Our restful sleep was disturbed last night. During the night, the smoke alarm started to beep to let us know the batteries were low. After Bob got up, took care of that problem, and got Auggie settled down, we went back to sleep. Hours later, we heard the faint blast of a distant fog horn every minute and got up to look. Sure enough! At some point last night, the fog had rolled in. One of the locals told us today that they have a saying in Eastport…..”The sun never sets,….the fog just rolls in.” We slept in today and had a leisurely morning. Bob walked Auggie down to the water and it was hard to see very far.
The tide was coming in and the water was way up compared to what we saw yesterday.
Later, we decided to go into Eastport to check it out. Eastport is a fishing, scallop harvesting, and lumber shipping city of about 2000 people. It is a deep water commercial port, located on Moose Island which was incorporated in 1798. (Remember how tall those poles were in yesterday’s picture with Bob standing next to them?)
We started out by walking the main dock. Many of the fishing boats were in port today due to the fog.
We stopped to see what the fishermen on the dock were catching. They were using sabiki rigs (multiple hooks) to catch mackerel–a couple at a time.
This guy carried a side arm (without a clip), just in case the fishing got too crazy?
From there, we drove down Water St. in downtown Eastport.
The homes and businesses are lined up very close together in this hillside town.
This statue of the fisherman adorns the entrance to the public dock.
People were starting to mill about the sidewalk as the fog came and went. Even the birds were taking a day off from flying.
We discovered that near Eastport they are working on a Tidal Energy Project, whereby they harness the power and energy of the amazing tides in the Bay of Fundy. What an idea!
The town has some very interesting buildings among many rundown structures.
It was getting to be noon, so we decided to go have some chowder at the Eastport Chowder House overlooking the water.
We each ordered a bowl of New England Clam Chowder. That was delicious!
We topped it off with a slice of blueberry pie with a flaky, buttery crust that we shared. It’s blueberry season!
After lunch, we walked on the ferry dock where we got a good view of the caves that are underwater at high tide.
We walked down to the caves to get a closer look.
From there we could see a large bald eagle perched on a pylon far above us on the bluff.
The ferry came in from Deer Island (Canada) just across the bay and brought over 2 passenger cars.
They had to check in with the U.S. Customs agents who were there waiting for them. Bob got to talk with one who answered our questions about what food we can bring back into the states from Canada. We hopped in the truck and tried to locate the intersection of Water and Clark Streets where we could view the “Old Sow”. “Old Sow” is considered to be the second largest tidal whirlpool in the world. It is caused by the regular flood tide where it rises 22 feet higher, the water flowing northerly and a similar tide flowing westerly. When the 2 currents collide at right angles, the whirlpool begins. The best time to view it is 2 hours before high tide. High tide today is at 9:58 PM, so we were there at the wrong time and visibility was not very good. A better time to try it might be at 8:30 AM tomorrow morning. The record tidal variation on the East Coast is registered in this area with a rise and fall as great as 26 feet. We stopped at the Quoddy Bay Lobster House to check out the fresh fish. They had some beautiful halibut and haddock fillets.
We made one last stop in town at the hardware store. Bob was looking for an electrical plug. Oldtime hardware stores in small towns are cool to check out. From there, we went back to the campground where the sun came out and burned off the fog. We took a walk down to the water with Auggie and noticed this small, weirdly-shaped tent structure that we discovered was a portable bathroom. What will they think of next?
My mom would have loved to have one of those when our family went camping when we were younger. Right, Mom? Later, as we sat around the campsite, Brady, a long-haired dachshund-beagle mix came over to play with Auggie. They ran, chased, and tumbled for 15 minutes straight. When Brady went home, Auggie plopped himself down and slept. He was plumb-tuckered out! The campground was quiet and we enjoyed the afternoon. We had a later dinner and relaxed by the campfire as the fog returned and cooled things off. We ended our evening with a walk by the water. Tomorrow we would cross the border at Calais, ME into New Brunswick, Canada and do customs. We’ll see what that will bring.
That outdoor bathroom was the ultimate doo-dad. I don’t think I would have liked to use one on our camping trips of long ago. I’d be very concerned about the darn thing blowing over while I was doing my job. But I did hate using the outhouse in the dead of night. I would have made good use of a fur-lined potty pot instead.