The Lobster Capital of Maine - Stonington

We spent the day over at Stonington, ME.  It took about an hour to get over there from our Forest Ridge Campground in Ellsworth, ME, on some smaller county and state roads.

It was foggy much of the day but we had glimpses of some interesting things.

First we came upon a Produce Market and had to stop.

There were a mix of crafts and produce on display.

I stopped for a few moments and talked with the owners of the VW pickup truck who brought some produce to the market.

The guy in the green sweatshirt was the owner of the 1964 VW.  It had been completely restored and painted and had the nice canvas cover over the top.  It was a real beauty and had been in his family for a long time.  I asked how it did on the road and he said it could even get up to 50 mph!

Next, on to Stonington.

Our new friends Randy and Pat recommended the quaint little town and we found it to be a great day trip.  It immediately looked like a Maine fishing town.

There were boats in the harbor and a number of working warehouses in site on the water.

The town is small and we drove through it on Main Street before turning around and finding a parking place.  Parking is free so that was nice.  Just like most of the parking in Bar Harbor.

Our first order of business was to find a place for lunch.  We looked at this little row of cottages and the restaurant associated it.  But we went inside and waited for a table only to find out it was a private dining area for guest at these quaint cottages.  Yikes!

 The fog was rolling in and out and we opted for an inside restaurant on Main Street.

The bay window was a great place to see the bay, enjoy the meal and chat with some other vacationers in the restaurant.
The sights in town were another exclamation mark in our Northeast Trip.

 After lunch, we strolled down to the wharf and went to the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries.

Here's what their website says about the mission and purpose:

Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries is a non-profit organization that works to secure a diversified fishing future for the communities of Eastern Maine and beyond. We do this by developing and implementing innovative programs that provide value for today’s fishermen and drive more sustainable management approaches for future fisheries. An essential component of our work is connecting the knowledge of fishermen, the findings of scientists, and the world of policy makers.

We talked with Sam, an intern from Iowa who showed us samples of some of the fish life on display.
We saw a purple lobster, crabs, mussels and some other sea creatures.

A manager at the facility said that the working warehouse in town were really busy and harvesting a lot lobster.  In 2017, they had a banner year with over 20,000,000 pounds of lobster in Stonington alone.  An average year is about that for the entire state of Maine.

It was a beautiful warm day and we really just walked around and enjoyed the small town feeling on the waterfront.  It was surprising to me that there was not a larger commercial advertising presence.  The only sign I saw that named the town as the biggest lobster port in Maine (and therefore the world?) was the small sign at the edge of town.

I suppose, to their credit, they liked the small town atmosphere and were willing to put up with the high traffic in the summer time, but at the same time they didn't want to bring in huge numbers of tourists and change the culture.

Before we left the area, we drove around the outskirts of town and saw some neat neighborhoods with little homes perched on the side of the hills for good views of the harbor.

We also came upon a large boat repair facility with a huge boat mover.

The whole contraption was being 'driven' by a guy who was walking behind it and operating it from a remote control joystick.  We don't see that every day!

We loved our time in Stonington.  It was a memorable day.

This definitely was a 'find' and a great way to spend the day.  Seeing Stonington was a bit of change from Bar Harbor and Acadia and a chance to see an interesting place.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

4th of July Parade & Seafood Festival - Bar Harbor

It was a great day on the 4th of July.  We celebrated in Bar Harbor at the small hometown parade and seafood festival.  We were told to be there plenty early for the 10:00 AM start.

 And we were - Tom and Cathy and I.  We were so early we had time for a hot cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.

We picked out a good spot and were ahead of the crowds.

They filled in the empty spots along the parade route quickly.

A little after 10:00 the grand marshall and marchers passed by us.

Then it was a steady stream of pure fun!

 These paraders were well trained:  they tossed the candy on the ground so it wouldn't hit anyone.

Then a real highlight - a group of go carts in various forms from the Shriners in Bangor.

 And marchers, political candidates, a band, a local theater group,

and more go carts - this time NASCARs

 then some older antique models

And Elvis made an appearance in a mail truck!

It was one great parade!!

After everyone cleared out we moved on up the street over to the annual seafood festival.

And to everyones favorite:  the lobster races!

There were lots of people there watching the log rolling, and checking out the booths and eating lobster.

And lobster rolls.

It was a great day in Bar Harbor for a parade and seafood festival.  Hope your 4th was a memorable one too.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...