The most impressive thing about Maine has not been the incredible vistas or the historic monuments. It has been the people that we have gotten to know during our time here.

August 11th:

On our first day in Maine, we met Svend and Nancy, another camp host couple that live and work at the campground. Svend gave Jake a tour of the grounds and showed him what his job duties would be. I was trained by Catherine, the owner of the campground, and got to know her better over the course of the day.

That evening, the camp host team came together for a bonfire in the center of the park. We met Caroline and Mike (Camp Hosts), Sue and Rob (Camp Hosts), Dick and Diane (Guests), Marjorie and Frank (Guests), Robbie (Guest), and Garth (Guest).

The owners of the campground, Scott and Catherine joined us and the group shared travel stories, must-see destinations, and workamping histories. After the bonfire, we hung out with Marjorie and Frank at their site and talked over the campfire for hours.

August 13th:

We worked our first two shifts and had our first Team Potluck the with all of the camp hosts from both campgrounds. We met Russ and Maaike, Karen, Janine and Doug, and Courtney and Jordan. It turned out that Courtney and Jordan were in Miami at the same time as us.

We each brought a side to the potluck to go with the main course: Steamed Lobster! I made sofrito with garbanzos and white rice which paired really well with the lobster. We got to handle the live lobsters, pick the one we wanted to eat, and helped ourselves to seconds.

August 14th:

The following day, we took a drive into Rockport where we visited Bixby & Co, a local chocolate factory that makes awesome chocolates and gelato! We had to try it all and ended up treating ourselves to our favorite gelato flavors. We met Brett there and he gave us a few good recommendations for things to do around town.

We drove to Owl’s Head State Park and visited the Owl’s Head Light and Beach. We climbed the stairs to the lighthouse to find that the lighthouse is actually only 30 feet tall, but sits atop of a 100-foot tall bluff. We took a look around their small museum which included the previous lighthouse lenses used at this location and 100-year-old light keeper tools and antiques.

We took the path in the forked road to the rocky beach where you can see the very top of the lighthouse through the trees. We climbed the rocks, combed the beach for sea glass, and walked around the park while taking in the views of Penobscot Bay.

On the same day, we drove to the Rockland Breakwater Light, a lighthouse that sits in the middle of the bay at the end of a 1-mile long breakwater granite pier. Yes, we walked all the way to the lighthouse and back! No, it was not open…

After a long day of walking around town, we made a final stop at the campground waterfront to see the full moon rise and it was absolutely peaceful. The calm waters reflected the moonlight and the sounds of the gentle waves on the rocks almost lulled us to sleep.

August 15th:

We drove to Main Street Camden where we strolled and did some window shopping and food sampling all the way down the road until we had lunch at Sea Dog Brewery.

We also stopped at Red Barn Baking company where Jake had a Lemon Blueberry loaf, Uncle Willy’s Candy Shoppe where I got a bag of nonpareils and salt water taffy, and took a look inside of the seafood restaurants and delis that we could visit in the future.

After lunch, we parked at Laite Beach Park and walked to the Curtis Island Lookout, the only on-shore location from where you can see the Curtis Island Lighthouse. We took some photos of the lighthouse and took a moment to absorb the peacefulness of the bay.

We walked back to Laite Beach and spent some time combing the rocky beach for sea glass. This has become my favorite thing to do in Maine so far and we have acquired quite a few nice pieces in our first week here.