Patio Progress

Mike had a lot of pent-up renovation energy from the pandemic, so one of the projects was to redo the front sidewalk to add a little patio, where he could have a little table to sit out and possibly talk to the people going by.  The landscaper he hired has done a great job -- it's almost done.   

 

And Back Again

We took the freeways back, so it was a pretty quick trip home from Maine, all things considered (still most of a day, but not a late night). We then had a couple of days to relax at home before Walt and Georgia headed back to South Dakota.  We went to the Buffalo-Niagara Historic Village while they were here -- kind of interesting but it paled in comparison to the Strawbery Bankes museum which we had just visited.  (The afternoon was also pretty hot, which might have slightly diminished our enthusiasm!)  

There is a church near the end of our street, and it turns out the original church building (much prettier, but quite a bit smaller) is at the Historical Village!  Small world.  :)

 

Lobster Tour

We did an afternoon lobster boat tour from Kennebunk, which was great.  They caught some lobsters and everyone who wanted to had a chance to hold them. Then, because the boat had a license to catch the lobsters for demonstrations but not for commercial purposes, the lobsters went down the slide back into the water (Matthew got to help slide them back in).  

On the way back, James got to drive the boat for a bit -- we looked up and there he was behind the wheel!  (It turned out that they let all the kids have a turn, but he happened to be first.)

The boat ride also went by the Bush family compound (at quite a distance away).  Mike had his binoculars and thought he saw W getting out of a car. :)  (It's possible; apparently he was in town at the time. The boat operators can tell because when he goes out on his own boat, there are a couple of Secret Service boats right behind it.)  

Hearing about how lobsters can have very long lives and regenerate lost body parts made me feel a little guilty about eating them -- but not guilty enough to skip having lobster for dinner.  :) 

After the boat tour, we went to one of the recommended lobster places -- they had an hour-long wait, but the hostess recommended a different place, where she said the locals go and the food was just as good but less expensive.  So we took her advice and went to Nunan's Lobster Hut.  If you want lobster, it's the place to be (and if you want anything else besides clam chowder, you're out of luck -- although they did have a hot dog option for kids, which was James's choice.  And some tasty desserts!)  

 

Nubble Lighthouse

Our hotel in Wells was a recommendation from Uncle Dave (who has a fondness for the small family-owned places).  It was great for our needs and had a very delicious breakfast!

Our morning outing was to the Nubble Lighthouse, because Walt remembered the name from his high school days.  It turns out that the lighthouse is on an island and people generally aren't allowed to go there, but the surrounding area was really beautiful with the waves crashing on the rocks.