We Got Restless - Chapter 1
Thursday, July 11, 2019
A few days ago, we got restless and decided to find an interesting last minute getaway. We wanted to see our friends - Anne & Andrew (of past travel blog fame) who have a new home in St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada - and we wanted to take a cruise. Well! We’re going on a cruise that goes to St Andrews! We left this afternoon and flew to Boston, and boarded our ship around 6pm. Just before dinner! Well timed.
We are sailing with Blount Small Ship Adventures on the Grande Mariner.
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| Yup - This is our cabin! And it's the best on the boat. |
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| There's room for everyone |
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| Hey - It was a long day .We’ve been with Blount a couple of times in the past going through the Great Lakes and down the Erie Canal. Ship capacity is 75 passengers, so it’s a very small ship to begin with, but it turns out this one isn’t near sold out and there are only about 25 on board. Very casual and relaxed type of cruise. Should be interesting! We got onboard and unpacked, had a lovely dinner and had a little time to wander around the Boston Long Wharf area. We leave at midnight, on our way to Bath, Maine. |
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| NORM!!!!!!!! |
Friday, July 12, 2019 - Bath, Maine
We arrived in Bath after an extremely rough night of sailing. Very small boat - very big ocean. We really got tossed around - I was concerned we would wake up on Gilligan’s Island.
There’s not a lot going on here now, but back in the day Bath was a major player in the shipbuilding industry. Wooden Schooners was their speciality and including what was the largest in the world - The Wyoming, completed in 1909, by Percy & Small Shipbuilders. We went to the Maine Maritime Museum, which is on the site of the shipbuilding facility where the Wyoming was built. The original buildings are still there with many of the tools, and photos of the ship in progress. Very interesting.
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| Good Morning, Bath! |
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| The Wyoming |
Saturday, July 13, 2019 - Rockland, Maine
What a pretty little town! Since we didn’t leave till 5am, we had a good night sleep till the rocking and rolling started. Then, it was just little bit of it before it smoothed out on our way to Rockland. We got here around 11am, after passing East Egg Rock on the way in which is home to Project Puffin, a restoration effort by the Audubon society. We could see them and lots of terns flying all around and harbor seals and porpoises playing around in the water.
Rockland is a small town - just over 7000 - but it is home to an annual Blues Festival which happens to be going on this weekend! As a result, we had excellent accompaniment as we explored around the city. There is a lovely art museum - Farnsworth - which has a very impressive collection for such a small town, including a quite large Wyeth Gallery. The Wyeth family was originally from a little town in Pennsylvania - Chadds Ford - which was very near Glen Mills where we lived in the 70’s. It was nice to see his work again and remember. It has a nice little downtown which includes a chocolate factory!! Some fun facts about Rockland - The donut was invented here! Local legend has it that a kid was impatient as his mother was making fried cakes. She told him "They aren't done till the center's done". He said "Cut out the center!" And there you have it. Also, Edna St. Vincent Millay was born here, and the local Knox County Courthouse appeared in the movie "Peyton Place".
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| This was my favorite exhibit in the museum - hand shaped glass lobster claws in a pile. They are not connected. |
And for dinner - Lobster, mussels, clams, corn - all purchased today in the fresh market here in Rockland.
After dinner, we went back into town to enjoy the music at the Blues Festival Awesome!! I'll put some video on facebook - It's way too complicated to get it on here, I've learned.
We leave here tonight and head for Eastport. Hoping for smooth sailing!!
Love the fun facts! Also had no idea there were puffins over here!
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