Just sit right back and I'll tell you a tale......

No, not of Gilligan's Island, but of Moose Island.  Better known as Eastport.  I have written about this area in an earlier blog, but there is so much more!!!

We were given the keys to a house in Eastport by our friend, Jeanne.  She is truly the sweetest person I know and we have the pleasure of her company for the four months we are here. 

We unpacked and set out on foot down to the waterfront.  Eastport is a walk-about kind of town.  It was time for lunch and here is our choice today.

We each had their delicious Lobster Roll at the famous Quoddy Bay Lobster.

Next was walking the waterfront sidewalk to the wharf where this ship from Nassau was docked for repairs.

While Wallace was ordering a hot dog, I walked over to find out about the ship.  It will be loading cattle from Texas to take to Turkey.  All of them are pregnant.  Our cowboys from Fort Worth go on the ship to tend them during transport. 

The fellow in the middle, Jimmy, is security for the ship.  He was the one I approached about the ship, then his friends joined in.  We were there two hours listening and learning about some of the local history with local people...very enjoyable.  They told us how to find Fort Sullivan and the British Powderhouse and that was straight up hill!!!  So, off we go.



We kept going back to the waterfront off and on all day.  The temps were much cooler there which made for a nice day.  Dinner was at The Chowderhouse where Haddock was the special of the day.

A visit to the library, 1893...Romanesque Revival design.  AND, the Moose Island Bakery where we just had to have a piece of carrot cake.



It was sooooo gooooood.



And THEN...yep, ice cream.  Strawberry for me.  Wallace had Maple Nut.

Saturday morning, we woke to be the first people in the United States to see the sunrise.  Now the sun rises about 4:00am and we WERE going to walk down to the bay to see it at the start of the rise, but.....we decided to see it from our bedroom window.

Red skies in morning, sailors take warning!!!

Eastport is the easternmost city in the U.S.  So the sun rises here first.

This is S.L. Wadsworth & Son, Inc, the nation's oldest ship chandlery founded in 1818 and still in business.  They have a little bit of everything for sale.

We walked to breakfast at the Waco Diner (Whacko).  We wanted to see the cemetery as it sounded interesting after talking to the guys.

Notice the tops of these two gravestones.  The one on the left has a broken top signifying this man was lost at sea.  The one on the right died a natural death.  There are British people buried here as well.  Hillside Cemetery is located at the top of Capen Street where it dead ends.

We asked where there was a good place to look for sea glass.  It is Shackford Cove where we were given permission to trespass.  That is on the opposite part of town, of course.  Here is our collection.

What FUN.  There are a few pieces of china as well.

Next was a trip to Raye's Mustard Mill to take in a tour of how they make mustard.  The business started up in 1903 to supply the sardine canneries with mustard.  There once were 13 sardine canneries in Eastport with each one having a signature whistle that would blow to let the employees know it was time to go to work (mostly women and children).  First sardine factory was built in 1875.   



Raye's family mill is the last operating stone mustard mill in the country today.  It is not cooked, it is ground with deep well water blended with whole mustard seeds.

Naturally, I chose one with jalapenos!  The other will be used in Tuna.  They have 21 award-winning mustards.

The next thing to do was take a ferry ride over to Deer Island.  We caught the ferry at The Chowderhouse Restaurant.  After enjoying visiting with the Border Patrol, we boarded with about 10 motorcycles!  The reason for going was to get pictures of the "Old Sow" and her piglets.



At this point, you are on Canadian soil.  But it is the best place for pictures.  The ferry guide knew I wanted pictures of the whirlpool.  We were just going to ride over and back so our fare was $6.00, but he said he would not charge if we wanted to get off and wait an hour, he would come back and not charge for the return.  He told us how to get to the best place for pictures.  What a deal!

This is the best I got.  The better time is after a full moon.  The way it got its name (from those guys) is the people at night could hear the sound and to them it sounded like a pig at the trough and there were a lot of smaller ones, called the piglets, hence the name.  We were there two hours before high tide but we did not have a full moon the night before.  Maybe next time!!  A few more additions:  It is called Moose Island because during migration, the moose would swim over to Deer Island from Eastport.  

 

Italianate architecture...1887.  Beautiful old buildings.

I will sign off with my favorite picture...notice the reflection.  Hope you enjoyed traveling along.