ME II: Settling in on Peaks

· Maine Event

Today was our first full day on the island and we spent the morning running around getting food and coffee in Portland. The best-known bakery is Standard Baking Co. which is directly below what I believe is the fanciest restaurant in Portland, Fore Street. We haven't gone to the restaurant but frequent the bakery which has a wonderful selection of bread and equally stellar pastry options. We got a whole grain Miche made with 100% Maine grown whole grain flour and a tiny lemon blueberry tart about 2" across to share. The chocolate "corks" aren't available until the weekend and I will be limiting my consumption as they are completely addictive. This stop was followed by setting up our post office box at USPS which is easily the most helpful post office staff I've ever met. Then off to the Co-op for vittles. The ferry to Portland was relatively empty at 9:45am but the trip back was incredibly full. A huge cruise ship had just released all of its captives who flooded the city, plus it is smack dab in the middle of a roaring tourist season here. It makes it difficult to walk around downtown. The island is quieter on Monday but still there's a flood of people coming and going.

The cottage is all one floor and more than half of it is all one room that is kitchen/dining and living room and there is a bathroom and bedroom off the main room. It's right on the scenic loop around the island with a cattail marsh out the kitchen window looking West.

This is the front of the little cottage we are staying in. Its name is Nokomis, which means 'my grandmother' in the Ojibwe language.
This is the view of the luscious marsh immediately behind Nokomis and out the kitchen window. The cattails are the Broadleaf Cattail, the yellow flowers are Canadian Goldenrod and the purple flowers are Purple Loosestrife, the rush-like-looking plant on the right is Woolgrass. It's such a rich environment for plants and birds and makes the kitchen a wonderful place to work.
It feels like this is the NO AWAKE ZONE. We are still jet lagging and not sleeping well at night and then dragging during the day.
After our errands, we sat on the rocky beach and looked at the birds until it felt like we were getting too much sun.
It was much cooler today than yesterday and there was a little wind off the water. Low 70's and sunny with a few clouds - don't make for much drama.
But once the sun goes down...there is nothing quite like the moon rising over the ocean. The camera really didn't capture even half of it.

Have a lovely evening.

Sending love,

Tawnia