Saltwater Farm Campground

We are now at Cushing, Maine at the Saltwater Farm Campground. The trip here was interesting at the very end. “Karen”, our GPS, failed us for the first time. She took us down the wrong road. When we got to a virtual dead end, we had to unhook the car, turn the rig around and go back to the main highway. This time, we followed the directions in the book and went right to the campground. The site overlooks the Saint George River and has full hookups and wi-fi.

View from our campsite

After setting up, we still had a few hours to kill so we took off for the “Dip Net”, a restaurant at Port Clyde that was highly recommended by Linda, our campground host. After driving about 30 miles or so, we found out it was closed. All was not lost as the drive was spectacular. As Linda put it, this area is the REAL Maine.

We drove back to Rockland by a different route, full of hideaway homes, most with a boat and many lobster traps in the yard. After a quick late lunch in Rockland, we again headed north to Rockport (are you following me with all the “rock” names?) and Camden. We followed as many streets as we could that went down by the water and saw lots of boatyards and marinas. Since it was getting south of 5:30, we told “Karen” to take us home. This time she was right on (but I had set the correct location in the GPS as we left the park earlier). When we got home, we learned that Tiger Woods had won the U.S. Open back home and that gas prices were at a new all-time high. Fantastic! Time for a cocktail.

Driving “the REAL Maine”…We did a straight banzai run to Bath where the Bath Iron Works is located. This is a major shipyard here on the Right Coast. They obviously have a major Navy contract as there were three Spruance class cruisers there in various stages of construction.

Bath Iron Works

We first went to the Maine Maritime Museum and did an hour-long tour. After that, it was a boat ride in a converted Navy utility boat on the Kennebec River along Bath’s waterfront.

Lighthouse on the Kennebec River

After a short non-buying visit to the obligatory gift shop, we left the museum in the rear-view mirror and did a drive-thru of the town before heading south.
The next stop was the Boothbay Region, specifically the towns of Boothbay, East Boothbay and Pemaquid. Boothbay was beautiful, Pemaquid was absolutely spectacular but East Boothbay won the gold! If we ever thought of having a summer home somewhere other than Encinitas, it would be right here.

Boothbay Harbor

East Boothbay scenery

Linda was right on…the REAL Maine is right here.

After oohing and ahhing ‘till we were oohed and ahhed out, we again turned south…until I saw a sign that read “Oyster Farm”. Hard brake, turn right, drive four miles and pull in to a really cute house right on the water. A young lady was there and promptly sold us six large oysters for $7.00. We turned south for the third time and made it home somewhere near 5:30.

The first order of business was to build a drink. Following that, I broke out the barbecue and started preparing the ingredients for Baja Barbecued Oysters. We melted a half cube of butter and added garlic. We then cooked and crumbled some bacon, sliced up some green onions and broke out the shredded cheddar and bread crumbs. I was ready.

Placing the oysters round side down on the barbecue, I waited until they popped open. Expertly shucking them with my oyster knife (yes, I have an oyster knife…a real one!), I threw away the “top” shells, dumped the remaining liquid and returned the oysters to the bottom shells and placed them back on the barbie. Garlic butter was added followed by the onions, bacon bits, cheese and bread crumbs. Down went the lid and the critters cooked for a few minutes until the cheese had melted and was bubbly. Perfect!

Baja Barbecued Oysters

Paired with hot green beans and fresh cut fruit, they didn’t last long! Today was a good day!

Our second full day here found us going north. We first visited Owls Head Light.

Owls Head Light

It was foggy and kind of eerie. The foghorn was blowing and you could see only about 100 yards out onto the water. We could hear a boat chugging by with a bunch of kids on board but couldn’t see them at first. After a while, they slowly materialized out of the fog and slowly went past the light. We then went back to Rockport for some shopping. After picking up supplies, we headed for home, had lunch and then left for the local movie house to see the latest Indiana Jones flick. After the movie, we came home where I cooked up some pork chops for dinner and we got ready to head to Bar Harbor tomorrow. Bar Harbor is the last stop until we start “working”. It’s been a fun ride!