Camp Sharktooth - Winter Harbor - Paddling Jones Pond

Friday, July 23, 2021 was William's last day with us in this session of Camp Sharktooth, and we all made the most of it!  We decided to paddle Jones Pond, north of Winter Harbor.  We reserved a rental kayak with Sea Schoodic nearby, and slept well the night before our paddle.

A good paddle is no good without some good food, so we stopped first at The Bakery.  William had a blueberry muffin and a chocolate croissant and we had the Strada.  This fueled our adventure the rest of the day.

We drove our kayaks over to the lake, but William's rental kayak was waiting for us.  Breakfast in our tummies, we found the entrance and eagerly anticipated our paddle adventure:

This is a map of Jones Pond.  And this is a selfie of us in front of the map:

William wasted no time in getting out on the water.  We could barely keep up with him!

Eventually, NaiNai caught up, and she and William set the paddle pace:

Near our boat ramp was a swimming area, marked by white buoys.  This morning, a goose family was using the swimming areas and objected honkingly to our intrusion:

William was adventurous in his exploration of islands, grassy spots and sandbars:

William wanted to explore some islands.  We paddled around seven of them and landed on two.  Here, Kathy and William start their exploration of the first island on which we landed:

What can we say?  The moss, lichen, duff and fungi were fabulous.

Here, Kathy and William showed off a sample they found on the second island he explored:

We were getting tired after all that island exploration.  As we paddled back to our start, we spotted this eagle in a tree on one of the islands:

It's hard work, paddling for two or three hours, but William made it.  We put our kayaks back onto shore at our start, locked his back up with the other rental kayaks, and piled our own kayaks on our Jeep for the drive back to our campground.  We were all knackered.

End of story.

We drove William to Gugu's house in Philadelphia the next day and gave him big hugs and told him we would prepare everything for the next chapter of Camp Sharktooth - the Adirondack Edition!

Camp Sharktooth - Acadia - Schoodic Bike Ride

 Thursday, July 22, 2021

Hi Blog!

As soon as we arrived in Winter Harbor, Maine, we found the Sea Schoodic Kayak and Bike Rentals. We arranged for both a bike and kayak for William so he could join us on some adventures. First up was the six mile bike ride around the Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park.

Pictured below, Kathy and William pose for the traditional entrance sign photo.

We managed to get three bikes on a two bike rack. 

After a delicious breakfast, we stopped at the Schoodic Visitor's Center to get trail maps and suggestions for places to stop along the way.

From the Visitor Center, we decided to take the gravel bike trails down to Frazer Point. Kathy and William point the way.

The trail was well maintained, but it was steep in some sections. William got a quick lesson on how to apply the back brake first when going down a steep grade.

William decided he wanted to take most of the pictures on the bike ride. He started with a portrait of us! 

At Fraser Point, we got to look back on Winter Harbor.

Unfortunately, the Winter Harbor Light house is so far away, we can barely see it.

We made dozens of stops along the way to Schoodic Point to check out various coves and inlets. We stopped to collect rocks. However, the rock pictured below already seems to have folks making a home, so we left that one behind.

Having spent the last year in Arlington, Virginia, William just thought the rocky coast of Maine was cool!

It just wouldn't be an adventure with YeYe and NaiNai if we didn't stop and say "Hi" to some fun guys!

You never run out of photo ops on the coast of Maine!

We decided to name all the rocks we visited - Rock of Ages, William's Sit, Water Rock, Rock of Power, Scary Skull Stone and Vulture Rock. Can you guess which rock this is?

Can you just feel the breeze?

No outing in Maine would be complete without some wild Maine Blueberries!

A work in progress.

Making our own Inuksuk!

One last rock before we head to lunch.

We were so proud of William for having completed his first 6 mile bike ride. We treated him to a big bowl of lobster mac and cheese!

We have one last full day of adventure tomorrow! Stay tuned.

