Our Trip to Maine......Part 5

*More of our trip to Maine since the weather looks like this today.......

Enjoy!

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Part 1 of our Maine trip is HERE.
Part 2 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 3 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 4 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Here's outside our little motel room the morning we bid farewell to Bailey's Island.

 We stopped to take some pictures at the Orr's Island Meeting House and Yard.

The Church has been here since 1838.  It was locked when we stopped so we didn't get to go inside.

And a picturesque old cemetery.  You know me, I am all about old buildings and cemeteries.

 When we got to Brunswick we made a stop at an Urgent Care as Hubs was feeling unwell and though he had infection(ENT type of infection)so I cooled my heels all morning in the waiting room.

Then it was off to a Rite-Aid pharmacy in town to wait again for them to fill the prescription.

We left Brunswick and made a stop in Topsham......at a liquor store or course so Hubs could see what region type brews he could pick up that they don't have at home.

I sort of liked The Shed Brewery's "Profanity Ale".  I beer so good you need to curse! lol

I should have picked up this hard cider from Somerset England called Sheppy's.
One of my many 9 x GGrandmothers was a Mary Sheppy or Shippey(1658-1688).  Born and lived in VA.  Her father, Thomas Shippey/Sheppy was also born in VA in 1633.  Haven't I told y'all some of my ancestors have been in America for a very long time?
Mary married first John Clyborne or Claiborne or Cliborne or Clayborne.  He fell out of his boat and drowned in a swamp when he was 30.  Luckily they had a son who lived long enough to also procreate before dear old John drowned.

Death's Door "white whiskey".  Hmmmm....if that name doesn't scare you the fact that they call it "white whiskey" should.  White Whiskey aka White Lightning down in the South is just a Yankee putting on airs.

This blueberry moonshine was intriguing(from Maine Craft Distilling)but we've had some bad experiences with blueberry flavored liquors/beers and didn't want to risk the price of a bottle without a taste to see if it was a good blueberry or a bad blueberry concoction.
We did pick up a fair number of bottles of Allen's coffee liquor for the kids however(which I'll say disappeared quickly once we got home).

We opted for lunch at Ninety Nine in Topsham.  New England is lousy with this restaurant chain and I will say it was darn good and priced right!  I had a honey mustard chicken salad(salad with chicken in top)that was delightful.

Across the street from the restaurant was a Reny's so we walked off some lunch in there.
There are three places I must hit while in New England--Ocean State Job Lot, Marden's and Reny's.  They are the "Ollie's of New England".

A cute Keep Calm mug.  I found a few things in Reny's to bring home....mostly food items.

Sesame Oil, unusual jams, Sea Dog(brewery)mustard, lemon curd, barbecue sauces and maple syrup.
Reny's is a great place to find inexpensive maple syrup if you are ever in one!  You can also find touristy souvenirs(shirts, mugs, Xmas O's, etc.)cheaply and often it's the same stuff the fancy tourist shops carry only it's not marked WAAAY up!

Then we checked into our next hotel, a Comfort Inn in Augusta.  Augusta is a cheaper alternative for lodging versus staying at a motel/hotel on the coast where the tourists stay.  Augusta is a short drive to most coastal towns in that area(Boothbay to Camden to Searsport)and only 2.5 hours to Bar Harbor.  There are so many interesting little towns and hamlets to explore in Maine without ever setting foot in the places most tourists go--Kittery, Portland, Ogunquit, Old Orchard Beach and Bar Harbor.

We decided to go up to Waterville to a brewpub called Mainely Brews for dinner.  We got within a couple of miles of the place and found streets were blocked off and we had to turn around.
Seems the evening we tried to go what the very same evening of an annual event there called "A Taste of Waterville".  It's a one night massive party with hoards of people.

Not feeling up to a mosh pit we found a Pizza Hut by the interstate and ate there.  We opted for a balsamic drizzle(at no additional cost)on our pizza which kicked the pizza up a notch and why doesn't every Pizza Hut have this?  Hubs also could get a beer at this PH...not a craft beer but at least he got a beer and I didn't have to listen to him bitch the rest of the night. lolz

We tried to go to a Marden's next door to the PH but it was late and they were closing soon and I didn't want to be rushed through the store in 12 minutes so we decided to head back to the hotel.
We got gas before we got back on the interstate and I saw this cute little trailer camper at the gas station.  Supposedly it holds a Queen size mattress inside.  I don't know......I think I'd be a bit claustrophic sleeping in that.

The next day we took a trip East to Windsor Maine.

This is an offbeat "weird things to see, places to go" when in Maine attraction.
Three floors of general convenience foods/drinks, hardware, household goods,a crafts for sale room, tourist stuff, groceries, used books, antiques, guns and wedding gowns.

Third floor was tourist t-shirts, clothing and the Bridal Boutique.

In the basement was so vintage furniture on consignment.

Anybody need a miniature windmill?

Interestingly named craft sodas.

A novelty over-sized camp chair....over-sized as in 6 foot tall.  I would need a step ladder to get into this thing! lolz

For lunch we met my old friends from my Summer theater days(the one with the car from Augusta back in the day)back near the hotel.

