Sunday, Oct 15
This morning we stop at McDonalds for a quick breakfast sandwich and Greg's coffee. While at Valerie and Matthew's, they told us about these trolls at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens near Booth Bay. That is our first destination today.
The gardens, opened in 2007, are quite extensive and there are still quite a few flowers blooming - didn't know there were so many variations of hydrangeas! (some behind Gwynne)
According to the signage, Maine has over 275 species of bees. They also say bees can't see red, but are attracted to blues, violets and purples. It is late in the season but we still see quite a few.
The tower at the top of Mt. Battie was built as a memorial to soldiers of WWI in 1921.
The trolls, by Danish artist Thomas Rambo, were spread about the gardens, so we did a bit of walking to visit all of them. Each has a name and short biography.
First was Roskva, the strongest of the trolls, associated with trunks.
Lilja is the youngest of the trolls and loves the scent of flowers. She loves color, butterflies and bees too.
Next is Birk associated with roots. He is the wisest and is a storyteller.
Then there is Soren, associated with branches. He is very curious and likes to dance. You can see how large they are!
Lastly Gro, who smiles with leaves and is a wanderer.
I've since noticed that there are a few other places in the US with similar trolls by the same artist.
The Fairy Gardens are kind of a cute idea, too, where people are invited to create housing for fairies using natural findings... they provide some baskets with pine cones, twigs, leaves, sea shells, acorns, etc. as you are asked not to use any living things.
From here, we drive down a long peninsula to Pemaquid Point Light House on a rocky point. Maine's coast is actually longer than California's because of all the inlets, coves, etc. So what is a short distance as the crow flies can take quite a while to cover.
Commissioned in 1827 by John Quincy Adams, this light is at the west side of the entrance to Muscongus Bay. The wooden keeper's house replaced a stone one in 1857. This light is visible for 14 miles on a clear day. It was the first to be automated in 1934.
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| View from the oil house at Pemaquid. |
Tonight we head for Camden Hills State Park. Again, this is the last night that they will be open! The weather has turned cloudy and misty, but after we get a campsite we drive up nearby Mt. Battie for a view of Camden Harbor and Penobscot Bay.
Greg gets a campfire going tonight.
Nice campground has electric and nice showers. We have ham and mac 'n' cheese for dinner, Greg and Gwynne battle it out in cribbage.
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