Date: 2004-10-17
From: exploring the maine coast: day 1

To: exploring the maine coast: day 1
Miles today: 0.0

"rachel carson and a sick dog"in 1962 a woman by the name of rachel carson published a book entitled ¢silent spring.¢ in this book she exposed the impact of pesticides on the natural world, setting off a nationally publicized struggle between the proponents and opponents of the use of poisonous chemicals to kill insects. although ¢silent spring¢ is what rachel became most well known for, she had already established herself as a marine biologist. she published three earlier works: ¢under the sea wind¢ in 1941, ¢the sea around us¢ (1951), and ¢the edge of the sea¢ (1955). some of her research for these pieces was done on the shore of the muscongus bay in maine, at a tidal pool near the southeastern tip of the pemaquid peninsula. this tidal pool was set aside as the rachel carson salt pond preserve by the nature conservancy in 1966. (thus ends your brief history lesson for the day).the rachel carson salt pond preserve was our first stop today during our exploration of the lovely maine coast. i absolutely love the coast of maine. that¢s all there is to it. it is old and rural and quaint and beautiful. after leaving the house this morning we drove through small towns and past old farms and houses and wound our way towards the preserve. we pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and parked the car behind a truck with north carolina plates. ah, my home state. at times i think that i could live this life forever, never returning home. but, north carolina is where i come from. it is where my heart is. i will always return to her. for now, i will enjoy immensely my adventures and my travels. the sun shown bright and the wind blew briskly off the ocean as we walked down the stairs from the road to the preserve. the tide was coming in so the tide pond was fairly full. the beach was rocky; unlike the smooth, white sand beaches of north carolina. the rocks were littered with seaweed and small shells.we followed the beach around the pool to a rocky outcrop. the waves crashed against the shore, sending an ocean spray into the air. the air was cold when we got out beyond the protection of the cove. the views of the ocean and monhegan island, about ten miles away, were incredible. on the way back towards the car i stopped and pocketed a few small seashells and a rock. i collect things. usually, i collect rocks from places i¢ve been. i have rocks from almost everywhere i¢ve been. i always write the date and the place where i got it and then i can remember the story that goes along with it. i found it interesting that flowers would be blooming on the edge of this rocky beach- especially this time of year. a bush was in full bloom, covered in small pink flowers.next, we found our way to the pemaquid point lighthouse. a 38-foot tall tower that was built in 1835. the point itself is made of large slabs of granite that reach down to the ocean. we were able to walk way out on the rocks. again, i found small flowers in bloom, nestled in cracks in the rock. the lighthouse and its grounds were crawling with visitors like us. it turns out that today is the last day of the season that the grounds will be open to the public for the season. if only we¢d come here tomorrow, we wouldn¢t have had to pay the three dollars to park the car. the old keeper¢s house now holds a maine fisherman¢s museum. inside the museum we found more history than could be covered in one afternoon. i was fascinated by the artifacts from a time that has long since passed. there were old photographs and articles and maps on the walls. i could have spent hours touring the small museum. but, our stomachs were beginning to growl, so we set off in search of food.after a lunch at the local subway (even these old towns have modern conveniences) we stopped by the colonial pemaquid state historic site and fort william henry, dating back to the mid-1620s. we left the fort and drove towards christmas cove in search of lobster boats and other facets of the maine fishing industry. i can¢t say how much i enjoy the coast of maine. it¢s full autumn colors and quaint villages were something that i could spend months, if not years, exploring. there was a drawbridge at christmas cove that was unlike any drawbridge i¢ve ever seen. instead of opening up in the center or completely raising up, this bridge pivoted at one end like it was on an arm. it swung out to one side to let a boat pass through. ross and i watched this and wandered around on some docks for a bit before ross suggested that we return to the house for a spot of afternoon tea. i¢m not a tea drinker, but i said i would enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.there is a lot of history in coastal maine. it may seem boring, but i¢m rather fascinated by it. i enjoy history. hey kids, remember, history is fun. all the cool kids like history. i¢m not that cool and i like history.mandi decided that it would be a good idea to take her dog, bailey, with us for the next leg of our exploration. we drove out to a place called reid state park to play on the beach. the park has the honor of being maine¢s first state-owned saltwater beach. the beaches are actually sand beaches, which is a rare occurrence in maine. the sun was behind the clouds in this late hour of the day and the air was almost frigid. of course, i climbed to the top of griffith head, a rocky headland overlooking the park. i could see mile and half-mile beach, where ross and mandi were walking near the water¢s edge and bailey was running as fast as he could across the sand. we didn¢t stay long at the park because we wanted to drive down to the tip of bailey island to catch the sun setting over the ocean.neither ross nor mandi can really see at night and since dusk was quickly approaching, they volunteered me to drive. i didn¢t have the heart to tell them that sometimes i can¢t really see at night either.we made it to the southern tip of the island. i walked out to the rocky point, carefully stepping on across the slippery rocks, while ross and mandi patiently waited in the car. the sunset was a great end to a great first day exploring the coast of maine. i guess, an even better way to end the day was when mandi¢s dog decided to vomit all over the back of the car. it smelled so very bad. we pulled over and attempted to clean it up, but ended up riding with the windows down the whole way home as a result.we¢ve returned to the house and mandi cooked a huge pasta dinner for us. i am glad to be here. i am glad i¢ve decided to take this vacation from hiking. i wouldn¢t want to be anyplace else. i am lucky to have these most gracious hosts. tomorrow we¢re waking up before 5:00 so that we can drive down to cundys harbor to watch the sunrise and begin another day exploring this fabulous coast of maine.