Stonington, Maine

I'm finally back on the road heading towards Stonington, Maine. I made it to the ferry and was able to ride the 2:15 to Isle au Haut, (Isle-A-Ho) which is part of the Acadia National Park system. You can only get there by boat. I got off at the town landing, and made it to the remote ranger station. I decided to not do the one and a half hour trail in this area. Firstly, because it was super hot, with no cell service, and I was by myself, with no one else in the area, at all. So I walked into the little town with the general store and a lobster hut. I ate black raspberries along the way that grow like weeds here. It's definitely a throwback in time, in this area, as I passed by the remote post office, which looked more like a shack. I should have brought a postcard to mail. The only gift shop here, was already closed for the season, and it's only the end of August!  I was lucky enough to find free overnight parking at the ball field and spent the night in Stonington. So this morning I took the ferry back over to Isle au Haut, to hike the Eben Head trail, along the shore at Duck Harbor. (A different stop on the ferry ride ) It was raining cats and dogs. But fortunately it cleared up, and the temperatures became quite comfortable. I found a rocky beach and I'm the only one here looking over all the pretty rocks. I picked red raspberries here, for an afternoon snack. Heading back on the boat, the weather has definitely cooled. They are calling for temps in the 50's tonight.

So, speaking about a throw back in time, I neglected to mention an experience I had near Ellsworth, Maine. I drove past the "Down to Earth Pottery" and thought I would pay a visit. The sign on the door said  "be back soon, come on in and browse." The door was unlocked, and I came in and nobody was there except for some music piping in. I looked around and selected a couple pieces including a butter dish with a handle and a small tiny creamer pitcher. This was an old building with creeky floors and peeling ceiling. When I came to the checkout desk I saw that a lot of people had come, and it's a self-checkout. Wrap your own, put the money into this large metal container, and leave your contact information on the clipboard. So where on the planet can you go when there's no shopkeeper and people are trusting enough to open up their studio hoping for people to come visit, and to sell? My faith in the planet may have just been renewed. Whoa, gosh, I wonder if I can do this too?