Boothbay, Maine - September 30th to October 2nd, 2021
One of our favorite activities is strolling and exploring. No detailed plan. No list of goals. Just wandering around and discovering what is around the corner. Strolling was how we approached the Boothbay area in Maine.
Thursday was a driving and resupply day. It was 52 degrees inside the van when we woke up. We turned on the Espar heater again so we would eat breakfast in comfortable temperatures.
It rained most of the time during our drive from the Sugarloaf 1 Campground in New Hampshire to the Shore Hills Campground in Boothbay, Maine. The nice fall colors of the White Mountains seemed to fade the further we went. Along the way, we stopped in Auburn, Maine to shop for groceries.
When we arrived at the campground, at about 3 pm, we noticed no one was using the laundry room. So we were able to complete our two loads of laundry before others started showing up. After dinner, RB spent the rest of the evening getting caught up on our finances, since it was the last day of the month.
Not far from our campground is the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. We spent most of Friday there. The admission is $22 per adult. The gardens are lovely. Even in early October, there were plenty of blossoms and unique plants to see.
In addition to the central gardens, there are trails through the woods and along the one mile of salt water shoreline. The property is along an ocean inlet, so there is no wave action along the shore.
A free Highlights Tour is offered at 11 am every day. Since we were walking by where the tour started, near the Market building, at about the time the tour was starting, we tagged along. It was an hour tour which gave us a wonderful history of the place and information about many of the plants. The tour stayed in the formal gardens, going through the sensory garden and the children’s garden.
The place is set up nicely for children. The children’s garden has different sections, each one based on a children’s book by a Maine author. There were many interactive features of the garden, such as whale statues whose spouts would randomly spew water, musical instruments you could try to play, and a sandbox.
In addition to the children’s garden, there were places off in the woods designed for children as well. One was a fairy garden, among the trees with large stones dispersed about the area. Baskets filled with sticks, seashells, pine cones, and rocks which invited the children to use their imagination to play with. Evidence of their creativity could be seen all over the fairy garden, such as little fairy houses made of sticks, stones, and pine cones with a seashell path leading up to them.
The main attraction, for kids and adults alike, were the giant trolls which are new this year to the gardens. There are five giant trolls made of recycled wood dispersed throughout the woods. The sculptures are by the Danish artist Thomas Dambo. They encourage people to roam the trails in the woods to find the trolls and learn the message of the Guardian of the Seeds along the way.
After the Highlights Tour, we stopped back at the Market to have lunch. They had a nice selection of sandwiches, chips, salads, and desserts along with a local drink selection. Left Buddy (LB) tried the root beer and Right Buddy (RB) had the ginger brew, both made by Maine Root. The ginger brew was a little spicy, but RB could not identify the ingredient that gave it its zing. The list of ingredients only said “spices”. It was tasty.
After lunch, we went on the hunt for the trolls. Each troll’s location is marked on the map, so they are not that hard to find. We had already seen the one that is near the central gardens. Each troll is unique, with its own character, story, and message. They are a wonderful sight to see. We would pay the price of admission just to see the trolls.
After we visited three more of the trolls, we headed back to the Market for dessert. We both had the Maine blueberry pie. The pie was good, but it would have been better if it had been warmed up since it was straight out of the refrigerator case.
Then it was back into the woods for the last troll and a walk along the remaining wooded trails. RB didn’t start her AllTrails tracker until after lunch. By the end of the day, we had covered 3.7 miles since lunch. We’re sure we at least covered a mile before lunch, so we’re calling this hike 42 of our 52 Hike Challenge, with a total of 5 miles with about a 300 foot elevation gain in roughly four hours.
On the way out of the gardens, we passed through the dahlia garden. It was a lovely way to end our visit as the dahlia’s were all in full bloom. Simply beautiful.
Saturday was a relaxing day, wandering around the town of Boothbay Harbor. We walked the footbridge across the harbor to the east side, then followed the road south. There are a couple dozen historic signs placed throughout the village. One is on the footbridge at the Bridge House, which was used at one time to smuggle alcohol into the town via a trap door in the floor of the house.
The east side of the harbor is lined with resort hotels, some restaurants, but mostly fishing wharfs, docks, and piers.The main shopping area of the village is on the west side of the harbor. Narrow streets are lined with small, sometimes quirky shops. A couple of sightseeing cruises leave from the piers on that side as well. We had already gone on a whale watching cruise a couple of weeks before in Cape Cod (Cape Cod, Massachusetts - September 1st to 3rd, 2021) and it was the wrong time of year to see the puffins, so we opted not to go on a cruise. Besides, it was rather cool outside and a cruise would have been even colder.
For lunch, we got a table inside the Mine Oyster restaurant, up on the second floor with a nice view of the harbor. LB tried a lobster roll for the first time. RB, who is not a fan of seafood or fish, had the BBQ chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries. We were both happy with our selections. The lobster roll was rather pricey, $33, plus another $2 for his fries. After lunch, we stopped at the Red Cup Coffeehouse for coffee and hot chocolate to warm ourselves up.
Dessert was from Shannon’s Unshelled, a little shack next to where we parked the van. RB tried the Maine Whoopie Pie. It was packaged from a bakery in a neighboring town (Steve’s Snacks), but felt she had to try at least one while she was in Maine. It tasted like chocolate cake. The two pieces of cake were shaped like large muffin tops, with the sugar icing sandwiched in-between. LB chose the warm apple crisp. It was served in a cardboard container with whipped cream and an edible orchid on top. The orchid was a nice touch. The apple crisp was pretty tasty as well.
We decided we had consumed enough calories and spent enough money for the day, so we returned to the campground. Before making dinner, we took a stroll around the campground. There is a little trail that goes out onto a small island in the Back River. A vintage camper event was taking place at the campground, so there were lots of interesting campers to look at. Their theme for the weekend was Halloween and many of them went all out in decorating their campsites. They had a live band at the clubhouse in the evenings along with a costume party Saturday night. It was quite entertaining to watch.
We had a wonderful, relaxing time strolling around the botanical gardens, Boothbay Harbor, and the campground. With no expectations, everything we “discovered” was fun and exciting. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the fear that you are missing out on something, but it is so rewarding and fulfilling when you just go with the flow.
Check out our related video: Boothbay, Maine
(RB)