Camp Sharktooth - Wells, Maine - William's Antics Edition

On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, we moved from Cape Code to Wells, Maine, which is not far south of Portland.  William was in charge of the "Breaking Camp Checklist" as NaiNai and YeYe did the packing up.  While we were on the road, William did his summer school work and read some Harry Potter, all while strapped into Buster's dining room seat!  Thus began our Wild Week in Wells!

There were a number of activities on the Camp Sharktooth schedule that didn't fit neatly into one day's activities or another, so we thought we'd collect them here for you to enjoy.

First, games of chess with YeYe:

Second, innumerable games of King's Corner with NaiNai and YeYe.  Here, William deals out the cards for yet another challenge:

On the few nights we had a campfire, there were also S'Mores to be made and eaten.  If you're not familiar with S'Mores, here are the ingredients --

-- and here's the result:

YUM!

Camp Sharktooth - Wells, Maine - The Birdie

July 20, 2021

Hi Blog!

After practicing all week on the mini golf courses of Wells, Maine, it was time to try our luck on an actual golf course. We found Pine Hollow Little Par 3 in Sanford, Maine. The course was small, but provided lots of challenges. It was a great opportunity for William to use his irons.

 On the second hole, William hit the fringe and then chipped it in for his first ever Birdie!

His score card reflected a birdie on hole No. 2! Way to go William!

This tee boxes on this course were very unique. Dave is standing on a rubber mat on top of a wooden platform. The ball rests on a narrow strip of plastic grass.

We really enjoyed playing the course. It wasn't crowded. The greens were challenging and William got his first birdie! 

On the way back to camp, we stopped and picked up used hardcover copies of Harry Potter 4 and 5! Movie Night was Harry Potter 3.

Tomorrow, Camp Sharktooth moves to Winter Harbor!

Camp Sharktooth - Wells, Maine - Perkins Cove, Lobsters and More

Our time in Wells, Maine was winding down, but on Monday, July 19, 2021, we made sure to get a taste of the "real" Maine by visiting the pink granite, rocky shore of Perkins Cove and going out on a lobster boat to see how they lobster Down'east.   We made our lobster boat reservation for mid-morning, but drove over to Perkins Cove early to have breakfast at Cove Cafe, which served up scrumptious food despite suffering from the same debilitating staffing shortages that most in the hospitality industry have been facing since Covid arrived.

After breakfast, we filled our time waiting for the lobster boat by taking The Marginal Way along the rocky shoreline for a mile or two.  Here, we looked back at Perkins Cove:

The shoreline is mainly pink granite, but regularly, in spots, the cracked granite had given way to extrusions of black lava in more recent millenia.  It made for a blocky, colorful seascape:

We set out to look for tidepools.  Here, Kathy and William are exploring tidepools for life --

-- and they found it!  Two crabs, one green and one orange-red:

David joined in the search --

-- and helped William find the tallest rock to climb, with a "victorious" view of Perkins Cove:

It was time for lobstering, so we walked back into Perkins Cove and our boat, moored at the dock on the right in the photo below:

The boat was large enough to accommodate perhaps 30 people, but small enough to be intimate and to let us here our tour leaders talk about lobstering:

Your Happy Family eagerly awaited getting under way:

Eventually, our boat reached its lobster line, and our captain pulled up a trap:

He and his first mate showed us the lobster, demonstrating how to distinguish males and females.  Females with eggs must be thrown back, as must females with "V" notches cut in their tales by other lobstermen.  Lobsters that are smaller than 3.25" on the carapace or larger than 5" must also be thrown back.

William even got to hold a lobster, and complained about having to hold it "for 20 minutes!"

Back on dry land, Kathy demonstrated how to catch a real "live one":

Perkins Cove boasts a pedestrian drawbridge over the water, connecting two parts of town.  William and YeYe climbed up on the footbridge and waved:

NaiNai joined them and we all got a surprise!  We watched the footbridge raise and a tall-masted sailboat cruised under it!

One more adventure awaited us in Wells.  Stay tuned!