Today dawned foggy again, but slightly clearer than the day before. Oh Maine.
As usual, I was awake early, but eventually everyone else started getting ready for the day too. We had big plans for the day so we fired up the electric griddle that we had brought with us and John and Nick made pancakes and ham for breakfast, and we raced around getting ready for the day. By some miracle, we made it into the car just a couple minutes behind schedule.
5 years ago, a random post on facebook led Nick and me to a Christmas lights display in Boothbay at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. The display was spectacular, and although it was winter, and, well, not daylight, we could tell this place was one we needed to get Nick’s mom to.
Fast forward to now. When we found out where the resort was, Nick and I both immediately knew that a botanical garden would be a perfect social distancing activity, and that this was our opportunity to get his mom there. Following the Christmas lights, I had started following the gardens on facebook, so I knew they had put many safety measures into effect this year, including mandatory pre-purchasing of timed entry tickets. Our entry time was 10 am.
We pulled into the parking lot AT 10 am. Everyone including those of us that had been there before were surprised by the size of the parking lot, and the size of the visitor’s center. It was clear that in 5 years, they’ve expanded a bit (and it was already a big place).
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens spans hundreds of acres, but we primarily focused on the “core gardens” and the area between them and the visitors’ center (which included a butterfly garden). This place was amazing. It was also evident that a lot of thought had gone into their re-opening procedures. The 2 buildings we went into were immaculate, plexiglass was plentiful, all employees were wearing masks, and A-frames were out reminding guests to wear masks in any high traffic area. We were here for about 2 ½ hours, and that time was really only spent in the core gardens. I took close to 200 pictures just here. I tried to pick just a few favorites for this report. Hundreds of others are in my Summer 2020 album on facebook.
We loved it here! Kim and John regularly go to Bath, about 40 minutes from here, because John works on camera systems being installed on Navy ships, which regularly takes him to the shipyard in Bath. They had no idea this was even here. Now I think we all want to go for Scarecrows in the Gardens some fall, and also to the Christmas lights. I highly recommend Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens!
Once we exited the gardens, we had a parking lot picnic of ham and cheese sandwiches. Then we decided since we were pretty warm from all that sunshine, and since we were just down the road from the stripmall branch of the Ice Cream Factory, that ice cream would be a good way to regroup.
For today’s ice cream, I had apple pie ice cream. I think Kim got the Elvis Pretzel ice cream. And Nick got a peanut butter fantasy frappe (milkshake for the non-New Englanders). It was all amazing, again, and we felt very refreshed after.
As we left we debated what to do with the afternoon and decided it was too hot for going to see lighthouses, so we went back to the condo. I think all of us ended up napping this afternoon. All of that fresh air and sunshine is exhausting after months of house arrest!
Eventually we all started coming back to life, and eventually, dinner was decided upon. Directly across the bridge from our resort was the town of Wiscasset. Wiscasset isn’t famous for much, but there’s a food shack there, right on the river, JUST over the bridge that apparently keeps winning best of Maine awards. Friends of my in-laws had also mentioned this place to them. So...we had to eat at Red’s Eats, and tonight was the last easy opportunity to do so.
Since Red’s was “just over the bridge”, my FIL decided that walking would be a great idea. There will be a better picture of the bridge in Monday’s chapter, but this bridge is longer, with a bigger hill than it appears. But...we made it to Red’s. And we only had to wait like 25 minutes in line, which I hear is nothing.
Red’s is a cash only seafood shack with a gigantic menu. I had a fried haddock sandwich. Kim had a lobster roll, to compare a buttered lobster roll to the mayonnaise type that she had had a few days earlier. John had scallops, I think, and Nick had the pub dogs. What are pub dogs? Hot dogs wrapped in bacon and cheese and deep fried. Yeah, pure hell. He loved them. We all loved our food, and we were all overwhelmed by the size of Kim’s lobster roll! We ate at a picnic table by the river and had a beautiful view. It was an enjoyable dinner, even though we got eaten alive by gnats. MAINE!
Once we exited the gardens, we had a parking lot picnic of ham and cheese sandwiches. Then we decided since we were pretty warm from all that sunshine, and since we were just down the road from the stripmall branch of the Ice Cream Factory, that ice cream would be a good way to regroup.
For today’s ice cream, I had apple pie ice cream. I think Kim got the Elvis Pretzel ice cream. And Nick got a peanut butter fantasy frappe (milkshake for the non-New Englanders). It was all amazing, again, and we felt very refreshed after.
As we left we debated what to do with the afternoon and decided it was too hot for going to see lighthouses, so we went back to the condo. I think all of us ended up napping this afternoon. All of that fresh air and sunshine is exhausting after months of house arrest!
Eventually we all started coming back to life, and eventually, dinner was decided upon. Directly across the bridge from our resort was the town of Wiscasset. Wiscasset isn’t famous for much, but there’s a food shack there, right on the river, JUST over the bridge that apparently keeps winning best of Maine awards. Friends of my in-laws had also mentioned this place to them. So...we had to eat at Red’s Eats, and tonight was the last easy opportunity to do so.
Since Red’s was “just over the bridge”, my FIL decided that walking would be a great idea. There will be a better picture of the bridge in Monday’s chapter, but this bridge is longer, with a bigger hill than it appears. But...we made it to Red’s. And we only had to wait like 25 minutes in line, which I hear is nothing.
Red’s is a cash only seafood shack with a gigantic menu. I had a fried haddock sandwich. Kim had a lobster roll, to compare a buttered lobster roll to the mayonnaise type that she had had a few days earlier. John had scallops, I think, and Nick had the pub dogs. What are pub dogs? Hot dogs wrapped in bacon and cheese and deep fried. Yeah, pure hell. He loved them. We all loved our food, and we were all overwhelmed by the size of Kim’s lobster roll! We ate at a picnic table by the river and had a beautiful view. It was an enjoyable dinner, even though we got eaten alive by gnats. MAINE!
Dinner finished, we walked back across the bridge, taking a few pictures along the way. Nick and I then headed down on the pier for a few pictures. I’m determined that our Christmas card will include a mask picture, because 2020, but I wasn’t thrilled with any of them yet. Thankfully, we might have finally taken a successful picture.
Once back at the room, we visited for a bit and then crashed. It had been a great, and exhausting day.
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