then we were left to ourselves with bright orange lobsters on our plates and nutcrackers (yeah, well where I come from they are nutcrackers, not lobster crackers) in our hands and a bowl to discard things into. It was great- so delicious and messy. I like the knuckle meat and sucking out the leg meat best. :) We finally finished and went to bed at 1am. Erin's room was in the tower, looking out on the bay. I had the misfortune of a millipede crawling on my arm that night, but otherwise is was magical with the full moon peeking out now and then into the night and waves lapping gently at the shore and the bell bouy softly and steadily chiming on the bay.
On Saturday we played in the pool with the family Erin nannies for then walked up to thelighthouse. The lighthouse is attached to the keepers house- I don't think it's still in use, but at any rate you can't go near it. However you can follow trails down the side and see the cliffs. at your own risk, of course. so we walked down there and saw lots of tiny blueberries growing on the way. We tasted some and they were great. so tiny. one of the girls erin nannies once accidentally called them "bluebies" so now we call the tiny ones bluebies. there were some coast guard steps down to sea that were forbidden from use and there were treacherous paths down the cliffs for use at your own risk. we just looked down them though. then we rode bikes into town (population of 1400 with a boundary about a million miles wide. kind of place where you can leave your doors unlocked and dump your bike on the ground without locking it up.) Beach has a whole different meaning downeast (turns out the term downeast comes from some wind current the sailors used). There doesn't seem to be a lot of sand in New England- I've met a lot of rocky shores out here. So we walked on a beach that was barnacle-encrusted rocks and apparently the thing to do in Maine is look for sea glass and pieces of pottery/porcelain/etc. A lot of broken dishes up that way... not sure what the deal is there. Apparently it's a true treasure if you get a piece with blue writing on it or designs on it.
We had dinner with the family and they got some steamers to share (clams, with their foot hanging out. another quick tutorial on how to eat them and we were all set to enjoy.)
On Sunday we went to church in Belfast, and afterwards we walked around downtown a little bit. It had the great feeling of a quirky little oregon beach town. There were lots of fun shops and interactive art on every corner. maybe it was designed for kids, but we sure enjoyed it! ;)
Maine has a lot of antique shops and I learned that oregon beach houses are designed after maine beach houses. who knew. Maine likes to name their businesses with state puns (ie Mainely Music, Book Mainea, My Maine Bag, etc).
Lobster feast
Castine, including front and back of the house, and tower room. (and the fort and beach and pier and sea treasures)
Belfast
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