Searsport Shores 08/26 to 09/02/2022

Bidding a farewell to my Hudson Islander friends at Hadley's Point, I traveled alone to my next destination. It was an easy, scenic ride along route 1 with a grocery stop at Tozier's Market in Searsport.

A familiar sign for me. This is my eighth trip to Maine, an annual event I look forward to. It offers relaxing scenic views overlooking Penobscot Bay, the deepest body of water in the Gulf of Maine and lies west of Sears Island. It also allows me to get some time with my cousin, John and wife, Barbara. From Medfield, MA, they have their summer cottage in nearby Bayside in Northport, fifteen minutes away. 

Information about Sears Island from Wikipedia:

It was named after David Sears of Boston after he agreed to grant a large sum of money towards founding of Searsport. Sears Island is state-owned land, but is part of the town of Searsport. It used to be known as Brigadier's Island.

A causeway was built approximately 20 years ago upon what had been a tidal bar. At high tide Sears Island was a true island, and at low tide the exposed gravel bar allowed for easy access. Locals would drive over at low tide, always careful to return in time, lest they would have to wade or swim and leave the car stranded until the next tide. Several generations ago there were farms on the island. Only stone cellar holes and a few small fields remain today.

Sears Island acts as a great element barrier for one of the most well-protected harbors in the state of Maine: Stockton Harbor, an attractive anchorage for not only the protection it offers, but also its convenience to upper Penobscot Bay towns Searsport, Belfast and Castine. Bar Harbor is about an hour's car ride east, and both Camden and Bangor are about a half-hour south and north, respectively. Sears Island also has views of Cape Jellison.

It is home to a number of species of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians and plant life. The shallow shoal off the west side of the island supports meadows of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and other nursery habitats and features that play an important role in the fish and shellfish populations of greater Penobscot Bay

Searsport Shores Oceanfront Campground has been around since 1965 and owners Steve and Astrig tell their story HERE. Clicking either link will show they have a strong and varied arts and crafts with an eco-conscious theme. 

My back-in site this year is the hard-to-get Premium site, this year, site 11.

Each premium site comes with its own deck and furniture. The site has 30-amp service and water but no sewer. Their dump station is near the entrance but, for a small fee, the honey wagon can be scheduled to empty your holding tanks. This shot shows the low cloud cover which would announce the pending storm we're supposed to have my first night. The 940 acre Sears Island is in the background.

Although Portland got slammed, the storm traveling northeast never materialized where I was in Searsport; just light rain throughout the night.

Sunrise over Penobscot Bay with Sears Island in the background.

The tide coming in...

... and at low tide. That's when the resident...

...heron stops by to view the landscape...

...and to preen itself...

..and then returned with a watchful eye to look for its next meal.

It returned a few days later and waded through the kelp

The Herring Gull, one of many gull species, is the one most commonly seen in our northeast regions. From nests of up to three drab olive, speckled eggs, they'll mature by age four and take on their distinctive plumage. Brown and speckled gulls are usually the young immature offspring. They have a characteristic red spot on their normally yellow and slightly curved bill and live to an average of twelve years. They're "opportunistic" feeders in that they'll eat anything that fits down their throats. I captured one landing in slow motion. So graceful.

And another in flight.

While on the wall in front of my deck, this little fella enjoys a bite to eat.

Before John and Barbara came for a SATURDAY NIGHT BBQ'd dinner, I met some folks. On site 10 next door are Roberta and Leon from North Jersey. On site 12 are Jean and Andy from Rhode Island. Then there was Dan...

Dan stopped by with a problem. (LED awning lights, not
conducive for photography.)

Dan walked by and checked the power source at the site next to me before Gene and Andy arrived. His problem? He was looking for a 110 power source. Shore power at this campground has no 110 outlets nor do they have circuit breakers at the source.

Dan is from Kansas City and needed to charge a bunch of electronics pictured below. He's a recently retired middle school science teacher and is biking his way down the east coast eventually winding up in the Keys.

His brother-in-law drove him from Kansas City to Calais, Maine near the Canadian border. His plan is to make his way to Boston to see one son who works there and on to Manhattan where another son works. He's in a tent up the road just for the overnight and has been making 30-40 miles per day with his power assisted bike and mini tandem trailer. His iPhone, red-light tail reflector, mini Garmin GPS and the battery for his bike needed a two-hour charge so I shared my electricity.

German made battery for bike

A neat power strip had 6 ports for USBs and 6 three-prong outlets. I used my 110 outlet and in a couple of hours he returned to retrieve them. He was most appreciative and came over later that night, met John and Barb, chatted awhile and would be off tomorrow.

My dinner for John and Barb involved first grilling yellow peppers coated with garlic infused olive oil till softened. I sliced (but didn't separate) a large sweet onion, drizzled the same garlic infused olive oil and wrapped it in aluminum foil to bake for 30 minutes. When they were softened and tender, I then grilled the skewered marinated (in Sweet Baby Ray's Barbeque Sauce) beef. In addition, we had potato salad, fresh tossed salad, toasted (on the grill) buttered artisan Italian bread and for dessert, fresh cantaloupe and fresh baked lemon squares. Afterwards, a fire to ward off the ocean chilled dampened air.

