Rise and Shine it ‘s time to check out and get on the road home but I can’t help feeling like it wasn’t quite complete. I got a decent picture of Pemaquid Light but not the one “in my head”. One more try…

I checked out giving a call to the Hardy Boats as I pulled out of the parking lot. They said they were fogged in and to call them around 11:00 for an update. Since that gave me a couple of hours to kill I headed north to Maine Wildlife Park.

It’s not too big. I walked most of it in a little over an hour but you do get great views of native wild animals.

The park takes in orphaned or injured animals that would not survive if left in the wild.

There were raptors like eagles, a red fox, coyote, deer…some of the cutest fawns you’d ever hope to see, bears and turtles, bobcats and cougars.

I was following one of the game trails. A sign thanked the Kittery Trading Post for the use of the fake animals. I’d just seen one of them. At a pond was a Great Blue Heron. Now I’ve taken enough pictures of them that I knew something wasn’t quite right, still it was a good enough imitation that I had to look really closely. And yes, it wasn’t moving but live herons can stand still for hours when they are listening for fish and frogs.

Walking along the path I was thinking that the noise I was making would scare away any wildlife. The path was gravel and no matter how hard I tried I was “crunching” . Out of the corner of my eye I spotted what looked like a moose. I chalked it up to another fake put along the trail as decoration so I was not ready when I turned the corner and came face to antler with a cow and bull. The bull had a full rack of antlers, still in velvet.. The cow drifted away but that bull just stared me down. I grabbed for my camera.

I just had time to get off the one shot before a family with two young children came around the corner. The kids were having a great time whooping and hollering and that was when Mr. Moose had enough and slipped silently back into the woods. It’s amazing how such a large animal can be so quiet.

Leaving the Park I was thrilled with my visit but it was time to check in with Hardy Boats. They said they were going out but that they were going to delay until 12:30. That was good. I could take a leisurely ride over.

When I arrived I again parked up on the hill and walked down to the dock. The closer I came to the water the foggier it got. I bought my ticket and chatted with the attendant. She told me of a spot where I could drive that might let me get the picture I wanted if I couldn’t get it from he boat. Her father is part of the search and rescue team in New Harbor and he is out to Pemaquid almost daily rescuing people who fall on the rocks. That made me glad that I’d chosen to be conservative yesterday.

I settled down to wait. A family came down to fish from the dock so it was fun watching the action.

About noon the boat pulled in.

The fog was still really thick so it wasn’t too surprising when they canceled the cruise.

My ticket price refunded, I took a quick run over to the spot I’d just been told about. The fog was so thick I couldn’t see the lighthouse at all. Disappointed I headed back to the south. Amazing how just a few miles inland the fog was gone , the sun was shining and the sky was blue.

Lunch time found me passing a bunch of interesting looking shops known as Heritage Village. If I had more time I would have loved to explore them all but for now I’d settle for lunch at the Lighthouse Restaurant.

It just seemed fitting somehow. A fish sandwich was plenty. It was very tasty and I would eat there again. I must say I haven’t had a bad meal at all while in Maine. Lunch out of the way it was back on the road.

There was just one more thing I had to do before I left the Pine Tree State.

I had to meet Lenny the 1700 lb. chocolate Moose and his companions, the dark chocolate black bears.

Lenny resides at Len Libby Chocolates just south of Portland in Scarborough, ME. It’s definitely worth a stop. A full size chocolate moose is almost as rare as the real life kind! To the best of my knowledge Lenny is the only one of his kind.

But even if Lenny wasn’t there, the homemade candy is awesome. They also have ice cream. They have a candy that makes me think more of a caramel but they call it Len Libby Taffy. They were giving free samples when I was there. Soooo good.

So, my friends, that about wraps up my Portland trip. I didn’t get THE Pemaquid picture of my dreams and I didn’t have time to visit York’s Wild Kingdom but I would not have missed the Maine Wildlife Park for the world. It was a great visit. I saw a real Moose and got some great pictures of Nubble light decked out for Christmas in July.  I have a feeling I’ll be going back to Maine again.