W is for Whale Watching

 

Fin back whale calf

Glorious day for a whale watch! Temps in the high 60's and a brilliant blue sky. I have never been whale watching before. The only other chance I had to see whales was on the old Scotia Prince between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Portland, Maine. I slept through it. Turns out I'm not such a good sailor after all.

So, here I was now, packing sugared ginger and crackers just in case. Figured if I took Dramamine I'd fall asleep! (NOT an old wives' tale - ginger really does settle your stomach.)

Where to go for whale watching:

Odyssey Whale Watch out of Portland on Long Wharf. (20 minutes from here)
Cap'n Fish's out of Boothbay Harbor (45 minutes from here)
Bar Harbor Whale Watch out of Bar Harbor (not a day trip from here!)

Below are some photos I took from the Odyssey boat. My suggestion? Whale watch in June, July & August along the southern coast. Mid Coast and Down East from June thru September, possibly later. Of course, they are wild animals and they are not fed or coerced by humans to stay in a particular location. They go where the food goes so seeing whales is not guaranteed no matter when you go out.

Far off islands off the coast of Maine

Spring Point Ledge Light

Windjammer with Ft Scammell in the background.

Bug Light in South Portland

Make sure you are dressed for the boat! It can get rough so you need decent shoes with good traction. I will say that the couples and families who boarded in shorts and tank tops spent most of the trip inside shivering. Bring a jacket! Sunscreen is a must! Yes, I sound like my mother!


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Here is the second whale watch I went on - Cap'n Fish's boat the Pink Lady II -

Burnt Island Light Boothbay Harbor

Cuckolds Light Boothbay Harbor

Fin back whale

Sailing in Boothbay Harbor

 

And here's a photo from last year's puffin watch where I saw a pod of Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins.

Dolphin pod in Muscongus Bay

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

www.whitecedarinn.com

Day Trip - Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor

Spring tulips at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

On a gorgeous Spring day I took  ride to Boothbay to drop off brochures and check out some of my favorite places to go for a drive. Of course, I had to have a lobster roll. Apparently I am now being challenged to try lobster rolls all over the area! (I've been to the Lobster Dock. Very good! Now, I've been to the Trevett Country Store. Also very good! Next up is the East Boothbay General Store. I'm guessing also very good! Oh, and Red's, along the way!)

So, driving around I thought, this is a great day trip from the inn. Now there's a package put together for a 'Day in Boothbay'. You can book the package with the admission tickets or just follow along doing the things you like on your own.

Some of what you can see and do (highlighted items are in the package):

Driving from White Cedar Inn (your home away from home, wink) stay on Rt 1 north to Rt 27 east. (About 29 miles to the turn off on Rt 27.) The first stop is On Board Fabrics. Absolutely gorgeous nautical fabrics here. (You can find the fabrics for the lobster pillow and the sailboat pillow here.)

Next up is Edgecomb Potters Factory Store. Stop in here for a look around at some wonderful salt glaze pottery. There is a $25 gift card for shopping in the package.

The Boothbay Playhouse is on the right and Dolphin Mini Golf is on the left. Check out the Playhouse on the way back to the inn. Summer theater is excellent in Maine!

Boothbay Railway Village

Boothbay Railway Village is on the left. There are 2 admission tickets in the package. Take a ride on the train around the village, stop into the general store for a look around, head over to the car barn for old timey cars and don't miss the model train set up, it is amazing! Here's our day at the Village last year. The train station you see when you pull in was originally here in Freeport. It was moved to Boothbay 50 years ago! (Wish we had it back now that we have a train again.)

Lobster roll

After visiting the Village, you'll be in need of some lunch. Head over to the Trevett Country Store on Barter's Island Rd for a lobster roll on the deck. Enjoy the cool breezes off the Back River looking back to Hodgdon Island. You can stop to see the lobster pound on your way back to the Gardens. Don't forget your whoopie pie! (To get the Gardens and the general store from the Railway Village, continue east on Rt 27, turn right at the green, turn right again on Barter's Island Rd.)

