Our ship slowly sailed into Penobscot Bay, just as the sun rose on another glorious day, and moored about a twenty minute shuttle ride from the town of Rockland. The bay is dotted with many small islands of which only fifteen are inhabited and the trees on their banks were just beginning to show a taste of their autumn colours.
The route through the bay was marked by the multi- coloured floats indicating the positions of the many lobster pots which are a mainstay of the local community. The ship seemed to avoid them, a feat not repeated later by one of the shuttle boats which got a line tangled in its rotor.
We had booked a shore excursion today and made our way via the water shuttle past the breakwater into Rockland to pick up the coach.
A short drive through a number of coastal towns took us into the Camden Hills State Park and the summit of Mount Battie. From here we gained spectacular views of the bay and the islands beyond, although the photos do not do it justice.
A look out tower gave an opportunity to see even further but it was full of tourists so we didn’t go up.
Maine is often described as the lobster capital as 90% of all lobster consumed in the USA comes from this area. Interestingly enough so does 90% of all the toothpicks! Another couple of fun facts about this state is that is the only one to have a one syllable name and also the only one to share a border with only one other state.
The next stop on our trip was the charming little harbour town of Camden. Amongst the smaller boats in the harbour were a number of schooners which during the holiday season take visitors for trips into the bay.
The river enters the harbour via a waterfall above which sits a restaurant…….
……so this seemed the perfect place to have a spot of lunch. What do you have when you are in the lobster capital?….Lobster roll of course.
Once again a perfect day to enjoy a lovely part of the country, although a little disappointing that the trees have not really changed into their autumn shades yet. Perhaps we’ll have more luck when we move north back into Canada over the next two days.
Entertainment on the ship has generally been very good but tonight it was exceptional, as we were treated to a 45 minute show from “Pop Idol” runner up Gareth Gates. He really has matured into an all round entertainer with a great voice, piano playing and rapport with the audience.
Too bad about his (Gareth) hair. 🤮