South and West

We left Trenton and Acadia and went to a new campground for us 10 miles up the road:-)  We had a lot of trouble finding places to stay when we were making our reservations, so we had to do what we had to do, and as it turned out it was a great location to accomplish the other few things we wanted to do.

Our wash job lasted almost a month, we had to drive our 10 miles in hard rain, oh well, and we had to hunker down along the side of the road because with a checkout time of 11am and a checkin time of 1pm, you have to be somewhere, and since more and more campgrounds are charging as much as $25 for early checkin or late checkout or just saying no, it makes more sense to find a spot to hunker down.  We went to Forest Ridge just a few miles west of Ellsworth, a decent park, large sites, and great location, far enough off Rte 1 that we couldn't hear it, lots of rules, but quiet and dark.  

It rained the rest of the day and Jan decided to create Kung Pao Chicken Wings, delish.

We have been doing more and more Asian food, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc, and because of that need several items that we didn't normally stock.  We have been having a lot of fun and delicious meals, and have visited several Asian markets here and there to get the things we need, in fact we have a traveling garden with us:-)

In addition to the normal thyme and rosemary that Jan always has,
she has added two kinds of basil, mint, and Thai chilis

Believe it or not, up here in the 3rd week of August there are already appearing a few early signs of fall.

Not too much yet, but we are seeing a tree here and there starting to change.

One wonderful thing we got to do was see an old friend that we had fallen out of touch with for over 15 years.  Diane and her partner Don were going to be at an event in Machias, promoting their excellent products, about 50 miles up the road from us so we drove up to reconnect and meet Don.  We had a wonderful visit and a bite to eat and tried to catch up in the couple hours we were there.  I will apologize up front that the picture I took isn't very good, our minds were on visiting, not picture taking:-)

Don and Diane, obviously not posing:-)

Then on the way back we had to go by Tracey's Seafood, that little shack I told you about, and sure enough their live lobsters were still $5/lb, so we picked up 5 for dinner that night and 2 lobster roll lunches.  Oh yeah!!

So glad we brought our cooker this year!

Since it's all about food:-)  When we left Ellsworth, we would be moving more than 100 miles south to Wiscasset which would put this region of Maine out of reach, so we both looked at each other and said maybe we ought to go back to Bagaduce Lunch for one more meal before we leave.  Ha, so we did.

Onion rings, scallops, and whole belly clams!

Our time ran out and off we went to another new to us campground near Wiscasset, Chewonki.  It's with mixed emotion that I tell you about this place, it has been here since 1961, they have 50 acres right on tidal flats, on a rise with exceptional views, and only 47 sites.  They demand quiet and darkness, it is a jewel, and some of the folks we've talked to and friends of ours remember coming here years and years ago.  It is wonderful!  So don't tell anyone, just kidding, no, not really, don't:-)

We had been looking forward to meeting Bob and Harlean again for lunch in New Harbor, but unfortunately had to cancel.  Maybe before we leave Maine, we'll get another chance.

We figured we ought to go try Shaws in New Harbor anyway, and glad we did.  It's a picturesque, working harbor and Shaws was very good.

Lunch itself was delicious and would have been perfect if the fish chowder had been hotter, we should have taken it back, but by that time there were a lot of people to wade through, so we didn't.

Haddock bites, onion rings, fish chowder, and lobster stew

Yes, both were loaded!

I'm going to close this post out with a few more pictures of "secret" Chewonki.  At the end of the week we are moving all of 13 miles to Boothbay, and are looking forward to the arrival of our son Jason, Joanne, and Jax for a visit!