We left Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park area, on August 28, and headed to Rockland, Maine where we stayed for seven nights at the Rockland Elks. Since Narrows Too RV Park was a “Trails Collection” Encore park that we used last week up in Acadia, we have to be out of the system for a full week before staying at Pinehurst Encore RV park at Old Orchard Beach. This week is one to regroup, relax and check out some additional harbor towns without any specific agenda. This blog addresses finding a little pickleball recreation and our leisure exploring of the quaint harbor towns of Rockland, Rockport and Camden.
Keeping a balance to life is not always easy, especially for me. We want to make the most of the time in so many new places, but we also don’t want to burn ourselves out by going non-stop everyday for five months. Barry did well, planning some “chill-axing” or “regrouping” days for us. I’ve gotten better appreciating such days. We really do make a great team.
Awesome dinner with our “extra” lobster! Making our own lobster rolls with quality sourdough bread is our preferred lobster roll. I butter one side of the sourdough, grill it, and then put the lobster with drawn butter on the non-grilled side and fold it taco style. OMG—SO good.
Rockport Marine Park
This was a quaint park at the small harbor of Rockport.
There was even a small sandy beach area.
ANDRE’ the Seal – a true story
“Andre’ was born on Robinson’s Rock in Penobscot Bay on May 16, 1961. Abandoned at birth, he was found, befriended, raised and trained by Harry Goodridge of Rockport, Maine. Andre’ is honorary harbormaster of Rockport Harbor, and is a celebrity of more than local renown. His antics have delighted people far and wide. Andre’ is a harbor seal, the only species that occurs regularly in New England waters. ” (This was taken from the plaque near the bordering flowers)
We were surprised to discover these lime kilns located along the edge of the park. Rockport Lime Kilns restoration project:
Rockport Lime Kiln history:
The restoration project included this Vulcan locomotive.
There was a lighthouse across the harbor and way out on the point, but there was no public access by land. Instead, we went to Owls Head Light House. This lighthouse currently operates 24/7.
It was a ways from the Keeper’s house to the lighthouse, and with some steep stairs, but the views were great up here. If you time it right you can go up inside the lighthouse. It was getting close to closing, so going up inside wasn’t available for us today, but we pretty much got the great views from the outside all around the base of the lighthouse.
Map showing all the “area” lighthouses.
Dinner – Lobster Repeat!
The next day we checked out Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.
This was cool in that you had to walk 7/8 mile on the breakwater wall to get to the lighthouse.
We spent a while just sitting on a granite slab taking in the views. We got the best pictures we could, but as we started to head back, Barry suggested walking out on a little dock that was off to the side of the break wall. OMG….THIS was the perfect vantage point! Funny that no one else had come down on to it to take pictures. But a few did after we did.
Now to head back to the mainland.
Time for pickleball!
Tuesday morning Barry and I went to MidCoast Recreation Center to play pickleball. This was the first time we’ve ever played on a roller rink/ice rink. During the spring and summer it is used for 6 pickleball courts in the mornings, and roller skating in the afternoon/evening. In the fall and winter the rink becomes an ice rink for skating and ice hockey. Winter pickleball, I believe, then shares the gym floor in the other portion of the complex. Play was OK today, I was told we need to come Monday and Friday mornings at 8 AM when the play is 3.5 and up. Tuesday and Thursday both tend to be lower level play. Wednesday is usually a nice mix. I went back on Wednesday. It was indeed better than it was on Tuesday. I was able to go also on Friday. Play was great!
We discovered that Camden was having its annual Windjammer/Schooner Festival Friday and Saturday. This would be a great way to complete our stay in this area. Great timing! We packed some food and headed out Friday afternoon for the festival opening. The schooners would be coming into the harbor today. We checked out Camden’s main street of shops.
Those cribbage boards were so cool, and were very tempting. Eric Ogren – thought of you when looking at these cribbage boards!
These wooden instruments blew me away. They were incredible.
Not your “typical” wooden shoes!!
Our retirement philosophy!
We thought the arrival of the schooners into the harbor would be the site worth seeing, but unfortunately the arrivals of each were stretched out over a quite a few hours. It was not the parade of schooners coming in as we expected. We meandered around the booths set up by the docks. There was a silent auction to get a complete dinner for two that evening on a specific schooner. We did not bid on any since we brought snacks and dinner. Even though several offerings sounded really good, they weren’t going to be gluten free.
Setting up for the quick dash contest. Contestants must get from one end to the other in the shortest time withOUT falling into the water. Sign up was today but the event was scheduled for tomorrow.
Complete with pirates!
We decided the larger open park area would be a great viewing spot for additional schooners coming into the marina. When we saw the stage, we figured this was also the perfect area to take in the additional upcoming activities.
Barry’s Drone Shots:
Bay Winds North Ensemble played for an hour. It was quite enjoyable as they played a nice variety of selections and medleys.
A talent show followed a little after the music. The acts came from the various schooner crews and guests. Some were actually pretty good. Here was a group with hula hoops practicing.
We then waited for the fireworks. We were under the impression that where we were sitting was the place to be for the fireworks, too. Wrong. We could hardly see them from here. It got cold, so we packed up and went home.
We decided not to go back to the Schooner Festival for the second and final day. Instead, we did our own walking tour of Rockland.
Rockland marina:
View of the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse from the marina!
The Farnsworth Art Museum was not open today, but we did enjoy the exterior of the building!
We headed back to Vinny.
Tomorrow we go to Old Orchard Beach for five nights.
From Jerry & Belinda. Thanks for the tour. We love your blog.
Thank you! It’s fun watching your cruise travels, too. See you soon!