In Maine, lobster is a delicacy. When cooked, this seafood turns bright red.

So, we spent almost 2 full weeks in Maine. We split the time up between
my inland papermill-town home town (Livermore Falls) and the delightful
ocean-side charming town of Rockland. Livermore Falls is not all bad –
I get to see my family, eat my step-mom’s WONDERFUL cooking, and read a
lot. I mock it, but I did have a nice, quiet time in Livermore Falls.

Ahh,
but for Maine charm, Rockland is good for the soul. The weather cleared
up for us when we went to Rockland, and I could not have asked for a
nicer 5 days (a touch warm for my Mainer tastes, but I am picky).

Mer and I took the Vinalhaven ferry out to, well, Vinalhaven. I had
never been out to a Maine island before, and I really liked the 1 hour
15 minute trip out to the island. It was relaxing and very pretty.

There was a teenage boys baseball team on the ferry – I assume to go
play the Vinalhaven team. The ferry was crowded, and the whole team was
in the front of the boat. A couple of teenage girls were trying to make
their way to the front and were apologizing as they were going. In a
very happy moment for me, the coach saw the girls and told them not to
worry. He then yelled, “Hey, knuckleheads! Move! There are some ladies
coming forward!” The boys moved and spent most of the trip looking in
on the boat rather than looking out at the islands and water.

Vinalhaven
was nice. We made our way to a nature preserve near the town. Although
there are cars on the island, it is still pretty walkable. There is a
small family cemetery on the land, so I took a picture. I like old
cemeteries for some reason.

We made for a big rock on the ocean. I am also fascinated by big rocks –
I just HAVE to climb them. The walk over was muddy and rocky and not
the easiest thing to do, but we made it. While we were sitting on the
rock enjoying the sun and the water, a couple came up on a path that we
had not seen and walked by, continuing on the path that I had not seen.
They told us the path was scenic, so we decided to do it. The path was
very muddy in a few places, and the “path” was not much of one on
places (see Mer on the path we somehow missed on the way to the rock), but it was a great hike and was very worthwhile.

To this day, I am always surprised when I see a big sandy beach. The
coast of Maine is rocky, and to me, it is normal to swim where it hurts
your feet. What else would a beach look like? Although I did not go
swimming on this trip, I did like this stretch of coast on the island.

The last picture I’ll throw up from the island is this: it was breezy on the water side of the island:

Once we finished the trail, we made our way back to the ferry. What a
great few hours! It would be nice to be able to bike or moped around
the island someday – it is quite big.

On the Fourth of July, we went with Mer’s parents and grandparents to
Thomiston for the grandparents’ traditional celebration: watch the 5 k
race, eat breakfast at a local restaurant, watch the parade, and then
listen to the community band play for an hour or so. The added bonus
this year was I got to run in the race ($5 AND you still get a
t-shirt!).

I
was up against some of Maine’s most talented runners, so I was anxious.
Everyone looked lean while I just looked hungry (I put on 5 pounds on
vacation, 10 over the last 2 months). This was the first 5 k race I had
run in 5 years (I have focused mostly on marathons), so I was not sure
how I would do. I was pretty sure I could break 24 minutes since I had
been training at that pace. I REALLY wanted to break 21 minutes, but
that was going to be hard. I went out pretty strong. Unfortunately, it
was really humid, and the half-way turn around was up a long hill (not
steep, but really long). I was struggling by the turn around – I
actually had to get some water and walk for 50 or 75 feet while
drinking. I have never in 20+ years of running had to get water during
a 5 k race. Anyway,
the water helped (as well as the downhill), and I finished up pretty
well. As far as Mer could tell, I was near the back of the top 1/3. I
had a time of 23:17, which I was okay with since it was so humid.

At the finish line, they had a firehose spraying water, as well as cups of water to drink and dump on your head. After this, I went and found my family, but no one seemed too eager to hug me. How odd.

We then did the rest of the tradition – we ate in a restaurant, saw the
parade, and listened to the community band. It was a pleasant way to
spend the Fourth. The parade was an interesting mix of veterans,
churches, charities, businesses, politicians, and even a few war
protesters. It was a great reminder to me about part of what the Fourth
is about – free speech and freedom to assemble.

I’ll post more on our trip to Middlebury, Vermont and to
Niagra-on-the-Lake, Ontario later. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with
a picture of friendly Maine natives: