We slept to the sound of drizzle last night and woke up to some rain, too. I decided it was a great day to make a big breakfast, so we ate pancakes and bacon. Will had gotten some yummy strawberry syrup yesterday, so we used that. The rain let up eventually and we decided to find another hike on our side of the island.
We went to Long Pond and saw a few trailheads there. A group was heading down a steep section and pointed us in the direction of what they described as a much more kid friendly hike. Well, the hike started off fine, as it wound around the lake a bit. Lots of natural bridges over little creeks running down the mountain. Very pretty. The trail started to get a little more steep, which Ethan was loving because he's been dying to climb an actual mountain. I turns out that is just what we did. We climbed just about to the top of Beech Mountain. Let me tell you, there were several times we almost turned around, as we realized it was not an appropriate hike for small children-at all. We felt pretty irresponsible. It wasn't super dangerous, but as we got higher and higher, we knew coming down was going to be scary. But the kids were doing well and were so excited, so we pressed on.
What made us nervous were several sections of rocky, uneven stairs, and-even scarier-many large,flat stone sections with slippery rocks. Going up was easy enough but going down was going to be tricky. Alas, we trekked on, literally into the clouds. We got .1 miles from the summit but decided that was close enough. We'd already had some amazing views, and with the clouds we knew we wouldn't see much from the top. Thankfully, we had brought the backpack for Eleanor, which I used part of the time on the way up. Will put her in it for the way down. He went first, followed by me and Ethan. I had to hold Ethan's hand for a good portion of the way down. There were no sheer drop-offs or anything, but we knew if he lost his footing and tumbled down, we'd be visiting the MDI emergency room. Thankfully, we all made it out scrape free and with the bragging rights that we climbed a mountain! Can't wait to share some pictures. It was a pretty crazy at one point to see our tiny car in the parking lot from way up high. Ethan claims he wants to come back to Maine sometime and climb even more mountains. His favorite thing is to be the leader and find the best route. Quite sure not many 3 and 6 year olds have done that hike...and probably shouldn't. ;)
The hike took us about 2 hours, and it was way beyond lunch time when we got done, so we went home for sandwiches and some relaxation time. We hung out around the cottage for most of the afternoon. Will picked up some lures at the town hardware store for Ethan's fishing pole. He's dying to fish, and Will found out we don't need a permit to fish in the ocean on a public pier and that people fish for mackerel. They fish with a specific lure and no bait. Will You tubed how to fish for mackerel last night. We thought we might try tonight but the tide was too low after dinner.
Dinner, by the way, was at Thurston's Lobster Pound, an iconic place on the island. I was a little nervous but I went for it and ordered my lobster (they pick it up live and weigh it right there) and hoped I could figure out how to eat it. In the cottage, there are trays that list directions on how to eat a lobster, and I'd studied it a bit before we left. :) But when it actually came, I was a bit at a loss. Thankfully, the people there were very nice, and a young girl came by to help when I asked. Her boyfriend and father are both lobster men, and she answered a lot of questions we had and made us feel right at home. And she helped me get the most out of it. And it was really good! I'm not a lobster aficionado, but I know that this lobster is uber-fresh, caught that morning, and the meat has a delightful sweetness. I'm the only one who got lobster. Eleanor said she wanted to share mine but once she saw the live one she changed her mind. She was interested in the claw crackers, though, so maybe she will try next time. She ate my corn on the cob and potato chips for dinner. Will had a burger (likely from an IL or WI cow), and Ethan got pb and j. I'm trying!
Now, with a belly full of fresh Maine lobster, it's time to relax!
Haiku of the day:
Rain means big breakfast
Beech Mountain-climbed to the top
My first whole lobster
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