“Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey
...
Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey
She checks out Mozart while she does Tae-Bo
Reminds me that there's room to grow, hey
...
But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance
To dance along the light of day
And head back to the Milky Way?
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find?”
-Drops of Jupiter (Train)
The last days in the light of Maine
Our one big splurge in Maine was chartering a semi-private boat tour to see the puffins and wildlife by water. To be clear, there are tons of options for puffin boat tours that are very reasonably priced on large vessels that carry tons of tourists and provide entertaining diatribe. Unfortunately, tons of people is not an option for us right now, so we had to think outside of the box.
Since I recalled seeing puffins from Bar Harbor as a girl, we didn’t pre-book the tour and only started really researching our options once we were in Maine. The first available reservation was our final week in Maine and the wait did negatively impact our experience as the birds had already started migrating.
We left this treat as a surprise for the girls, only telling them the morning we were heading out. When we woke, there was a thin layer of fog at our campground and the weather forecast was not good. John received a call from the captain who said he had canceled his first tour of the morning and our tour was on ”standby.” He let us know that if it was safe to go out, visibility would likely be impacted. We ate our breakfasts, waiting for news, and gave Ginny hugs and treats. This would be the longest our pandemic puppy had ever been without us. Finally, we decided to start the drive (we were about an hour away) towards the boat launch and hope for the best. When we were about half an hour out, we received the good news ... the fog was lifting! The drive to the boat launch was beautiful, along a coastline we had not yet seen and the slight rolling fog made the islands appear mystical.
Our entire family was brimming with excitement and opportunity as we parked in a small gravel parking lot and walked down to the small pier. I believe this is a public dock although there were only a few other boats there as we departed and returned. The kids nearly skipped down the walkway to the boat they were so full of glee. Aboard, we met our captain, his first mate, and the captain’s dog. The girls chanelled their energy towards the dog, a three legged chocolate lab who loved being on the water, constantly rotating between standing on the edge of the side or the back of the boat, accepting the adoration of his young fan club with dignity. There were two other passengers, and after exchanging pleasantries, they agreed to remain masked during the trip. We all had chairs (as opposed to seating mounted into the boat), so it was easy for our family to stay in the rear of the boat with plenty of social distancing.
There were overcast skies, but it was still light and peaceful on the water. Despite the forecast, the sun managed to burn John and Kaeli. In my excitement, I had not thought about the reflection of the sun off the water despite the overcast skies. I guess I’ve been living too many years outside Florida to make such a foolish mistake. As we started to speed away from the dock, the kids giggled with pure joy at the spray from the engine.
We first stopped at some rocks where seals had congregated. This was the highlight of our trip. We had the opportunity to watch as they stretched and yawned, sunning, or decided to literally slip off the rocks into the water. The kids marveled at the many different colors of the seals. We enjoyed their lazy antics for awhile.
The captain’s dog was itching to swim throughout the trip, and he was practically wiggling, holding himself back from taking a dip with the seals. The seals didn’t seem to mind the fog or observers, continuing on their lives.
We stopped from time to time to check out different birds that live along the coastline of Maine. We also saw several beautiful lighthouses, once beacons of safety and hope for sailors, now preserved historical buildings.
There were a few amazing coastal estates. Our captain told us that one man bought an island for his young bride and the estate had stayed in the family for generations.
After about an hour’s travel, we finally reached Petit Manen, one of the few locales that puffins call home off the coast of Maine. Petit Manen also houses a beautiful lighthouse and is home to revolving interns, collecting data on thsee unique creatures.
You can see the remnants of nests, wedged between rock crevices, even this late in the season. There are several nomenclatures for baby puffins; we decided we like the term puffling best. The pufflings, first born as a puff of fluffy looking feathers mature into their colors. Once all have changed color, they begin migrating north. Aside from their unique rocky nests and feathers that look soft as fur, puffins are really unique creatures. They bob on the ocean’s surface in groups.
Without warning, one will take off; their flight reminds me of airplanes using the water to taxi and ascend/descend. Puffins put on quite a show. With their small forms (somehow, with larger than life personalities and vibrant colors, one expects them to be larger in size), it is marvelous to watch them soaring, diving, and plunging. Unfortunately, migration had begun prior to our arrival so we did not get to witness the glorious view of the island and it’s neighboring waters completely covered in Pufflings; nonetheless, we enjoyed our time with them.
My deepest regret was taking pictures without a high powered zoom lense to really catch their splendor. We took one last glance at their beautiful clown faces and began the journey back.
Along the way, we stopped aside a beautiful island where the captain had spotted a Peregrine Falcon earlier in the week. This is not typical for this area, and Kaeli was particularly excited (one year a peregrine falcon was part of her Halloween costume). Alas, the falcon was nowhere to be seen, assumed to have migrated on with his prey.
We enjoyed the windy ride back to the dock, then began our long drive back home. Along the way, I again passed a view that was so stunning it was worth finding a spot to twist Dennis around. We only stopped at Frenchman’s Bay long enough to marvel over the view and snap some pictures as a keepsake.
Along the car trip, we wondered how boat captains kept afloat during the very long off-season in Maine. If one out of three months were interrupted by covid closures, that’s a third of their business in a year.
Honorable Mention
The other stop in Maine that deserves an honorable mention was the Bangor Drive-In. Without new movie releases, the drive-in was showing viewer requests of older movies. We checked the showings each week, waiting to see a first movie of the double feature that was appropriate for our kids. We drove an hour in for one last visit to Bangor on the Thursday before we left Maine. I love going to the movies. There is something about the cold a/c, and getting to relax while a carefully crafted story entertains you that has always appealed to me. When John and I were dating, a movie and dinner, as cliched as it may sound, was the absolute perfect fit for us. With kids, animated movies took over most of our cinema time and for me, there are few animated films that require the whole movie theater experience. We still enjoy family movie nights with popcorn and snuggles. The advent of reclining seats has made the theater experience an interesting combo of the comfy feel of your home and the amazing surround sound of the theater. Regardless, going to the movies is a special treat for our family. On one trip to visit my bestie, she and her husband took me to a drive-in theater and I was enchanted. It was so fun! You could have inside jokes without bothering your neighbors. I had been on a quest to see a movie at a drive-in all summer ... but we were still in early phases in PA and NY while visiting and both those drive-ins remained closed during our time there. Imagine my excitement that we could go experience a movie in Maine!
Drive-ins don’t really require a lot to make their magic ... just a large even field, maybe concessions and a restroom during normal times. The kids collected wild flowers and played in the field prior to dark. Then, we ate our dinner from home in the bed of the truck. We set up our four chairs, blankets and snacks and enjoyed The Secret Life of Pets 2. Admittedly, Dennis is probably the best friend for this type of excursion with his elevated viewing platform. We turned the car stereo up the whole way and opened the back window. When the Secret Life of Pets ended, we packed up before the next movie (not quite as appropriate) got started.
(I loved passing this “cah“ lot ... made me think of my dad’s accent)
Our last week in Maine was spent on our favorites and some new unique experiences ... the boat tour, playing on the Ocean Rocks at Acadia, boating in our favorite lake, enjoying the drive-in, and a beautiful last sunset atop Cadillac Mountain. We filled our soul tanks, refreshed and ready for the journey ahead ... or so we thought.
