Downtime

After two days of intense exploration, one with a marathon walk and the other with a marathon drive, we are taking the day off. Many people have left and we have an unobstructed view of the ocean. It is cool and windy and very quiet with most of the children and dogs gone. We sat down by the seawall and read awhile until the wind just got too much. There are whitecaps in the water and the tide is coming in. The first picture is the view from out site and where we sat. This morning as everyone was leaving a woman approached Gene and asked where he was from. I think she heard him talking to another person. Since they live in Maine, we asked for suggestions of where to go next and they told us about some places. As they were leaving when she came back and said we were welcome to come stay at their place as they had a lot of land and could hook us to water and electricity. We thanked them profusely and told them we would let them know. After studying maps and so forth, we decided to go further north toward Eastport. We found a campground inland so we can see Eastport and some of the north Maine woods. But we were impressed with this stranger's kindness.

The economy here looks pretty good. Of all the little towns we have been in, I have seen only one empty store and was told the owner had a stroke and closed the business. These places are tourist shops mostly and the merchandise is upscale and expensive and they are all making a living. One market I went into yesterday had all the spices known to man in large jars and you bought as much as you wanted. They also had about 9 bins of various types of flour that you bought by the pound. And this place was so busy that people had to wait for parking places. I have seen an inn or two that was closed. Many of these little towns either do not have schools, or only have them up to a certain grade level. The town then pays tuition for the rest of the children to a private school. A unique approach and they are free from government mandates.

We went to another farmer's market and again were impressed at the variety. One woman was spinning yarn and selling it. I watched her and asked questions for awhile as I have never seen someone do it. One woman was selling meat and had about sold out. Another man had made his meat into sausage. Lots of fabulous baked goods, art, granola, wood products, sheep skins. We talked to one artist who out of the blue told us about a good place to lunch, but alas it was 11 and they didn't open til 12. As we left, we said, didn't you think that young woman looked a lot like that artist? We decided she was drumming up business for her daughter!

Gene thinks his two photos of this island are award winning material, what do you think? As an aside, The Flagship Detroit DC3 is on the cover of Flying Magazine this month. Gene has gotten some calls wanting to know if he was the pilot. He said, no, but they were his students! His friend, Martha Lunkin wrote a great column about the '3.

I really liked Eastport when we were last there and am glad we are going back. I painted the lighthouse in the harbor there. Should have brought the passports so we could go to Campebello. We may do a whalewatching trip as I still want to see some seals or porpoises or whales or something. Then on Thursday we head to Greenville to meet Jane and Roy for three days there. After that we head west toward Vermont and New Hampshire. I am somewhat sad to leave the coast. It is so enchanting.