Happy 37th Anniversary to us! Last night after dinner, as we were watching the news, Auggie sat at the door watching for any movement outside. He is so intent on seeing something, but nothing was moving.
 |
The owner of the campground stopped by and told us some "moose stories" as well as where we could view moose in the area. He told us to go down the road about 3 1/2 miles to the DOT road maintenance station where they keep a pile of road salt. Apparently, the moose come there at all times of the day to lick that salt.
 |
So about 8:00, we took the short drive to the DOT station and waited. The sun was setting behind the trees creating a beautiful orange sky. This picture doesn't do it justice.
 |
We waited with other cars that came and went until about 9:00 when the sun went down, but there was no sign of any moose–not last night. We returned a little disappointed, but still hopeful. This morning, we had blue skies and a temp of 64 degrees. Many campers left this morning. We had a leisurely morning before taking a drive into Greenville.
 |
It's only about 2 miles into town which sits at the south end of Moosehead Lake.
 |
Moosehead Lake is the largest freshwater mountain lake east of the Mississippi River. It is 40 miles long and 10 miles wide. The average depth is 55 feet and the deepest part of the lake is 256 feet. We drove through town and up the east side of the lake a little ways to check out the seaplane "base" and watch the planes take off and land on the lake. it was quite a busy place.
 |
 |
 |
 |
At the base, there is a boat launch and docks for the planes. In the parking lot, we spotted the Red Neck Yacht Club office.
 |
This yurt was the office of a seaplane company.
 |
From there, we drove to Kelly's Landing which is where we'll have our anniversary dinner tonight. We wanted to check out the menu and make a reservation.
 |
 |
We were told by the girl in the campground office to check out the Stress Free Moose Cafe, so we stopped and had a beer and an appetizer (mussels) sitting on the upper deck.
 |
 |
This bar had lots of outside seating and a cool room upstairs where you could sign your name to the walls.
 |
From atop the deck, we had a good view of the action going on in town.
 |
We left there and parked the truck on Main St. to visit the shops. One of the things we noticed right away was the name Shaw on the side of this building.
 |
 |
We had to search out the significance of the Shaw name in this town. We asked a local who told us that the Shaws owned the first lumber company in the area and donated the building currently used for the high school. The library as well as the Kamp Kamp Indian Store bear his name and was a tourist shop from 1927-1997. In fact, the whole block belonged to the Shaws. The Shaw Block is a landmark in downtown Greenville. It was built in 1893 by the Shaw family who were pioneer developers. William Shaw was a lumber baron and built a woodland empire. Pretty cool!
 |
 |
The Kamp Kamp Indian Store was filled with all sorts of interesting things.
 |
 |
 |
 |
We walked up one side of the street and down the other where I found a nice Christmas ornament to add to my collection from places we've visited and a T-shirt bearing the name of Moosehead Lake. We also discovered an old-fashioned drug store soda fountain counter that we'll visit again while we're here for a sweet treat. We came across many things "moose" and had fun with them.
 |
 |
 |
We walked to the Moosehead Marine and Maritime Museum ticket office for the 1914 Steamboat Katahdin.
 |
We wanted to make arrangements to take the cruise on Friday. It is a 3-hour cruise of Moosehead Lake about 12 miles up the lake to Sugar Island and back. The weather should be perfect for the trip.
 |
Back at the campground, Auggie got to spend some time outside while I worked on my blog and Bob did a window shade repair. The temp was a pleasant 74 degrees and the sun was warm. A few campers arrived, but there are still lots of empty sites. It is so quiet and peaceful in the campground. Around 4:00, we headed into town for our anniversary dinner. We wanted to catch "happy hour" for a drink before dinner. We were talking that because we got married in the summer, it seems we're always on vacation for our anniversary. Some day I should make a list of all the places we've been while celebrating our anniversary in July. I think it would make for an interesting list. We sat at the bar having a drink and enjoyed talking with an old sailor from Boston who has lived in Greenville for 17 years and runs the local sailing school. We had an interesting conversation.
 |
We enjoyed our dinner sitting inside at a window seat with a view of the lake. Bob bought us dessert, strawberry rhubarb pie, to bring home.
 |
We returned to the campsite to give Auggie his dinner and a walk. We left at 8:00 to go in search of moose at the "lookout" spot. We had no luck again, but we're still hopeful. We drove down the highway a couple more mlles to see where we will have to go tomorrow for our moose tour. Once it got dark, I went outside to check the stars. When the sun sets, it gets cool, and the stars come out with a clear sky. It was a wonderful day spent together!