Knickercane Trail

After your al fresco lunch, turn back toward the Gardens and you will see a small park on the right hand side of the road. This is the Knickercane Trail. The odd-looking 'pond' you see to the right is a lobster pound where lobsters are brought in off the boats and held fresh while awaiting delivery to stores and restaurants around the country.

Wendy Klemperer rebar sculpture CMBG

Now on to the Gardens! The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens are worth the drive no matter the season. In winter you can snowshoe or x-c ski the trails. Once the Gardens are officially open for the season, there is something new around every corner. The tulip photo (above) was taken in May. The photos in this blog post were taken in April. In the fall you have the glorious autumn colors. You can see the lobster pound along the river near the fairy gardens. You'll have two admission tickets for the Gardens as well.

Cuckolds Light

We're still not done in Boothbay but you might be a little tired of walking so the rest of the trip is mostly scenic driving. Head back out to Rt 27 and drive toward Boothbay Harbor. Once there, stay on Rt 27 to Southport Island. As part of the package we'll give you a lighthouse guide that will come in handy right about now! Rt 27 goes all the way around Southport Island and back out again. Lighthouses you can see along the way (follow the guide book): Hendricks Head, Cuckolds Light and Burnt Island Light. (Off the coast where you can see Cuckolds Light, there is a house on the island in front of you. That's where Margaret Hamilton, aka the Wicked Witch/Elvira Gulch, spent her summers. Also on the island was where Rachel Carson was living when she helped found the Nature Conservancy.)

Huge sea snail

If you have any energy left, the Maine State Aquarium is in Boothbay Harbor. Get an up close look at what lies beneath the waves!

Ocean Point Sunset

Another stunning coastal drive is along Ocean Point. Heading out of Boothbay Harbor on Rt 27, turn right at the light at Hannaford's on Rt 96. Take this all the way out to Ocean Point where you can drive right on the coast. Perfect spot to see a sunset over the ocean. Along the way, if you didn't have your lobster roll yet, stop at the East Boothbay General Store.

Fort Edgecomb

Need more to do in Boothbay/Boothbay Harbor? How about a whale watch with Cap'n Fish? Or a stroll through the downtown area with a stop at Gleason Fine Art for an eclectic selection of Maine art? Walk across the bridge and up the road to the Lobster Dock for great views and food. Stop at Fort Edgecomb for a picnic on the rocks.

Boothbay/Boothbay Harbor make for an excellent day trip from here. Smell the salty air, stretch your legs in the Gardens and pick up some Maine transportation history, too!

For the 'Day in Boothbay' package check here on our website.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

www.whitecedarinn.com

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

It's that time of year...almost! We're about 2-3 weeks behind this year so we might be serving this into July instead of in June. I'm also going to make strawberry jam as soon as I can get enough berries together.

Ingredients:

Fresh, local strawberries are the best. You can use frozen but it's a little less held together.
Biscuits (make your own or buy them)
Sugar
Lemon juice
Whipped cream

Reserve some strawberries for garnish. Remove stems, cut strawberries into quarters, place in bowl. Add sugar and lemon juice, toss and set aside for about 5 minutes. (For a pint of strawberries use 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp of lemon juice.)

Slice biscuits along the equator, place bottom half on serving plate. Top with a couple of tablespoons of the strawberry mix (which should be nicely soft and sweet) and whipped cream. Lean top of biscuit against the stack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Garnish with whole strawberry. Serve.

You can also serve this with a rhubarb compote on the side.

Surprise! This is one of the only recipes that hasn't fought back. No horror stories here.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

www.whitecedarinn.com

Redwood Forest

All I can say is go. Just go see this for yourself. You really can't get a sense of how BIG these trees are and how very tiny you feel surrounded by them. This is Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in CA.

Redwood forest

Even Rock looks small!

