Day Two

The Cottage; Waterbreak; Camden

We woke up at the Hampton Inn, ate another carb-ariffic complimentary breakfast, and then headed over to the cottage to talk with the owners. They were so, SO mortified over the whole fly issue, and told us they had already cleaned the place that morning. We could either leave and they would give us our deposit back, or we could stay and they would knock another $100 off the price. We told them we would like to stay, but we thought maybe we should wait until dark, when the fly invasion really started the previous night, before we decided.

The owners understood completely. They suggested 5 or 6 things we could do in the area to keep ourselves entertained and we headed off for an adventure.

One of their suggestions was a waterbreak jutting out into the ocean with a little lighthouse at the end. According to the signs, it was a little less than a mile to the end of the waterbreak, which was made of giant blocks of granite, carved out of local mountainsides and plunged into the ocean to protect the shore from the water. Also, apparently, it's a very dangerous waterbreak. We were told to be careful, people have fallen and hurt themselves, possibly fatally, on the waterbreak. We were also told to not go out on the waterbreak during a storm because of lightning. And you know they had to say all of that on the sign because it's actually happened.

Jason took about 500 pictures on the way out to the lighthouse and on the way back. The day was clear and sunny and a little cooler. We saw a seal, some sailboats and a ferry boat shuttling 4 large dumptrucks out to one of the islands.

Then we headed further down US 1* to Camden, one of those quintessential New England towns. We spent some time just sitting in a lovely park overlooking the harbor, then walked down the main street. I am very grateful to Jason's mother, who taught him to indulge a woman who likes to poke into the little shoppes** and ooh and aah over precious house- and kitchenwares. Although, he did pretty well on that trip I must say, since I bought him Maine Blueberry Spread at Stonewall Kitchen*** and two monkey figures at a cool outlet store. And yes, I realize the irony of that when I've been spending the last several weeks complaining about all of the crap he has. But the monkeys were really cute and he loved them so. Even while he told me he didn't need them, I could see the longing in his eyes.

That evening we ate seafood at a restaurant overlooking the harbor that initially looked kind of sketchy, but wound up being really, really good. The 1970's easy listening strains of Air Supply playing over the sound system were just a bonus to the outstanding food really. I think there were several locals in there, which always speaks well of a place.

We headed back to the cottage, wary of what we would find. I figured we would turn on some lights and then wait a half hour to an hour. If the flies returned, back to the Hampton Inn we would go. But they didn't. That day, the weather turned and it started actually kind of feeling like Maine in October. The cold apparently chased the flies back into their normal winter hibernation patterns, or whatever it is flies do when it gets cold. After a quick call to let the owners know we were staying, we turned on the little gas stove in the corner of the living room and settled in for the evening.


* I have this fantasy about driving north on US 1 to the very end. Jason thinks I am crazy because there's nothing for the last few hundred miles of US 1 except Maine wilderness. But I've been to the Southern end of US 1 in Key West. Since I live so close (relatively speaking), I would like to get to the Northern end too.

** Pronounced "shoppeys".

***As well as Maple Pumpkin Butter and Blue Cheese Mustard for myself. If you have one of these stores near you, I recommend going simply because they had about 20 different spreads and dips that you could sample in the store.