Evans Escapades at Bass Harbor

We had been told that the Lighthouse/Nature Harbor Cruise

out of Bass Harbor was the best one in the area. . .

but first. . .lunch at Thurston’s in Bernard. . .it was so far off the beaten path,

if we hadn’t been told about it,

we certainly wouldn’t have known to look for it. . .

Thurston’s is a lobster pound. . .so nothing fancy,

you pick the size, they pull it out of this tank,

and away you go to goodness. . .

Now unfortunately. . .we made the mistake of choosing to have steamers. . .

which are steamed clams. . .yuck! 

Having had mussels before, we thought this would be similar. . .yuck!

they were highly recommended by one of our friends. . .ha! 

No. . .just teasing. . .we really did want to experience Steamers. . .

and now we have. . .that’s all I can say about that. . .

the view  of the Mountains of Acadia from the lower dining room,

almost. . .almost made up for our poor menu choices. . .

no big fancy yachts or sailboats here. . .

this is a working man's harbor. . .

speaking of working men. . .here’s our ride. . .

with the Swan’s Island Ferry in the background. . .

get loaded up with about 50 other folk, and away we go. . .

First thing. . .beautiful Bass Harbor Lighthouse. . .

and from the other side. . .

Double Crested Cormorant. . .best pic I’ve ever gotten of one. . .

the harbor seals. . .

and gray seals. . .

were everywhere. . .

each time we would see wildlife. . .Captain Eli would bring the boat to a crawl

and do a complete 360, so everyone on the boat had a chance to see. . .

we saw several eagles. . .on rock ledges

in the trees. . .

and even Double Eagles out by the salmon farm. . .

I guess they are hoping a few of those little suckers escape. . .

and again. . .Coastal Maine

With 7 to 9 feet tidal changes at high tide

the water will be up to just under the pink on this wall of granite. . .

the white boulder in the pic on the right is a glacial erratic. . .

because a million/gazillion years ago. . .

this entire area was covered by an ice sheet a mile thick. . .

I don’t know. . .sometimes you just listen, and say. . .

hmmmmm? ? ?  maybe it is so. . .

each lobster boat has an assigned buoy color. . .this is Captain Eli’s assigned buoy,

so we stopped to check one of his traps. . .

this one was the only one large enough to keep. . .

it is a male, as determined by it’s little swimmers

located right above his thumb there. . .

female swimmers are much wispier we are told. . .

throw back the babies. . .

and on the way back to the dock. . .

we see this adorable little Junior Lobsterman

out checking his traps with his Mom. . .

Captain Eli explained that Lobster license in the State of Maine

are hard to come by. . .however, if you are in the lineage of

lobstermen, at the age of 7 you can automatically get your

junior license, which must be maintained on an annual basis. . .

I guess that’s what this little guy is doing. . .

It was a great two hours. . .

and well worth the $25 pp ticket price

if you find yourself in the area,

I hope you will go take a tour with Captain Eli of Island Cruises

and tell him you read about it on my blog. . .

I leave you with one last Eagle Eye. . .

watching you watching me. . .

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

see the rest of our Bass Harbor pics HERE