July 12, 2023 What a glorious day! We woke up to clear skies and sunshine. The expected high today was 75-80 degrees. We had a leisurely morning. John went golfing around 9:00. Randy, Bob, and I took care of personal business. I packed a lunch for us and Mary, Bob, Randy, and I left around 11:00 on a short drive down to Eastport–the deepest port on the East Coast and the easternmost city. We wanted to check out the historical district and the lighthouse in the area. We took the short drive on Highway 1 south through Perry, then Highway 190 to Eastport. The drive took us along Passamaguoddy Bay and we could see how much the tide had gone out.
The tide swing today was 24 feet.
The drive took us through the Point Pleasant Indian Reservation where we were told to watch our speed so as not to get a ticket. We entered the city of Eastport around 11:30.
We found all-day parking easily, so we could do some walking in the town’s historic district. We started our walk at the harbor.
The tide was way down in the harbor, but the boats were still floating.
There were many commercial lobster boats in the harbor.
One guy was trying to launch his boat at the boat ramp. It was not such a good idea at low tide.
We walked around Admiral Hamlet Park located along the waterfront.
There was a beautiful landscaped terrace area as part of the park.
This sculpture entitled “Nature’s Grace” is part of the Sculpture Trail and sat at the entrance to the park. The Sculpture Trail is a walkway or “art trail” through open-air galleries of outdoor sculptures along a defined route.
This blue bell buoy marks Eastport as the Easternmost City in the USA.
From the cruise ship pier, we got our first look at the lighthouse on Cherry Island.
Across the water from the lighthouse was a white range marker designating passage between the islands.
Looking back at the city of Eastport, we could see how far the tide went out.
As we watched the fisherman on the pier catch mackerel, a whale watching boat came in.
The isthmus between the mainland and the island was exposed at low tide.
The view of the outlying islands was so clear today.
We walked from the harbor to the main street in town. This man, Jim, caught our eye in his tall hat. Of course, the 1938 Dodge “Woody” was of interest too.
Jim owns the Vintage Hats and Gallery Shop.
He is a woodworker and creates these interesting wooden scooters.
His shop contained all kinds of hats that he created. His doctor told him to do something that was a little easier than working with wood so he took up hat-making.
The guys had fun trying some hats on.
We had fun talking with Ed about his creations. Outside the shop was this wooden statue of Uncle Sam that someone carved.
Eastport contains 28 historic buildings. Some of the more prominent historical buildings in town were the 1882 Frontier National Bank, the 1887 Eastport Savings Bank, the Peavey Library, and The Tides Institute and Museum of the Arts.
This scary pirate skeleton hung out on the top of a light post at the Happy Crab Restaurant.
Many of the historical buildings were from the 1800’s and lined the main street.
This was a cute shop and the bench outside was made from lobster traps. Mary tried it out.
We walked up one side of the street and down the other, popping in and out of shops that peaked our interest. One of the notable statues in town that we were looking for was the mermaid statue, Nerida. She was created in bronze by an Eastport resident sculptor.
Randy took special interest in the mermaid.
He was also curious about the Free Exchange Library.
Nearby was the distinctive fiberglass fisherman statue. It was built for a television show that was filmed in Eastport and now serves as a memorial to a fisherman who died on 9/11.
We ate our packed lunch in the Jeep after finishing our walking tour of downtown and then headed to our next stop near Pembroke. We were on our way to search out the Reversing Falls.
When we arrived at Reversing Falls Park at 1:45, the tide was still going out. From our vantage point on the rocks along the path, we could see the rapids that formed there with the swiftness of the outgoing tide.
About 2:15, the tide went slack and there was no movement of the water to be seen.
Bob and Randy moved on farther down the path and climbed down to the rocks below.
The water became so still that we could see the shoreline reflections in the water.
We noticed an eagle that came swooping down to snatch a fish out of the rapids and it was joined by another eagle on the shore.
Eventually, one flew up in the trees to dry off his wings. They are majestic creatures.
About 2:45, the tide reversed and it started coming in creating rapids in another section of the river.
We got a great view of the narrow passageway the water passed through to get to the ocean.
It was a beautiful way to spend an afternoon on a fabulous day! We walked back up the shoreline path to the Jeep and drove back to the campground.
We got back about 3:30 and Mary, John, and Randy went to the campground “Happy Hour” to meet the seasonal residents. Bob and I stayed back with Auggie to clean up. John, Mary, and Randy returned and we were joined by Henry Bear and his 2 grandsons, Eli and Carter. Henry brought his dog, Bernie along and Auggie and Bernie played together. It was cute to watch them.
After awhile, everyone left and we relaxed a little before dinner. Bob made his Turtle Brains recipe–clams in white sauce over fettuccine with garlic bread. I am so lucky to be married to a man that likes to cook and is good at it. After dinner, Auggie and I took our walk. We waited until 10:30 in the hopes of seeing the northern lights tonight. We went out to check the sky by walking out to a dark area of the campground. We saw lots of stars, but no northern lights. We’ll get another chance tomorrow and Friday if the sky is clear.