Another whirlwind weekend for the McGarry's.....we had a free weekend before we get into all of our September weddings, so we thought we would take advantage of it and head north for some fun. We got up really early on Saturday and left the house at 4:45 am and headed up to New Harbor, Maine to catch the Hardy Boat ferry http://www.hardyboat.com/ over to Monhegan Island http://www.newsday.com/travel/am-maine0819,0,7931700.story?page=2 for the day. For those of you who have seen the movie "Message in a Bottle" with Kevin Costner, this harbor may look familiar....it was in the movie....!
Prior to hopping on the ferry, we went a few more miles up the road to the Pemaquid Lighthouse to check it out and take some pictures. Went back to the ferry in plenty of time for its 9 am departure. It was an hour long ferry ride (10 miles out) to Monhegan Island. Normally, I would be okay with this, but we had 3-5 foot swells out in the ocean, it was chilly, and my tummy was doing flip flops. I tried the ginger candies they gave us...that didn't work....I tried looking at the horizon...that didn't work. I finally, just laid down on one of the benches and I felt a little better...at least I didn't get sick. I couldn't wait to hit land....
Once we were on the island, I began to feel better and warm up. We checked out the Island Inn and then started our journey walking around the island and taking pictures. We stopped at a little store that had groceries and we picked up some french bread and cheese for a snack we would have a little further up the road. There were lots of people walking around and many artists painting the landscapes. Some of the flowers on the island were beautiful and so brilliant. We headed back to the Inn to sit on the porch a while. Around noon, we grabbed a sandwich at the store down on the dock and we had to indulge in a slice of Maine blueberry pie....it was incredible! We then headed up the road to the top of the island where the lighthouse is. http://www.lighthousegetaway.com/lights/monhegan.html The view was hampered a bit by the haze, but it was still very picturesque. We made one final journey down to the Inn, however, all of the rockers and adirondack chairs were taken, so we spread our blanket in a shady spot and hung out until the ferry was back to pick us up around 3 pm. 
The ride back was much better (a lot more calm) and we met this very nice couple from Phoenix, Arizona who were up here on vacation. It was a great way to pass the hour ride back. By this time, Richard and I were getting pretty tired, so we knew we needed to go have dinner before we checked into our hotel, otherwise, there would be no getting us out of the room if our heads hit the pillow "for just a short nap...". So, we headed into Damariscotta, which is about 15 minutes from New Harbor to a place called King Eider's Pub.... http://www.kingeiderspub.com/ordereze/default.htm great food and great service.
Then we headed to the Pemaquid Lighthouse to get some shots before the sun went down and then we finally went to our hotel, Hotel Pemaquid, http://www.hotelpemaquid.com/. It's a charming old Hotel, which has recently been renovated. 
We stayed in one of the detached block of rooms called Burnside. It was a cute, cozy room with cathedral ceilings and a front porch. Bathroom was a bit small, but at least we had a private bath...(I guess some of the rooms have shared baths). It's located just up the road from the lighthouse and it's pretty quiet, although the way the wind was blowing we could hear the ocean waves crashing....quite nice. 
When we got up in the morning, the hotel has coffee and tea available on the screened in porch of the main hotel. So, at 7 am, I got up and got us some coffee to help get us going. We then got showered and changed and headed up the street for breakfast at the little restaurant by the lighthouse. 
Great view of the ocean and the lighthouse and breakfast was very good. Came back and took some pictures around the hotel, spoke with a couple I met who were sitting on the front porch. Come to find out, they were from Scituate, MA (Patty & Ron, it was great to meet you! Hope you had a safe trip home!). We then headed back to our room, got our stuff and headed out to check out Christmas Cove, another little peninsula on the Maine coast.... 
Drove around a bit more, made a stop at this swimming hole that Richard had seen as we were coming up and then headed back into Damariscotta, where we went into a few shops and then stopped and had lunch at the Schooner Landing. After lunch, we headed south toward home and just made one final stop in Freeport at LLBean (man, that place is HUGE! and they are building another huge building!) Before we headed home, we had to stop in Hampton, NH to pick up Amber, our sheepdog, who was staying with her Uncle David while we were away.....Amber's summer camp! She had a great time, but was glad to see mommy & daddy....so, we are all home safe and sound. Just went through all the pictures and will be adding them shortly...there are just not enough hours in the day. Thanks for reading....hope you enjoyed our newest adventure. We would highly recommend visiting these parts of Maine....very relaxing and peaceful and very New England. Have a good night! My pillow is calling me!!! LOL
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