Day is Done…

Posted on by

Back on dry land I had to get my land legs back to trudge up the hill to the car. From freezing to sweating . It was close to 90 degrees and humid! Maybe being cold out on the sea wasn’t so bad. 🙂

The first point of business was to track down my fellow traveler, JR. He hadn’t wanted to go on the boat so I’d left him exploring the town. Now as I pulled out my cell phone to call him I realized it was 5 pm. No wonder I was hungry.  I hadn’t had lunch and the “snack bar” on the rocking and rolling Islander consisted of peanuts , chips, candy bars, coffee and soft drinks. With the cabin filled with the suffering, I couldn’t even think of food but back on land my stomach was making its empty presence known.

JR was back at the motel so I headed over there to meet up with him. He had done a terrific job of checking out the town. One of the most interesting things to me was an island called Bar Island. It’s an island in the harbor just off Bar Harbor. You get to it by crossing a sand bar. The tricky part is that the sand bar is under water at high tide. Up in that part of Maine the tides can vary  10 – 12 feet between High and Low tide. So if you go out and the tide comes in..you could be stuck there for 6 hours or until the next low tide.

On the boat the tour guide said there was a joke that if a local tells you there’s parking on the island that means  they don’t like you very much. 🙂

But back to my hungry stomach…During his explorations JR had run across a pub style restaurant called The Thirsty Whale. I would have liked to go back to The Route 66  if only to bring the camera but JR had a point.  His  argument was that we should experience as much as possible in the short time we would be there and we’d already tried Rt 66.  The Thirsty Whale wasn’t far from the motel so we walked down.

It was typical pub food. JR had a pizza of some kind..maybe bar-b- q chicken or something like that. I stuck with the nautical theme enjoying a fish and chips plate that tasted as if he fish had just swum in..sooo fresh. That’s the beauty of ordering seafood right on the coast. The problem is that it spoils me for the rest of the year.

After dinner we wandered up to the main tourist part of town, did some window shopping and got an ice cream at one of the many ice cream shops.

I spotted the man with the cat on the leash again. I couldn’t believe how calm the cats was with strangers walking all around him. Rocky will walk on a leash too so that wasn’t the amazing part. The part that amazed me is that the cat was calm as could be in all the confusion and the crowds of people. While I talked with his owner he plopped down and started  giving himself a thorough kitty bath …the cat not the owner.(yoga poses to reach his private parts and all).

Leaving the hustle and bustle behind we walked back to the motel. JR wanted to photograph a church with beautiful stained glass windows. I did too  but my adventures of the day had taken their toll. I could hardly keep my eyes open on the walk back so I sent him on his way and I crashed.  I think my eyes were closed before my head hit the pillow. We had another busy day planned for the ‘morrow and I wanted to be alert enough to enjoy it.

Fog, a Lighthouse and Seals

Posted on by

The Captain raised the anchor and turned our little vessel into the wind for the last leg of our 3 hour tour. There wasn’t much to see except grey, choppy seas and fog. The naturalist said we were about an hour out from Egg Rock Island, our next destination.

Hmmmm an hour and heading into the wind with wet clothes??? Not a good idea. I could see hypothermia being a problem so even though I didn’t want to go into the cabin I didn’t have much choice. I took a seat way up front by the “snack bar” (I use that term loosely) which also happened to be where the heater was located. The sick folks were all huddled in the back. Oh I have been there and done that. I know how miserable they were feeling.

I was almost dried out and semi warm when one of the few children still mobile popped into the cabin too. He felt that heat and glued himself to the grate effectively blocking the heat for anyone else in the room but at least he was warm and he is a child…women and children first and all..I took the high road and kept my mouth shut. If someone else wanted to tell him to move they could but it wasn’t going to be me. 🙂

In spite of the situation, once I warmed up the hour passed fairly quickly. I chatted with the Naturalist about the type of seals and tried to avoid looking in the back.  Eventually the Naturalist went outside. When he came back he announced that Egg Rock Island was in sight. Time to go back into the wind, spray, fog and cold.

Egg Rock Island is a big nesting site for many types of sea gulls. Its pretty flat and open without much cover. Consequently it is like an all you can eat buffet for passing eagles.

Our guide told me that last year there were so many eagles that not one sea-gull chick survived from that nesting season. They were all eaten by eagles. He said sometimes it was really hard to watch. Nature is beautiful but also cruel. Every creature is just struggling to survive. We didn’t see any eagles today  but judging from the number of gulls soaring over and around the island losing one season of chicks didn’t put much strain on the population.

As we came closer to the island we could see what looked like grey boulders only they moved. These were the seals of Egg Rock. The Island is a major haul out for Northern Grey seals and harbor seals.

We didn’t stop here, just slowly motored past then it was back to the harbor.

As we entered the outer harbor the sea changed again. Here the fog rolled back and the sun was out.

We passed a beautiful island with a cliff face.

Our guide said that the Navy used it for target practice. The “subs” used to come into the harbor and shoot torpedos at the cliff face where it dropped into the water.