She's a teacher(and now a guidance counselor)in the Maine public school system.  I haven't seen her in a few years(the last time we went to Maine).  She and her SO got married Jan. of 2016.  We had a few laughs and lunch.

Hubs and I headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap and some down time.

Since we didn't get to the brewpub in Waterville he wanted to go to one that evening in Hallowell south of Augusta called The Liberal Cup.
Hallowell use to be a collection of junk and antique stores and not much else.  Since my theater days Hallowell has become a happening hipster hang-out with a booming nightlife scene.

We had to park about a mile away and walk to the joint and it was PACKED inside.  You couldn't hear yourself think, let alone whomever you were dining with.  Between the live music in the other room and the numbers of bodies crammed into this tiny space I was getting a pounding headache which made me a tad surly and claustrophobic.

The best part of my meal was this crab soup.

Hubs looking pleased with himself with his soup and beer.

I wasn't drinking that night....I was too irritated and just wanted to get the hell out of there.
That and my dinner sucked.  I got it in a "to-go" box and sat there waiting for Hubs to finish so we could leave.  The prices were also outrageous for what it was and that served to irritate me further.
I should have told him we should leave when I saw how it was inside when we got in the door there but I didn't as I didn't have a back-up plan. sigh.  So I was the bad guy because I wasn't having fun and "I" ruined Hubs' night.

Oh well.  Every day can't be a winner, right?
Back at the hotel we lounged around and I read my book.........

A most apropos book to read while in Maine........

Sluggy

Our Trip to Maine August 2016.....Part 3

Part 1 of our Maine trip is HERE.
Part 2 of our Maine trip is HERE.

So we boarded the wooden Schooner Alert on a grey day that threatened rain.  We were the only customers for that cruise.
The day before they had a full capacity of 28 passengers.

This ship began life as a tall ship called TALL COTTON.  Built in York, Maine and launched in 1992, she changed hands in 2006 when a fisherman bought her, renamed her ALERT and set out to use her for commercial ground fishing and research.
In 2013 ALERT was purchased by a husband and wife team, the Davis'.  Along with their ketch TEVAKE the Davis' run windjammer cruises around Bailey's Island and the Casco Bay waters to the public, as well as offering school student educational excursions and are affiliated with a non-profit organization called Tall Ships Portland(part of the Tall Ships America)that train the youth of Maine sailing and life skills during sea adventures.

Though the captain said they hadn't have any wind to speak off for about a week, he and his crew woman hoisted the sails anyway but had the engine ready to go if the wind stayed calm.

So we set off on a two hour tour.  Not like that infamous 3 hour tour you all know about..............

Who is that fellow guarding the adult beverages? lolz

And as we cast off the breeze started blowing!

Passing a local lobsterman working his pots.

Another lobster boat with the Casco Bay passenger ferry in the background.

One of the many small islands offshore from Bailey's Island.  This one is called Little Mark Island.  The monument was built there in 1827 and is now operated by the US Coast Guard.  A beacon was installed on the stone monument in 1927.  It is solar powered and supplies are stocked in the base to aid shipwrecked sailors.

 Another shot of the sails from below.  I could look at this all day. It was so quiet out on the water without an engine roaring.

Two old derelict lookout towers from WWII when submarines German submarines were on the prowl in the Atlantic.

 The ferry again.

I caught this shot of a loon before he dove below the surface again in search of food.

This is the "Giant's Steps on the other side of Bailey's Island from the dock where we cast off from.  It's a rock formation that resembles a set of stairs made for a giant.

The winds died down when we got to this side of the island so we had to sail back with the aid of the diesel engine.

The crew mate set out a snack plate of fresh apple slices and homemade muffin type bread(made by the captain's wife).

The last hour of the sail the rain began that had been threatening all day.

A channel marker.

Wooden ship decks are quite slippery when wet.....take my word for it.

The captain, a fine fellow pushing 40 years has been making a living on the water for many years. It was interesting to listen to his tales of crewing boats all over the world.
He also knew a fair amount of family genealogy so of course, that set me off! lolz

The bird off the shore there looked like a cormorant.

Back to the side of the island where the cribstone bridge connets Orr's Island to Bailey's Island at Will's Gut.

The captain said someone famous use to have a house on this shore(Edna Saint Vincent Milay I think?).  As we passed the shore closer than this shot, someone came out of one of the houses(a big modern one with a high deck/balcony, not a cottage)and waved to us and took video of the schooner and said they were happy to see a "real" boat out on the water.

Another channel marker with what is probably an osprey nest on top.

Even with an hour of drizzle and then steady rain I resisted going below deck to get out of the cold rain.

The historic cribstone bridge(the only one in the world) linking Orr's and Bailey's islands.

Our cruise pilot, Perry Davis and his mate Erin.  I think they were glad to put into port and get out of the rain too by this time.

This windjammer cruise could have had better weather but even so, it was worth the cost to us.
And the partial bottle of Allen's coffee liquor Capt. Davis snagged floating in the water along the way(must have fallen overboard from a lobsterman's boat as Maine fishermen are crazy about Allen's!lol)was a bonus.  ;-)

Sluggy