Welcome to Maine - Day One

If you are flying to Maine you will be arriving at the Bangor International Airport. One of the unique things about this airport is our troop greeters. Since May 2003 and the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Maine Troop Greeters have greeted more than 1800 flights and over 500,000 soldiers. If you are driving - head up Maine Interstate 95 to Bangor.
After meeting up, we will be heading east on Coastal Rt. lA - we'll head over to Broadway (no, not Broadway in NY) and take a ride past the home of Maine's most famous resident, Stephen King. If you look closely you will see the bats on his front gate. Perhaps he will autograph a book for us? Then we'll continute on to Rt. 1A, heading towards Ellsworth where we will turn onto Rt. One and stop at Jordan's Snack Bar for lunch. Here will you will get your first taste of fresh Maine Lobster in a scrumptious lobster roll. We'll eat out on one of their picnic benches, and definitely save room for some of Jordan's famous ice cream! Continuing down Rt.1 on the Schoodic Scenic Byway, we'll stop in Hancock at my favorite LYS, Shirley's Yarns and Crafts, where you will find Over 2,000 colors and styles of quality yarns. This wonderful store also offers Maine-made products, pottery, fudge, and unique gift items. Then we will head towards our destination for today, the Bluff House Inn where my friends Mary and Steve Moshier will take good care of us. You may choose one of their themed rooms like the Cranberry Room which has a queen size bed and a sofa with sliding glass doors to the deck. After checking in and getting settled, you may want to sit out on the deck, overlooking beautiful Frenchmen's Bay, and do some knitting while enjoying a cup of tea, or a glass of wine.

We'll have dinner at Fisherman's Inn in Winter Harbor - just down the road from the Bluff House, where you will experience the freshest seafood around! It's time to call it a day so we'll head back to the Bluff House. If it's a chilly summer evening, you may want to sit in front of the fireplace in the Inn's living room and knit or read a book before retiring to your room.

Day Two

You will wake up this morning to a beautiful view of Frenchman's Bay and a scrumptious breakfast of blueberry pancakes made with Maine's own Wild Blueberries. The Wild Blueberry holds a special place in Maine's agricultural history — one that goes back centuries, to Maine's Native Americans. They were the first to use the tiny blue berries, both fresh and dried, for their flavor, their nutrition and their healing qualities. In the 1840's, Wild Blueberries were first harvested commercially. Today, with an annual crop valued at more than $75 million, Wild Blueberries make a major contribution to Maine's economy. Wild Blueberries are Maine's Official State Berry. The pancakes will be topped with what else but Maine Maple Syrup.
After breakfast and a walk around the grounds of the Bluff House, we'll head into Winter Harbor where we may get a ride on my grandchildren's lobster boat, the Gemini,

Or my Son-in-Laws lobster boat, the Tori Kay. If we're lucky, maybe we will take home some lobsters for dinner tonight. That's the Mark Island Light House in the background on Frenchman's Bay.

We'll continue on up to Schoodic Point for one of the most beautiful views you will ever see. After stopping for lunch ( a crabmeat roll maybe?at Chases, where all the locals hang out, we'll continue our tour around the Schoodic Peninsula, stopping to browse in all of the little shops along the way to pick up some souveniers. At one stop,
Dorothia Farm, we'll find some handspun yarn and handknit sweaters, hats, etc. At another, The Prospect Harbor Soap Company, we'll meet my friend Alexis (who is also the town's Postmistress), and try out some of her wonderful soaps and lotions. At Grindstone Neck of Maine We'll see how they make their delicious smoked salmon and sample some of their salmon candy! And at the Winter Harbor 5&10, you can find just about anything, including, yarn (if you are into fun fur and Red Heart Super Saver). It's been a long day, so we will head to Elsa's in Prospect Harbor where we will be spending the night. Megan Moshier (yes that's right - same name as the innkeepers at the Bluff House - she's their daughter-in-law), will be happy to cook those lobsters for us. Then we can relax in their cozy living room and work on our knitting while watching the boats out in the harbor. Better go to bed early tonight - we have a big day ahead tomorrow!

Day Three

After a delicious breakfast at Elsa's Mooselook guided tours will provide you with a relaxing day kayaking, or you may choose to just relax on the beach and read or knit. At the end of the day you can relax at Oceanside Meadows and enjoy a concert by New England singer-songwriter Megan Light, a native of Winter Harbor, Maine.

Day Four and Five

Todaywe will explore the real downeast - Washington County. Our first stop will be the Blackwoods Farm where you will find the softest hand spun alpaca yarn you have ever felt, and actually meet the alpaca that the fleece came from! We will continue on down the coast (actually up and east) to Machias, Jonesport, and Calais. From Calais we can cross over the Canadian border into New Brunswick where we will be staying at the Algonquin Hotel. This is the hotel that inspired Stephen King's "The Shining". After a leisurly walk around St. Andrews, we will probably want to choose one of the local seafood restaurants for dinner. In the morning, after a wonderful buffet brunch at the Algonquin, we will head back over the border into Calais. On the way back, we'll take a slight detour to visit the Roosevelt Campello National Park. This is where President Roosevelt vacationed and his house has been restored for visitors to tour. If we are tired, we might choose to spend the night at one of the motels or B&Bs on the Island.

Day Six and Seven

No tour of Downeast Maine would be complete without a visit to
Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We will check into the
Bar Harbor Inn and then have lunch outside on their patio with a view of the harbor. If we are lucky, maybe one of the big cruise ships, like the QE2 will be in. After lunch we can browse all of the shops in town and of course no Whoduknit Virtual Anniversary Tour would be complete without finding a few yarn stores there. After breakfast the next morning at the Bar Harbor Inn we will take a day trip on the CAT over to Yarmouth Nova Scotia.We will have a few hours there to eat dinner and explore before heading back to Bar Harbor.

One Day Optional Anniversary Tour

Do you really want to experience Maine? Then come with me to our 'camp'. Almost everyone in downeast Maine has a camp. A camp is a cabin, cottage, whatever you want to call it, in the woods, on a lake, used for fishing, hunting,4-wheeling, water sports, etc. Most have no indoor plumbing or electricity - yes, you will really have to rough it! But if you are an outdoors person - you may love this part of the tour.

Our camp is in Aurora Maine, about an hour from our house. It's on a lake called Upper Middle Branch Lake. To get there you have to drive on some pretty rough dirt roads, a 4 wheel drive truck is your best bet.
It started out as a cute, tiny, little camp - one bedroom, & a kitchen/living room.




Then we decided we needed an addition - maybe a porch and another bedroom. So now, it has turned into this: Front of camp with addition in back. Two more bedrooms, a porch, perfect for knitting and reading, and a loft that will easily sleep 8 people.

Back of camp:
And the lake.

We'll spend the day knitting, chatting, eating all those delicious dishes you will be bringing with you, and exchanging knitterly presents with each other! Then we'll head to our next virtual anniversary tour...wonder where that will be??