Our First FULL Maine Day

We are way behind in getting travel posts published this summer because we're having too much fun traveling! So we won't be confused about when each "wandering" happened, we'll start each blog with its actual date.

August 10, 2022

We've been looking forward to getting to Maine all summer. We have a long list of things we want to do and places we want to see in this state. So on our first full day in Maine, we have a FULL day planned. We started by being at the Scarborough Audubon Office with our kayak inflated and ready to launch at their public boat ramp.

It was a cloudy morning, as we headed out into the tidal waters near the coast of Maine.

Based on the advice we got at the audubon office, when we got to an intersection on this kayak trail, we were supposed to turn right toward the ocean. Besides, two of the three cormorants were pointing that direction.

We were rowing against the tidal flow as we wound our way through the grass-edged trail. But occasionally, we would take one of the short inlets off the main trail to explore.

After an hour, we finally got to the bridge that the visitor's center described as a good turn-around point. This bridge is less than a half-mile away from where we started, but because we followed the zig-zagging trail of the tidal river, it was 1.5 miles of paddling to get here.

If we continued for a few more miles, we could paddle all the way to the ocean. Few people go past the bridge, but of course we did. Without the kayak traffic, we found more undisturbed wildlife out here so Denisa could take pictures.

We watched this white heron strutting in the grass, until he dipped his head in the water and came back up with dinner. Those action pictures were blurry, but it was fun to watch wildlife in action.

There were also plenty of great blue herons, striking poses among the grass.

The water was perfectly clear, and it became perfectly still while we were past the bridge. We had been paddling against the tidal flow as the water was coming in with the high tide. Now we are at slack tide when the water is at its highest. The bad news is that means that the water flow will be reversing its direction now as it slowly begins draining out towards low tide. That's just in time for us to have to paddle against that current to get back to our put-in site. This was a terribly mis-timed paddle that had us paddling both ways against the current caused by the tides!

The other strange part of this paddle was seeing more than a dozen horse shoe crabs floating dead in the water.

Once we paddled all the way back against the current, we dried off the kayak and put it away. We have much more on our list of things to do on this first FULL day in Maine. When we asked the person at the Maine travel center for advice on seeing moose, he told us the only guaranteed moose sighting was Lenny--the chocolate moose. So we stopped in at the Len Libby Candy Store in Scarborough. Lenny was sculptured here at the store out of 1700 pounds of milk chocolate.

Lenny is joined by the Maine Black Bears--Libby and her cubs, Cocoa and Chips, made out of dark chocolate.

Since we are thinking of sweet snacks, we had to stop in at the bakery that is unique to Maine--the holy donut. 

Since 2010, they have been crafting fresh donuts every day from "genuine Maine potatoes." They come in 16 different flavors, and we chose the summer special--blueberry with lemon.

A little pricy at over $4 per donut, we were looking forward to the taste test. Maybe it was because we knew it was made from those genuine potatoes, but it tasted a little like a blueberry french fry with lemon frosting.

Now that we are full of donut on this FULL day in Maine, we are ready to see how many lighthouses we can find. We started down Two Lighthouse Road, and found that the parking lot at the end was completely full. Mark managed to squeeze the pickup into a site on the edge, and we took a walk on the splintering rocks on the coast. It feels like we have wandered into more of God's wonders!

Denisa realized that this was also where she ate lobster when she visited Maine on the girl trip many years ago. The lobster shack was full and the line was long here. That's why the parking lot was so full!

We got our first lighthouse picture of the day from across the water. This is the Cape Elizabeth Light sticking out from the trees on the next peninsula.

We realized that we could actually drive closer if we went down Two Light Terrace (not to be confused with Two Lighthouse Road). So we got a much better picture of this private lighthouse.

Driving down Two Light Terrace also got us a view of the second lighthouse on the street. Again, it is now a private residence.

After finding two lighthouses that you can't get close to, it's nice to find one that is in a city park, and free and open to the public. Denisa could actually stand right next to this famous lighthouse.

While it's nice to see it up close, it is actually prettier from a distance. This is the Portland Head Light, found inside Fort Williams Park, and owned by the city of Cape Elizabeth.

