Five Islands, Maine

These past few days we have been staying in Five Islands, Maine, in the beautiful Grey Havens Inn. On our way here from Concord, we stopped in Salem, Massachusetts, where we visited the Salem Witch Museum. As expected, it was a little lacking in substance and a bit touristy, but the interactive telling of the history was pretty interesting. The only thing that was weird was that the mannequins they had on display were really creepy and looked like zombies because their skin was a bubbly and dead looking. Anyway, from there we went to the Peabody Essex Museum. We originally went there to see this expansive Ansel Adams exhibit they were putting on. I already knew that I liked Ansel Adams as a photographer, but after seeing this exhibit, I really appreciated the skill that went into taking his incredible pictures. There were some taken when he was just 16! My favorites were "Thundercloud, Lake Tahoe, California" and "The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming." Since I couldn't take pictures, you'll have to look those up; once you see them, you'll see why I liked them so much - the contrast between light and dark, drama of the mundane, particularly when he photographs clouds. Even the commentary was interesting. On "Evolution Creek", where the water mimics the shape of the mountain in the distance, it says, "water is both the vitality of the mountain and the force that erodes them," which I thought very insightful and interesting. While still in the museum, we visited a traditional Chinese home that they transplanted to this museum, called "Yin Yu Tang." There, we had a self-guided listening tour which was very interesting. It was cool to see the old, intricate part of the house mix with the (relatively) new part of the Communist Revolution's addition of propaganda posters and stereo systems. Ending our visit in Salem, we got some bread and snacks from this local bakery that was highly recommended at the museum, and on the way, visited a vintage store,as well. The only damper to the visit was that it was raining the whole time, drenching our unprepared selves.
From there, we made several stops along the coast until reaching our final destination. In Newburyport, Massachusetts, we went to Starbucks and walked around the downtown, which seemed quite cute.  After a quick drive through coastal New Hampshire, we drove to the Stonwall Kitchen in York, Maine, which has all these kitchen supplies and handcrafted jams and spreads. I ate my way through the store, and then we bought this ginormous peanut butter cup which was almost 700 calories in its entirety (I ate only a quarter). Yum. This whole way in Maine, we tried to take the scenic route, but it didn't quite work out. Fulfilling our spontaneous quota, we stopped at Nubble Lighthouse, which is apparently the most photographed lighthouse in Maine, and there are a lot (more on that later). Since it had been raining all day, it was foggy, and with the waves crashing on the wet rocks, the whole area was quite dramatic, yet peaceful. With my family, we walked down the rocks to the edge, where the cold water was spraying - no summer beach destination, yet still a good experience. When we finally reached Grey Havens Inn, it looked almost out of a scary movie, being in the middle of nowhere with fog surrounding it. We weren't sure it was the correct place, since our GPS had directed us a different direction, but when my dad saw the view from the porch, he remembered it from 20 or so years ago. We ate dinner there, and while it was a bit limited, it was still tasty. I got the soup de jour: duck and white bean soup, and for desert, mango sorbet, which was very light and refreshing.
On Thursday, we woke up late and ate a delicious breakfast consisting of blueberry muffins and pancakes. It was a beautiful morning, a complete change from the day before, so I sat out on the porch with tea, while waiting for everyone to get ready. Our first stop was the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine, whose name describes it all. From there, we went on a trolley tour of Bath Iron Works, a military contractor that builds destroyers. We saw the new class of destroyers being built, as well as the dry dock where they launch the ships. One funny story they told was that at one launch, the ship wouldn't move, so John Wayne, who was in attendance, dramatically (and fake) pushed it, and at that exact moment, the ship started moving! The only problem was that some idiot brought two small children on the tour, and they were screaming the entire way, pulling my hair, and hitting the back of my head! Talk about distracting! Also, since I don't know anything about boats, I wasn't really sure what was going on anyway, but that didn't help. For lunch, we ate at Red's Eats in Wiscasset, Maine, which is apparently famous for its lobster roll. I got that and a whoopee pie, as well. Both were delicious. We tried looking at some vintage shops there, but everything smelled like smoke or was too big or expensive, so our browsing was fruitless. The rest of the day wasn't very interesting. We attempted to see more lighthouses, but drove for a half-hour where some were supposed to be, but couldn't find any. On the way back, my brother had to go to the bathroom, and the first place available was a gas station whose only bathroom was an outhouse - good times! Then, we went to the huge complex that is L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine. And when I say huge, I mean it! It was like a small college campus. Everything I liked was too expensive, so that trip was fruitless, as well, yet still an adventure. Unfortunately, no on ran into any canoes... but we did see the weirdest McDonald's that was located in a colonial-looking building, so that was interesting.
Last, but not least: today. Well, once again, we ate a hearty breakfast at the inn, which was nice, especially since bird chirps woke me up at 5:30 AM :( The first stop in our itinerary today was a nice hike at Reid State Park, which is right down the road from where we are staying. When I say nice, read insect infested and ankle-high mud in some places. But where the trail was dry, it was quite peaceful and beautiful, if slightly confusing where to go. The original estimate distance my mom read somewhere was 1.7 miles, someone else said 1.6 miles, the park ranger said 2 miles, and the sign on the trail said 2.2 miles, so I'm not really sure how far we walked. Afterwards, we went to the beach right near the parking lot, and while the water was freezing, it was very picturesque, like everything else we've seen in Maine. A lady at L.L Bean had recommended a hike on the Morse Mountain Trail, so we went there, too. Let me tell you, it lives up to its name - that was quite an uphill hike. But when we got to the top, the view of the valley and beach below was so spectacular that it made up for the huffing and puffing on the way up. Next, we dropped my brother and dad off to go golfing, while we explored Brunswick, Maine. At Bowdoin College, we went to a small art museum, and then this museum with artifacts from Admiral Perry's trip to the North Pole. Apparently he went to that college, and left all his stuff to them. Since we couldn't find the student union to buy a t-shirt, we went into town, were we found a store that sold them. After a quick stop at a book store and Cote's Ice Cream, we went and picked up the "golfers." For our dinner, we went to Five Island's Lobster Company, which is right on the water and smells like seafood/fish. They sell fresh, whole lobster caught that day, and since I am in Maine, I thought I should try it. I will never do that before, since to actually get the meat is a time-intensive, and, frankly, disgusting process. I rather my food does NOT have eyeballs looking at me when I eat it... still the food was great, once I had my dad do all the work. Lastly, we stopped quickly at Five Islands Farm, which sells fresh produce, and picked up some fresh strawberries that we ate as soon as we got back to the inn. They were possibly the best strawberries I have ever eaten - and I will leave you on that tasty note.