Looking back I could see the line of demarcation between the foggy sea and the sunny inner harbor.

Back at the dock I let the sufferers off first. I enjoyed the trip. I doubt if the weather is always this bad but if anyone else plans to take this tour I recommend taking extra sweatshirts and even oilskins or rain gear…and of course your medication of choice for seasickness. You may have blue skies and fair sailing but you never know and it’s better to be prepared.

It was a 3 hour tour…a 3 hour tour

Posted on by

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear tale

A tale of that fateful trip…..

…5 passengers set sail that day

on a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour…..”

Ah Gilligan how I missed you on that cruise. Remember how the Minnow was lost? Little did I know what an adventure lay ahead of me as I stood in line to board the tour boat.

The sun had burned off the fog and haze and it was a beautiful afternoon. The sea was calm, what more could anyone ask for. Well maybe a bigger boat?

There were 2 boats tied up to the dock as I stood in line. One was a fair-sized boat with  a sign “Nature Tours”.

The other was a smaller boat. I took a picture of the larger boat thinking that was the one I would be on…wrong it was it’s smaller cousin the Islander. About that time the theme song from Gilligan’s Island began to play in my head. This tour was supposed to be around 3 hours…a 3 hour tour…

What a happy little group we all were as we motored out of the harbor past picturesque islands, the water a sparkling blue. On board with us tourists were the Skipper, his mate, and a naturalist/guide.

We no sooner left the protection of the harbor when the seas began to roll and chop. Spray off the bow had me soaked in no time and that water was cold! I noticed many of the other passengers heading inside. I thought it was to get warm but in fact that was where the main mass of tourists went to share their misery…seasickness! Oh boy, it was not a pretty sight.  So far I was hanging tough but even as cold as I was, I didn’t want to press my luck by staying where I was surrounded by barfing , green faces. At least the sun was still shining…for now.

We slowed down as we passed Bear Island with  a very pretty lighthouse. Then picked up speed again to head for another island that was several miles out to sea. This island, known as Petit Manan Island, also had a lighthouse and this was where we hoped to find the Puffins.

The farther we went from land the rougher it got and more and more passengers retired to the “sick” room. Then the fog rolled in. The Gillian’s Island song started playing in my head again! 🙂 Louder this time.

Finally we spotted the island. The skipper brought us in as close as he could safely go and dropped anchor and there were the puffins. My they were tiny! Only about 10 inches and they were almost lost in the surf but there were so many of them.

They were on the land, in the water and in the air. Along with the puffins were laughing gulls, arctic terns and a few other sea birds whose names I have forgotten. On land and at a distance they made me think of penguins.Naturalist/guide broke away from his nursing duties long enough to explain that this island was the most southern point of the Puffin’s range. They don’t do well with any sea gulls except the laughing gulls so a few years ago the scientists removed all of the gulls, dug holes for puffins to nest in and put fake puffins around the island. Then they broadcast puffin calls.

The first year a few puffins stopped by to investigate but didn’t nest. The next year a few pairs came and they stayed this time. Now there is a thriving colony large enough that it can protect its territory  from gulls and other invaders.

It was soon time to head home. I didn’t get the ” National Geographic Shot” but at least I saw real live Puffins.

I learned about them and about another location where you can actually go on the land to see them. Sounds like a plan for another time. Heading back we were going by one last island, Egg Rock Island, where there were seals and possibly eagles.

So anchors away! Let’s get this ship turned around!

Photo of the Week~ Week 27

Posted on by

It’s been a good week for photos and that means chosing the Photo of the week was a challenge but there’s an old saying for entertainers: ” you never want to follow animals or children”, meaning, of course, that they have a cute-ness factor that will always make them the star.

So it was with this week. No matter how many times I went back to the fountains, trains, clowns, ferris wheels to review and consider them, today’s choice always drew me back. So here it is…the photo of the week…that precious chocolate lab puppy named Jack.

Congratulations Frates Drive-In Restaurant!

Posted on by

Hey Taunton, Hey South Shore,  Hey visitors to our town! We have a really special restaurant right here in Taunton! Not too long ago I gave a shout-out right here to Frates Drive- In Restaurant because they were voted the Best Ice Cream in New England.

Well, they almost did it again. They were runner-up in the voting for the best Hot Dog! Not bad. This isn’t just a town thing…this is all of New England. This is NECN’s Baby you’re the Best contest.  Recently I tried the hot dog  and sure enough, they have my vote too.

Now I have to admit that I am partial to good seafood and I’ve had their fish sandwich and their fish & chips…both are A+ in my book so New England, can we make them #1 for seafood?

As you can see they were doing a steady business when I was there for my hot dog.

Look at the smiling face on one happy customer! 🙂

And the Ice Cream is still the best!

Frates Drive -in Restaurant is located 1423 Somerset Ave, Taunton, Ma. Stop in and try them out for yourself and if you are on Facebook why not give them a thumbs up with a
“Like”.

I want to thank the young lady and her family for allowing me to use her picture in today’s post. See what nice people eat at Frates! 🙂