Trillium growing in the shade of the redwoods.

Next up...Sleepless in Seattle

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

www.whitecedarinn.com

The Other Coast

After a week on the road we went over the mountains and into Northern California. Then on to Oregon. The other coast. I spent a lot of time saying, 'We're from Portland. The other one.' (Somewhere in there we stopped in Chico, CA, but only for the night. No photos. Looked like a really nice college town but we were moving on!)

We stopped in Bandon, OR to stretch our legs and Florence, OR for the night. Then on to Cannon Beach and the final push to Seattle.

No, this is not the only shirt I own, it just seems that way. (Actually, I'm wearing it right now, too!)

Oregon coast

Rock/rocks on the coast

Roosevelt elk

OK, the elk are an interesting story. You know I love taking photos of 'wildlife' like birds and animals. So, we're driving along Rt 101 in Trinidad, CA and lo and behold there is this herd of elk by the side of the road in someone's yard! It seems they live there. So, yeah, had to stop the car and take pix. Notice how I got the old pickup truck in the photo, too.

Next up - Redwood Forest.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

www.whitecedarinn.com

Virginia City Home of the Ponderosa

OK, you know how old we are, right? If not you soon will! We HAD to go to Virginia City. Yes, home of the Ponderosa and the Cartwrights. Just about every place in town had the map from the opening credits. What not a lot of people know, though is that Mark Twain, then known as Samuel Clemens, got his newspaper start here.

The main street of town, C Street, still has the old boardwalk style planks. (Didn't see too many places to hitch horses.) The town is partly on top of the Comstock Lode. Most of the town burned to the ground in less than 2 hours in the 1870's. The local businesses built it back up in less than 2 years.

C Street Virginia City, Nevada

The first flight of stairs to our room at the saloon.

The Millionaires' Club met here.

Mine tailings down the road. An idea how steep the side streets are!

Stinky and Bernice

 I do have to say this was not my favorite place on the trip. So much history here but just not my kind of town. If you're ever here, do stop into one of the saloons for a drink. Double the size of anything here and half the price. We paid $12 (including tip) for 3 drinks and snacks.

Oh, and DO take the trolley around town. It's a great way to see where everything is so you can explore the things you really want to see. (Without having to go up and down all the side streets like the one above in 90 degree weather!)

If we ever find ourselves driving through here again, I do want to go into one of the mines on a tour.

Another great motorcycle route... Rt 341 and Rt 342. Take a look on a map, it's all S turns.

Next up - we reach the other coast.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

www.whitecedarinn.com

Mono Lake

This unbelievably eerie place is right on Rt 395 along the eastern edge of California. It's all 'normal' at the visitor center until you realize you haven't seen water this blue outside the Caribbean. After parking the car at the South Tufa Area and walking a short way on a boardwalk you start to feel like you're leaving Earth behind and standing on an alien planet.

Hm, did I turn off the water at the inn or not?

Hurry up already, there are sticky bits on these shrubs!

South tufa grove trail

'Pirate ship' formation at Mono Lake

More tufa towers with Sierras in background

So alien!

Mono Lake tufa towers

Tell me this doesn't look like a scene from Star Trek!

OK, I took this right from the Mono Lake website to explain what tufa is: Tufa is essentially common limestone. What is uncommon about this limestone is the way it forms. Typically, underwater springs rich in calcium mix with lake water rich in carbonates. As the calcium comes in contact with carbonates in the lake, a chemical reaction occurs resulting in calcium carbonate--limestone. The calcium carbonate precipitates (settles out of solution as a solid) around the spring, and over the course of decades to centuries, a tufa tower will grow. Tufa towers grow exclusively underwater, and some grow to heights of over 30 feet. The reason visitors see so much tufa around Mono Lake today is because the lake level fell dramatically after water diversions began in 1941.

Next up - Virginia City, home of the Ponderosa!

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

www.whitecedarinn.com