For SUNDAY NIGHT'S dinner, John made reservations at Club Marina in Stockton Springs. Stockton Springs is centrally located between Belfast and Bucksport, only 40 minutes away from Bangor, and 1 hour from Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We met Paula and Joe. I neglected to get photos of our table so I went back seven years for their photo.

Stockton Harbor lies east of Searsport Island with Sears Island more to the south.

 Jillian and her husband, Sandy renovated the shuttered building six years ago. You can read their story HERE.

While waiting for Joe and Paula, we ordered our cocktails. Barb had pinot grigio, John and I had their "Pain Killer."

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp appetizer: Wild gulf shrimp wrapped in local bacon

We each had Blackened Haddock: Served with avocado, cucumber, citrus salsa and rice.

Sunset coming up (or going down) in twenty minutes.

TUESDAY NIGHT and a ride over to Bayside and John/Barb's cottage for dinner: Pork tenderloin, salad, avocado salad, heritage tomato caprese, homemade applesauce and homemade peach pie made for another delicious and memorable visit, always the highlight of my trips to Maine.

Years of walking the beaches of Maine (and probably elsewhere), John has collected erosion smoothed stones and has meticulously made sure each had the shape of one of the states. The result is a rather unique depiction of our US of A. 

In addition to soaking in the sights and sounds of Maine simply by sitting on my deck at the campground, I'm kept busy with my blog and recently have become addicted to Cryptograms. A gift from neighbor, Stella, this booklet has "365 fascinating facts about each day of the year hidden in cryptograms." I soon got into the flow of how to solve them and have been busy each day solving the word puzzles. Beginning with January 1st, I'm now ready to begin November. Here's today's example for you if you've never tried one. If you need a hint, you'll realize that W=I and Z=N...in this case. It's different for each puzzle:

It's Wine o'clock in Maine

WZ 2010, TFTWZ YHRJYK DXTFJQ KLJ 57-DKHYO FMAWJYJ RMWFQWZV NWKL LWD RTYJ LTZQD WZ HZFO KNJZKO AWZMKJD TZQ KLJZ NTD TYYJDKJQ.

(Answer at the end of the blog).

Caught this distant view of a three-masted schooner heading back south
probably back to Northport. I zoomed as much as I could with my terrific camera and then I Googled to try and identify it.

Success! The Victory Chimes. This link will tell you all about "THE 132-FOOT, THREE-MASTED "VICTORY CHIMES," BUILT IN 1900, [it] IS THE LARGEST PASSENGER SCHOONER IN THE UNITED STATES" (from the website)

THURSDAY dinner for John, Barb and me was at the Angler's Seafood Restaurant in Searsport.

I enjoyed the day's special: Baked Lobster Mac 'n Cheese. Yes, the sizeable chunks of lobster were most satisfactory; and yes, half of it went home with me for tomorrow's lunch or dinner as did...

...my side of onion rings

So, as Geoffrey Chaucer once said, "All good things must come to an end." And Friday came all too quickly. I left the campground early to meet Barb, John, Rob, Joy for breakfast at The Hoot. It is Labor Day Weekend after all and the tourists will be out in abundance and early at this very popular farm to table café. Rob read that one million people will be leaving Maine this weekend. This café owns their own the FARM which you can read about through the link given above. Seasonal though the crowds may be, I believe they're open for the locals all year round. Check the link to see an outstanding and impressive menu selection complete with an international twist. 

Thank you John and Barb for breakfast at our traditional
go-to place on my last morning in Maine.

L.toR. Joy, Rob, Moi, John, Barbara

Ginger Shiitake Omelet | ginger, green onion & shiitake omelet, sesame sautéed greens, vegetable fried rice and a side of sourdough toast.

Before leaving for an overnight stay in Alfred, Maine at Spacious Skies at Walnut Grove 2½ hours away, I wanted to share some random shots to remind me of the totally relaxing week I had in Searsport, Maine. Thank you John and Barbara for contributing to that experience. I'll be back at CPP Saturday afternoon. See you there.

Beautiful cloud formations on Thursday.

I zoomed in on this small boat just sitting there...

...and found it to be a fisherman checking his lobsterpots

Happy 50th Anniversary to my two neighbors from Rhode Island, Andy and Jean.
They treated themselves to two huge lobsters, wine and music. A perfect combination in a perfect setting.

 The answer to the cryptogram:

IN 2010, ALAIN ROBERT SCALED THE 57-STORY LUMIERE BUILDING WITH HIS BARE HANDS IN ONLY TWENTY MINUTES AND THEN WAS ARRESTED.

After a fuel stop where I paid $4.87/gal diesel, the cheapest encountered so far, and a stop at Hannaford's in Belfast I was on my way once again.

Walnut Grove Campground was a good choice for an overnight stay. Clean, spacious and quiet. When I checked in, the gal in the office had to look through at least 20 envelope before finding mine. They're going to be packed for this Labor Day Weekend.

Most sites seem to be seasonal rentals. My back-in site #21 has a good view of everything.

Took these photos as I turned in place.

Take care, stay well and be happy. See you in Croton.