Winnie and Me 2025: September 2025

Searsport Shores Oceanfront Campground

August 27 to September 03

Welcome to Mid-Coast Maine, an area that attracts about 35% of Maine's annual tourists. This year will mark the eleventh year I've been visiting my cousins, John and Barbara, here in Maine. Their summer cottage in Northport is an 11-mile, 20-minute drive located in the center of horseshoe shaped Penobscot Bay. Five of those years I've stayed here at Searsport Shores Oceanfront Campground. The other six years have been in a neighboring campground called Moorings. Both convenient for our get-togethers. Here's my first blog from 2014: Click "Newer Posts" at the bottom left if interested in continuing that year's 4-blog adventure.

This year I am most fortunate to be joined by fellow Hudson Islander, Jack, who'll spend the week. Morning coffees, cocktails at anytime o'clock and visits to any Irish pub we can find will be a wonderful change of pace for me. We will cram a lot into our week, so enjoy the ride.

My back-in site #8 has no sewer hookup but has water, 30-amp service, picnic table, fire pit and a wooden deck with two chairs and table overlooking Penobscot Bay and an unobstructed view of Sears Island two miles in the distance. Jack's RV site will be directly across the road on site #22.

My home for the week. Something you can get used to very easily.

First impressions always make an impact. Even though I've been here many times before, that first look at a view that's yours for a week immediately puts you into the zone. It never gets old. The perfect setting for Jack and I to enjoy our morning coffee.

From the deck looking north toward Searsport, there are seven sites like mine.

Looking south toward Belfast, there are five more sites.

The 360º view.

The tides are a quiet wonder—silently, yet with unstoppable rhythm, they breathe life into the shoreline. They slip away as quietly as they came, only to return with certainty to kiss the sand as they have since the beginning of time. This view is at high tide. The video that follows is six hours later.

Then there's the clouds, another quiet wonder. Clouds carry a quiet kind of magic all their own. They drift above us every day, yet so often we move beneath them without notice.

In their slow unraveling, they soften the sky, taking on shapes that morph between puff balls to be plucked from the sky to nothingness.

With Cadillac Mountain centered in the distance, their billowy transformations remind us that nothing is fixed, that beauty exists even in fleeting ever changing images.

And with careful observation, they even give warning of inclement weather.

To pause and watch them is to let the mind wander and settle at once, soothed by their calm procession and endless imagination. This morning shot hides the sun's pinpoint of light.

RESTAURANTS:

We enjoyed two meals at Anglers, about three miles up the road. The have an extensive menu. Jack and I chose from the Special Menu.

Fantail Shrimp with...

...garlic mashed potatoes

Jack enjoyed his with fried mushrooms and homemade Cole slaw.

For one day's brunch it was Warrens Waterfront Restaurant.

The restaurant was two servers short so we sat at the counter and enjoyed our meals.

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge is seen in the background and was our next stop. That will be described below.

Another brunch was at Traci's Diner in Belfast.

In the lower dining area, floor to ceiling murals by a local artist provided a pleasant surrounding.

My two pancakes were huge and thick; the maple syrup was extra at $3.49 for a 4 oz. portion; this was a "deal". At another restaurant serving breakfast it was over $4.00.

Walking back to Jack's truck we took in some of the sights along the main street. One was this 'permanent' structure right out on the street in front of a restaurant complete with a bar.

Another was the "Oldest Shoe Store in America."

It would have been neat if they could have kept some of the original look but alas, they did not.

This street performer caught our attention. She was quite good.

A lot of history here in Belfast, Maine.

John and Barbara took us to Mcloons Lobster Shack in South Thomaston, about an hour south.

You order at the window, leave your name, choose a picnic table (with an umbrella for shade) and gaze out at yet another beautiful view of the Maine coast.

I expected my Lobster Roll to consist of the usual chopped pieces in mayo. Nope. A quarter pound of freshly picked tail, knuckle, and claw lobster meat in a butter grilled split top roll.

Jack and John enjoyed hand-picked Maine crab meat, lightly mixed with mayo and served in a butter grilled roll.

I completely forgot and/or was too busy (or both) to photograph an evening meal at my campsite. We had grilled hot dogs and hamburgers with potato salad and fries. Another evening meal was at John/Barb's cottage in Northport. Joining us were their good friends Joe and Paula.

