Penobscot Bay

Going our separate ways Friday, we went back to Rockland as our friend Meghan was coming up to spend the weekend with us. She drove up from Boston on Saturday morning and we managed to get groceries and have lunch in between a few wicked thunderstorms that passed through.

Ominous Clouds Over Rockland

Cocktail hour started on the boat, which morphed into grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for dinner (it may be August, but it’s Maine and it’s dropping into the 50’s at night!), followed by Baileys on ice in the cockpit while we looked plaintively for the Perseid meteor shower (turns out we were a couple of days early for the height of the meteor shower and it’s not likely to be as good this year because it coincides with a nearly full moon which will drown some of them out).

Beech Hill Preserve

Next morning, after lots of coffee, bacon and wild Maine blueberry (the tiniest, juiciest, best berry you will ever taste) pancakes, we headed off to Beech Hill Preserve. Just a few miles north of Rockland, it’s a beautiful hike that leads to a stone hut with a sod roof surrounded by blueberry shrubs overlooking Penobscot Bay. What a beautiful location!

Rockland Lighthouse

The hike was short, so as we headed back into town we detoured to the path going out to the Rockland Lighthouse. It’s nearly a mile long walk each way over a granite boulder breakwater, but the views were fabulous and it was fun to visit a place we had sailed by so many times (and could currently see from the boat).

After both hikes our legs were telling us we needed a break, so we stopped by the Landings Marina Restaurant for sandwiches that featured their killer bacon (slabs more like ham, home smoked). We finished that off with ice cream, and Meghan headed home. A great, but too-short visit.

Beech Hill Preserve Blueberry Shrubs