June 1-9
Settling in to Eastport Maine - the easternmost city in the U.S. and my "home away from home" for the next 6 weeks.
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The Maine coastline is spectacular - only 250 miles long as the crow flies, but over 3,500 miles traced along the jagged coast. And that doesn't include the offshore islands. The "Bold Coast" is even more fascinating, taking into account the extreme tides of the Bay of Fundy.
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My home in Maine is on Harris Point, this little beach is about a one minute walk from my house, and there are beaches on both sides of the point. These pics are at low tide - Bella is thinking the old lobster trap might make a good kennel - or not!
Low tide - 12:15pm
High tide - 4: 45pm Same day!
The Bay of Fundy has the most extreme tides in the world. The largest variation is in Nova Scotia, where tides can vary up to 50 ft! The photos above are not even at the peak, but are about 24 ft different, less than 5 hours apart! What causes this? I'm sure there is a scientific reason, but the explanation I prefer is native folklore which believes the tides are caused by a giant whale splashing in the water.
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Downtown Eastport
It is about a 1.75 mile walk to downtown from my house, so that is becoming a daily routine. I'm not going to lie, Eastport is not the picture perfect New England town like the towns on the mid-coast of Maine. It is worn, depressed by the declining fishing industry, the houses are old and only sporadically restored because it is still quite remote as a tourist destination. The year-round population is aging and declining in size. But every day as I walk, it grows on me more . . . there is a shabby charm that is quite appealing. As I walk the dogs, I get a wave from each and every car that passes.
Eastport Fisherman statue
Fisherman reminds me of the Babe's Muffler Man in San Jose!!
Eastport Rocks!
So Eastport Rocks is a really fun activity that started over Memorial Day. People paint rocks then hide them around town. You can keep found rocks, re-hide, or just take a picture and leave for others to enjoy. The kids are really into it. I joined the Eastport Rocks FB group - over 900 members, and the town only has a population of around 1,300! I found the first two, and the others were posted on FB, but shared for your enjoyment. A really cool idea.
Whoopie Pie is the official treat of Maine - not to be confused with the official dessert, blueberry pie!
This rock was left on a police patrol car! But there are no Dunkins in Eastport - no fast food of any kind!
Matthews Island
Eastport is actually a group of islands - either joined by causeways or accessible by foot at low tides. Most of Eastport proper is on Moose Island (the largest), joined by 2 causeways. There are dozens of small islands that you can walk to at low tide.
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Matthews Island is a preserve, no dogs allowed, reached at low tide off Deep Cove Road. I wanted to check it out because there is a pair of bald eagles that nest there and I hadn't seen any eagles yet. Access to the nest is restricted but I was thrilled to see one of the pair circling quite low over-head! Majestic. The first photo is the view from Moose Island looking out toward Matthews - you can see the bar that you walk across to reach the island. Middle pics taken on Matthews - the old car and lupine are back on Moose.
Home Sweet Home
Friends have asked for pictures of my house in Maine. It is a granny-unit, simple but quite comfortable with full kitchen, bath, living room and bedroom. Private (lower) deck with BBQ. Laundry, WIFI, yard, walk to beach in 1 minute, everything I need. The bonus has been the birch trees, the sounds of the rustling leaves in the breeze is so soothing.
The owners live in the front, upper part of the home. Rob and Joanne are interesting - they are Canadian, split their time between Eastport and St.Andrews NB and run whale watching tours out of St. Andrews in the summer. More on them in future posts. Here is my home away from home!
Eastern view from the point. Sunset, almost full moon.
Western view, same day. Water views both sides, 1 minute walk from house.