Joe, Barbara, John enhanced with wonderful red wine and the delicious pasta dish.

John, Jack and Paula

The view from the deck...

...looking east.

ATTRACTIONS:

Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory in Prescott, Maine is worth the trip.

Traveling north along route 3, the bridge offers an impressive view.

The design honors Maine’s history and natural beauty. The tall obelisk-like towers echo the look of the Washington Monument and nod to Maine’s granite quarrying heritage.

In addition to its impressive height, the cables are striking. It was the first bridge in the U.S. to use carbon fiber stay cables instead of traditional steel. This material is lighter, stronger, and more resistant to corrosion—perfect for Maine’s coastal climate.

The view north includes Bucksport, Maine

The view east toward Verona Island. One of the pilings of the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge is seen to the left of the bridge. This was the deteriorated bridge built in 1931 that was replaced. The engineers designed and built the Narrows Bridge in just 42 months (2003 to 2006) to avoid long closures.

The view south toward Belfast and Penobscot Bay

Each tower rises about 447 feet, making them the tallest bridge towers in the U.S. north of Virginia. Note Jack's truck w-a-y down below.

The total length is 2,120 feet with a central span of 1,161 feet, allowing large ships to pass up the Penobscot River toward Bangor.

In the same area lies historic Fort Knox. Although not toured, the link that follows is for the history buff. The short video tour is presented by Vlogging Through History.

Captured this sight along East Main Street in Searsport. If this is the outside, can you imagine what lies within? Take a look HERE

On our way back from Mcloon's Lobster Shack, we took a side trip to the Maine State Prison Showroom in Thomaston.

Meanwhile back at the campsite.

John provides an ample supply of logs and branches from his cottage property when he comes to visit me at the campground. This year, before he and Barb came we had to rely on my mini solo stove for evening campfires.

Fuel consists of wood pellets which come in 20-pound bags. Filling the stove two-thirds with one replenishment usually provides an hour and a half of warmth.

On one occasion, as both evening and flames slowly came to an end, we were treated with an eerie display I was able to capture in slow motion.

For our real campfire, I took an egg carton and....

...filled it with the mesquite wood pellets and...

...set it beneath some paper.

No kindling needed. It worked fine. Thanks John for the logs.

The best times of the day: morning coffee and cocktail hour(s). Thank you, Jack for the company and the rides.

A morning sunrise over Sears Island, low tide.

And, on our last night, a most fitting moon nearing full, sparkled the Bay. One couldn't ask for a nicer good-bye.

My week and my month in Maine has come to an end for this season. Once again, it's been a terrific experience. Coastal Maine offers that rare blend of power and peace: rugged coastline softened by salt air, silence broken only by seabirds and waves lapping on a stony shore. It’s a place where you can simply breathe, look up, and be reminded that beauty often asks for nothing more than your attention. There’s so many small seaside villages where I can visualize every evening the fishermen tie up their boats before sunset. The locals say the sea itself has a lover’s heart—that no matter how rough or restless it is during the day, it always softens in the evening, just to admire the sky’s last colors. The water reflects the blush of the sunset, and for a moment, sea and sky seem inseparable, caught in a quiet embrace. These images are always present whenever I visit Maine. With all the chaos of the world, there are moments where sea and sky meet perfectly, as if they were always meant to. When sitting alone among the tall pines in the thick forest of Schoodic Woods last week, I thought about silence because it was so real and tangible. The next week, I sat alone overlooking quiet Henry's Cove and once again, slipped into quiet contemplation. It struck me how the waves never stop returning to the shore, no matter how far they travel, no matter how much force the wind and sea place upon them. This week, there were sunrises, sunsets and tides to remind me how rhythmic, punctual and never ending Nature's work continues. Everything always finds a way to circle back.—whether it’s Nature, friendships, family, or something deeper you may feel about others, there seems to be subtle reminders that Life is Good.

"All I could see from where I stood

Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked the other way,
And saw three islands in a bay."
— from Renascence (1912), evoking Penobscot Bay. Maine poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (born in Rockland, Maine):

Winnie and Me 2025

Thursday, September 11, 2025

09/03 to 09/11 2025 Hudson Islanders at CPP

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

08/27 to 09/03 2025 Searsport Shores Oceanfront Campground