If you google "most photographed lighthouse in the world" you will see that it is the Portland Head Light. We did our part to secure that title. We took pictures of it with the blooming golden rod in the foreground . . .

with the crashing waves in the foreground . . .

and with two wanderers in the foreground. Lots of people stop in this city park, and it's nice of Cape Elizabeth to make it free for us.

From this city park, you can also get a two-fer lighthouse stop. We took this zoomed picture of the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse, situated on an island in the bay.

Wow, this has been a FULL day already, but we have more to see in this area around Portland. Lighthouse number five can be seen from the campus of Southern Maine Community College. We parked the car and began the precarious walk across the uneven granite stones of the jetty. We saw people struggling with this walk that involved jumping over some sizable gaps in the stones and navigating uneven surfaces for such a long distance.

Mark didn't have any problems, but it was a bit unnerving for Denisa. Together we finally made it to see the Spring Point Ledge Light at the end of the long walk.

Few people make it clear to the end, so it is a great place to sit and watch the boat traffic in Casco Bay.

We had read about the boats that ply the waters of Casco Bay, giving tourists the opportunity to see the sights of Portland with a water view. 

Another of those sights is Fort Gorges, built on an island in the bay between 1858 to 1864. Because of advanced military technology during that time, the fort was obsolete by the time it was finished. It never fought in a battle or even housed soldiers, but it is an icon of Portland's Bay.

A short drive deeper into Portland, brought us to Bug Light Park, for a close-up view of the Portland Breakwater Lighthouse.

Affectionately known as The Bug Light, it is one of the most ornate lighthouses we have ever seen. It was built in 1875, and was inspired by a monument in Athens. The detail on the columns and edges is seldom seen on a lighthouse and it is part of the official seal of Portland.

This light is on a working harbor, and we saw a giant cargo ship anchored behind us.

We walked closer to that ship, and to this Liberty Ship Memorial. It memorializes the people that worked here during the 1940's, building ships for the war effort. The sprawling shipyard that once stood here built 266 military cargo ships--called Liberty Ships--in just four years during World War II.

It's time to leave Portland, and head back down the coast towards home. But we decided to make another stop on this FULL day to see the famous Orchard Beach.

This ocean town has an iconic wooden pier that stretches out over the sand.

At low tide, it also has a wide beach. Looking inland from the pier, we could see that Orchard Beach also has a full-time midway with rides and games.

While we have been strolling on numerous boardwalks up and down the sea coast this summer, this boardwalk uniquely juts into the water instead of along the shore.

So we joined the crowds and entered the pier, that has been standing here since 1898. It includes little shops and restaurants.

One thing unique to Orchard Beach is that the only public restroom charges 75 cents to enter. In fact, the woman sitting at the entrance collects that money at the door, and doesn't allow anyone in without pre-payment. We had three quarters in each of our pockets, because we had heard about this phenomenon. But we didn't stay long enough to need our quarters. We did, however, witness a man's dilemma with not having 75 cents. We were heading his way to give him our quarters when the gate keeper let him go in. Whew! I think that was close to a catastrophe on the pier.

We've been doing lots of driving, so we are feeling the pinch of the price of diesel for the motor home, and gas for the pickup. It's crazy that we are a little excited to see the price of gasoline fall below $4. It's sad that we feel that's a bargain, when it is more than twice what we were paying two years ago.

This has been a really fun-filled FULL day in Maine! Now we were working to get back to where our motor home is parked in Biddeford, because we had seen signs around town about the summer concert series. It's in Rotan Park, which is right next-door to our church parking lot spot, and it started at 5:30. We brought our chairs to join the crowd to watch 12/OC--a very talented band made up of brothers that play instruments and sing together. Again, we were the only two dancing to the good music provided for free. 

We had high temperatures in the upper 60s on this beautiful August day, and it was almost chilly by the time the concert was over. We won't be needed air-conditioning tonight, and we're glad, because we don't have electricity at this spot. We've been blessed with great weather once again on our first FULL Maine day!