Day 6, Bar Harbor, Maine

We started the day with our "free" breakfast at the hotel, then drove to the harbor and managed to find a sailing ship leaving the dock at ten o'clock that had room for two more passengers. We climbed aboard with about two minutes to spare, and motored out of the harbor. When we cleared the buoys, the wind picked up and John helped unfurl the sails. He had to be reminded of why that big cross piece was called the "boom." He ducked in time, and never got hit, but it was a close call several times. I never had to duck. It went right over my head.

It was a beautiful morning, just cool enough to enjoy the sail without needing jackets. I brought along the cameras, and took some photos and videos of the harbor and some of the surrounding "cottages" and woods. Those cottages sure do look like estates and mansions to me. We were with some people from the Chesapeake Bay area, and had a great conversation about jellyfish, having shared the experience of neglecting to check to see if they were out there before swimming in Chesapeake Bay. None of us ever made that mistake twice.

There's something wonderful about being on a sailboat. There's the sound of the wind in the sails, and the sound of the water slapping against the hull. There were gulls overhead adding their raucous calls to the mix. There are fog horns and motors from other boats, and the conversations of other passengers, along with fishermen calling to each other from their boats about their day's catch; but it's the sounds of wind and water that make the biggest impression on me out there. We also saw porpoises, but they were very quiet.

We braved the wharf area, trying to find a parking place to get lunch. It was a mess of tourists (what do they all think they're doing here, anyway? Don't they know we don't want to deal with a bunch of people while we're on vacation?) We finally found a great spot away from the madding crowd and ate at a place called the Brown Bag. John had his predictable ham sandwich. I was a wee bit more adventurous with a chicken and apple sandwich that I think I'll start making at home. It was perfect on sourdough bread. Now that I wrote it down I won't have to trust my memory when I start wondering what it was I had that I enjoyed so thoroughly.

We capped off the night with a trip to the Lumberjack show. It was a good show, and lots of fun, but for me the best part was sitting next to a couple, Jeff and Dorine, probably a few years younger than us, also recent first time grandparents, from Prince Edward Island in Canada. (Yes, I got their license plate on my list when we went back out to the parking lot.) They were nice and funny people, and we exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. He's a fisherman - crab and lobster - and she's a secretary for her brother's international lobster export business. I think I'll have some sent out for Jeremy's visit. Let's see what he can make us with fresh lobster, eh? Something with cream, maybe? I'm certainly not counting calories while he's at my house, that's for sure!

Tomorrow's another big day in Maine, and since it took us so many years to get here, I don't want to waste any of it, so I'd better do what John did when we got back to the room and hit the sack. So, sweet dreams and wake up happy...