Breakwater Vineyards

Leaving the wine casks behind we returned to see what Jeanne had in mind to show us. She led us to another barn where we could see a small chicken coop and some fencing.

 She began calling and suddenly a head popped up, and then another and then some goats came into view followed closely by the rambunctious kids.

Oh they were sooo cute.

One of the mama goats climbed up the fence and tried to eat my shirt sleeve. After some sweet talking and ear scratching she seemed to “zone out” and released the clothing, content to just stand there while I cooed and scratched. Goat Whispering! 🙂

Jeanne explained that Breakwater Vineyards was committed to being environmentally  conscious. She envisioned a time when she would be able to make goat cheese to offer for sale along with her wines.

The chickens seemed happy next to the goats and Jeanne confirmed that they were good egg producing hens.

The animals are all part of the goal to be closer to the natural world and utilize the land’s resources more effectively.

The Vineyard is about 5 minutes from downtown Rockland, Me. The name Breakwater Vineyards comes from the mile long barrier that protects the harbor called a breakwater. A portion of the profits of the vineyard are donated to help the restoration efforts of the historic lighthouse.

More than 3000 grapevines grow on the 32 acres of farmland that make up the winery. It is well worth the stop if you’re in the Owl’s Head area.

If you are a oenophile (wine connoisseur) I’m sure you will be interested to know that there is a Maine Wine Trail for Maine Vineyards just as there is a Coastal Wine Trail of New England covering southern Massachusetts.

There are 19 wineries on the Maine Wine Trail.  They offer wines that range from Fruit Wines to Distilled spirits.

If you are interested in more information you can check out www.mainewinetrail.com

and don’t forget the winery that introduced us to all of this. www.breakwatervineyard.com

As much as we enjoyed this little visit, the afternoon was passing quickly and we still had quite a drive ahead of us. It was time to say goodbye and hit the road again.

On the road to Bar Harbor

Was it only Monday that I packed up my car to head to Maine?  Seems so much longer ago than that! The sun was shining and I was on my way by 9:30 am . 3 stops later for gas, cash and miscellaneous and I was on Route 24 for the first leg of my trip. My GPS routed me through Boston via the expressway (known locally as the “distressway”) but other than a slow-down by the Granite Ave exit because of an accident, (not me) I made good time.  On the north side of Boston the traffic was clear and it was smooth sailing up 93N to 495.  A quick hit on 495 and I was following the GPS directions to Joe (JR)’s house in Plaistow. I pulled up right at 11:30 exactly as the GPS predicted.

JR saw me pull up and came right out. WOW looks like we’re really running smooth here but no, a glitch. JR was so anxious to get going that he locked his car keys in the house. He wasn’t driving so he didn’t need them… except his luggage was locked in his car…OOPS! A quick call to his parents brought the cavalry to the rescue and in short order we had his gear in my car and we were back on the road.

First stop was at the rest area in Maine where we met our first Moose.

Then it was on to Owls Head, Maine. This was JR’s pick of the day. He worked at the Thornton Burgess Society for a time and really liked the people there. He visits as often as he can to keep in touch. JR’s really good about nurturing friendships. He doesn’t let distance interfere and really puts a great deal of time and effort in keeping his network strong. In any case, at his last visit he was told that Jean, a former co-worker, had moved to Maine to open a Winery and he wanted to drop in to see how she was doing and renew the contact.

He had the address so into the GPS it went and we were off. It was a pretty nice day for a drive. It had been sunny in Taunton, overcast in New Hampshire but as  we moved farther north it cleared again. I’d never even heard of Owl’s Head much less been there so I didn’t know what to expect .

Owl”s Head appeared, by our drive through, to be a quaint New England town, a nice tourist destination, not too crowded or urban. Owl’s Head is located on Owl’s Head peninsula which extends into Penobscot Bay. As you can imagine, it was quite picturesque.

The Vineyard is Breakwater Vineyards located at 35 Ash Point Dr, Owls Head Me. It was easy to find with it’s gleaming white house located on a hill overlooking the water.

The house and it’s lawns and gardens are elegant and beautiful.

I could have stopped our trip and stayed right there, it was that lovely.

Jeanne greeted JR with enthusiasm then invited  us into a beautiful room where wine tastings are held.

JR did the sampling, as I was designated driver, and pronounced the wine very good. We bought a bottle of American Riesling to take with us to Bar Harbor. We had visions of sitting outside sipping our wine at the end of the day. While JR sampled the wine, I made friends with the black lab that was keeping Jeanne company. When they were done  “catching up” Jeanne took us out to a big barn which had been converted into the winery and turned us over to Jake to show us around.

Jake did a great job of explaining the process of wine making but soon we were going back to meet up with Jeanne.

She wanted to show us one more thing before we went on our way.

Website: www.breakwatervineyards.com

I’m Baaaaack!

Sorry I didn’t follow my usual custom of updating all of you when I’m traveling.  This little jaunt was to Bar Harbor in Maine and it was only 4 days. What that means is that 2 days are spent driving to get to and from  there and 2 days are crammed full trying to squeeze everything in. Bottom line is that every night when I got back to our motel, I collapsed into bed too tired to even think. 🙂

But I promise I will fill you in on everything from  “Goat Whispering”

to having a “Zen” moment at the top of Cadillac Mountain.

It’s not often I  become the photo subject!

I didn’t travel alone so these pictures are courtesy of my traveling companion and fellow Photog, JR. and it’s just a taste of what’s to come.