It’s a pretty good clip from Athens, GA to the state of Maine, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.  The lobsters in Maine can’t be matched and the wild blueberry pies are the ultimate.  It’s a 20 hour drive and it can be done in a day and a half. We left Athens at 12 noon, drove to Danville, VA, spent the night and drove the next day to almost Portland, ME. On our return trip,  we left Belfast, ME at 4 a.m. and pulled back into to Danville, VA about 7 p.m. Te next day, we rode the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 25 miles, got onto I-77 and were pulling into our driveway at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  We logged near 2500 miles during the week. Here are a few photos taken during our visit:

 Hurricane Bill was skirting the east coast when we arrived at the Pemaquid Lighthouse.  The surf there was fabulously rough and rowdy. It was hot and humid when we arrived and there were lots of people there to ogle the massive waves that were pounding the rocky shoreline.

 

The next day the seas had all but calmed down with the exception of a few small crashing waves and they had nowhere near the energy of the day before.

 

 

This is a one room schoolhouse (from days gone by) located in Union Maine.  We visited the Union Agricultural Fair and Wild Blueberry Festival there just to get a taste of rural Maine.

 

The lakes in rural Maine are very beautiful. We ran into a fisherman with an Australina accent on the wayside.

You can’t always get the light that you want when taking photos on a roadtrip.  In addition, there is limited access to many of the landmarks. So, you do the best you can with the light that you have.

 

We got up early to get these shots of the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. This west side afforded very limited access this early in the morning. So we ventured to the rocks for some better shots.

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

 

BAR HARBOR

 

 

 

 

This is the section of shoreline in Acadia National Park where 9 people were swept into the sea by a rogue wave when hurricane Bill passed the east coast. Everyone except a 7 year old girl were rescued.

 

 

 

 

 

The trail to the coastline in the nature preserve near Cutler, Maine

 

 

 

 

… and at the coast after a mile and a half hike, the only thing to see was a very foggy coastline….still gorgeous

West Quoddy Lighthouse, the most eastern point of the U.S. mainland

 

The West Quoddy Lighthouse remains foggy most of the time…

Further up the coast north of Lubec, Maine in New Brunswick, Canada is the East Quoddy Lighthouse which can only be accessed at low tide. We were too  late to go up and down the steep ladders to get a close view of it.

 

 

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birthplace. This is his father’s summer “cottage”. This is also in New Brunswick just a few miles north of Lubec, Maine.

LUBEC, MAINE

 

 

 

 

Rockland Ferry to Vinalhaven Island

The harbor at Rockland, Maine

 

 

Vinalhaven Island, Maine

 

 

 

Quaint Homes on Vinalhaven Island. Clothes drying in the breeze. Electricity is at a premium on the island.

 

Downtown Vinalhaven

 

 

“LOBSTAHS ” Maine’s “cash” crop (besides wild blueberries)

 

 

 

 

 Sailing, sailing