Cabbage Island & Boothbay Harbor, ME 4th of July, 2010

Just to get away from the routine of doing the same old thing on the 4th of July, John and I decided to spend the night in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. We have visited about 5 times over the years to take the ferry to Cabbage Island and enjoy a wonderful lobster bake. This time; instead of rushing back home I thought we would watch the fireworks over the harbor and relax. Traffic was very light driving down, save for a few slow drivers that we could not legally pass, but luckily they turned off and we were free to 'speed it up.'

We arrived in Boothbay with 20 minutes to spare before we had to check in at the reservation desk on the dock for the Cabbage Island ferry. The parking lot we always use had one space left, and a surprise steep increase in cost. This year we were told to pay 30 dollars for the day. We never ever paid more than twelve! But maybe, just maybe my 'spiritual friends upstairs' was looking out for us because the man offered us the spot for $20, and we gladly took it because we did not have time to drive up and down this quaint village looking for a better place to park. Did I mention that two days before, the east coast entered into a week-long heat wave? Such a lengthy one is unusual up here. Three days, maybe; but not 8 days long. Being on the coast showed us no mercy. It was hot, and soggy there too.

We made our way across the dock to the Reservation desk, paid for our tickets and waited for the boat to come in and pick us up.

Cabbage Island Lobster bakes are a delicious treat if you like lobster. They call it a Clambake, but it is really a lobster bake.

You are transported by ferry to Cabbage Island; a family owned and operated 5 and half acre stretch of land in the Bay. The ride takes about 30 minutes and you are given interesting facts about who lives on the various islands that dot the bay, and how much it costs to rent a week on one of the homes (how's $10,000 for you?). Need I say some very wealthy people have summer homes on the bay islands. Let me get back to the Lobster bake on Cabbage Island.

When you disembark you are greeted by members of the Moore family to personally welcome you to their island and summer home. There are picnic tables scattered around the grounds for you to seat yourself, as well as a covered porch around the main building if weather is inclement or you just don't want to sit in the sun.

After everyone has found a place to perch, the staff gives you 20 minutes or so to collect yourself and you are served clam chowder with oyster crackers. Everyone is given a rolled napkin that contains your eating utensils, wet nap, toothpick, lobster bib, lobster cracker and tiny fork to get into those nooks and crannies of the claws.

While you are eating, the lobster is being steamed outside in the ground along with clams, corn on the cob, a whole onion (don't ask me why), a hard boiled egg and two lobsters per person. When the food is done, a chuckwagon bell rings letting you know that it's time to line up at the pit to receive your dinner.

Everyone is given a tray that holds your lobsters, and all the other items I just mentioned along with a small bowl of melted butter. When you get back to your table, wait staff come around and take orders for your drinks. Unlimited iced tea and coffee is included, but anything else has to be paid for separately. Extra butter, napkins, etc are quickly given. They check back often to clear away your shells, get drinks or anything that will make your meal with them wonderful.

At the end of your meal, everyone is given a thick hunk of blueberry cake. They say cake, but it is more of a bread being that is not sweet enough to be called cake. You are also asked if you would like coffee with your cake. If you have time, you are free to walk around the island, but I've never had time for that, nor do I feel like it after that meal!

After everyone has been given time to eat, the ferry returns to take us back to Boothbay Harbor. What does all of this wonderful goodness cost? A very reasonable $58.95! The link to their website is....

Cabbage Island Website: http://www.cabbageislandclambakes.com/clambakes.htm

When we got back to the Harbor, it was time to check into the Boothbay Harbor Inn. It was a very clean, neat, well appointed pleasant room with a king sized bed and a balcony overlooking a portion of the harbor. The room looked like it had been newly renovated, but there were a few things I see disappearing from the hotel industry that used to be the norm: like elevators to the second floor.... there were none, and if you have trouble with your limbs like many do today, you will be walking up some stairs carrying your luggage all by your onesies. Bathtubs are getting smaller too. The length is about the same; but the width is very narrow these days. I noticed in foreign countries they have either very narrow tubs, or no tubs at all; just shower stalls.

What the heck! We were only staying the night, and the room was air conditioned, and this is a town that does NOT have any of the chain food places such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, etc. And you will not find any of the chain hotels there either. Lots of Bed and Breakfasts, Inns, and family owned motels abound; so you choose from what you are offered and enjoy. I would love to have a summer home in Boothbay Harbor though...!!

Here is a link to the Boothbay Harbor Inn: http://www.boothbayharborinn.com/bbhi_guestrooms.html

At nine o'clock, the fireworks were supposed to begin over the harbor. So everyone in the entire town found a place to sit and enjoy the action. John and I sat on the pier and of course, I had my camera along to see if I could capture pictures to show you and give us something to look at after returning home. It was a pretty good show too. Not as good as you are going to see along the Charles River in Boston, or even a farmer's field we enjoyed in a town not far from my neighborhood (meaning the show was way too short); but it was beautiful nonetheless.

I don't think I will ever see as much of Boothbay as I would like. You need to stay about 5 days for that.

Here is a link to Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce website:
http://www.boothbayharbor.com/

I encourage you once the page loads to explore the "Visit Us" listings along the left hand side of your monitor, and also explore the links located along the top of your screen as well.

Those little Guidebooks you can pick up free in hotel lobbys can be viewed page by page online and can be found on the right hand side of your screen. It does require Adobe Flash Player - Version 9 or above.

Finally; here is a slide show of views from the Ferry, Cabbage Island, the fireworks, some views of the Harbor, and; Oh yeah! I forgot to share; the closer you get to the coast, there are little stands you can buy lobster to take back home with you. The prices are so very cheap, and many will even cook them for you if you'd like! I like!!! Why struggle if you don't have too? We stopped at one of those lobster stands, and brought back 5 lobsters for $30. We ordered them cooked (in seawater so they were perfectly seasoned) and was charged an additional $5.

Next time, we're going to be two little pigs and buy ten lobsters!! I de-shelled them and made lobster salad for dinner along with corn on the cob and coleslaw.

It doesn't get much better than that! I hope you enjoy the slide show. I did notice that the slideshow did not want to automatically advance once you clicked on the arrow in the center. I had to tell the computer to allow pop-ups on this site. It never used to be that way. Must have been one of those Microsoft updates changing the rules again. Depending upon what is going on, you may have to advance each photo manually with the arrow keys. With everything that is going on with the planet electro-magnetically, heavens knows how it is affecting our electronics.