Around Long Island

Here are some photos of the island itself, just because I hate to leave some of these out even though they don't specifically feature my lovely daughters!

This license plate says that Long Island was "Est. 1993" because that is the year it officially seceded from Portland as an incorporated town. The island was purchased from Native Americans in 1732 by Col. Ezekiel Cushing, and other settlers joined his nine children after his death to build the community there.

The girls at the ferry terminal in Portland

On the ferry

The Dock at Mariner's Wharf

Unloading Freight

Chestnut Hill Cottage

The Boat House Beverage & Variety

Ivy House Gift Shop - our salt water taffy and homemade caramels hook-up

Fern Park Lobster Co. - our claws & tails dealer

Lobster buoys hanging from a tree in the yard of the Most Eccentric House on the Island, home of the owner of the sparkly pink golf cart from my first Long Island post.

Sun, Sand, Sea, & Sky on South Beach
The weather was almost perfect the entire week we were there.

Beach Roses - Gram's Favorite

Mags on South Beach

A gorgeous house overlooking the beach

Katharine's Garden
Flowering Plants, Fresh Vegetables, Seedlings, and Herbs

That was a funny story. Jane and I went over to Katharine's Garden one afternoon in the hopes of finding some fresh local produce, maybe some fruit, maybe some green salad fixin's. We pull up in front of a house on a small cove with an enormous, gorgeous garden. The entire yard is filled with carefully laid out and tended garden beds. A woman of about 70-something, wearing a bathing suit and flip flops, comes up from the cove in a state of great excitement, telling us to come see the baby seal that had wandered into their cove! Rod, the local wildlife official, pulls up right behind us to consult on the situation and confirm whether or not the seal is injured. After the drama dies down and Rod leaves, Katharine leads us around her garden, picking whatever is ready for harvest - regardless of our interest in turnips or bok choy - and piles it all into a brown paper grocery sack, for which she charges us $10. She was a fascinating, chatty woman, who was just as lavish and flowery and unique as her garden. It was quite an experience.

So many sweet little island cottages!

Fowler Road

Fowlers on our Beach

Fowler Beach at Sunset

At the end of our week, we couldn't get our car off the island due to the lack of high enough high tides for the car ferry. After our Saturday check-out from the rental house, we had to leave the car, packed with most of our stuff, on the ferry dock overnight while we went home! Mike and I were going to spend the night in Portland and then pick up the car the next day, but it was apparently a "Camper's Weekend." That's when the all the hotels are booked up with parents coming up to visit their kids at the summer-long sleep-away camps that I thought were mythical movie settings or historic yesteryear institutions until I moved to New England (like flat, folded up TV Pizza - that's real too, y'all).

So, anyway, Dale dropped us off in Portland at the Ferry Terminal on Sunday morning to go back out to the LO (that's the island's abbreviation, if you're hip and in the know like we are now) to retrieve our car (aka Violet, according to Maggie and Kate, even though the car is black). We were surprised to find out that we were somehow stuck on a ferry that not only freights cars, but also carries the mail and does the entire circuit of all the islands in Casco Bay. A Three Hour Tour, you guys.

Chebeague Island Dock
I now have a bucket list goal of spending the night at the Chebeague Island Inn. Lovely.

The Cliff House general store and ice cream shop on Cliff Island. Their cheese crackers and cashew nuts saved us, accidental day trippers that we were.

When we finally were returned to Portland Harbor, we were starving to death, but we agreed that living in New England isn't so bad when your Sunday errands involve taking a scenic boat ride around quaint Vacationland destination spots, getting a view of Portland Head Light, and eating crab rolls in a harborside pub in one of the prettiest small cities in America. We even managed to find a Dunkin's on the way home.

As Katie sez, "No worries."