Day 28 - Thursday, August 11, 2022
Duval's RV Park, Wells ME
We get a break from the heat today after a weak front brings in a hard rain. The early morning temperature is 63 degrees under a mostly cloudy sky. We drive south on Blue Star Memorial Highway back to Ogunquit for a different access to the beach for today's walk.
At the entrance to the asphault walking path, called Marginal Way Walkway, there is a non-working lighthouse, called Lobster Point Lighthouse. We notice that it is 'an' entrance, so from this point you walk left for a time, then turn around and walk back past the lighthouse to continue on into the village of Ogunquit. A sign tells us that the path is restricted to walkers only, and prohibited for dogs, scooters, bicycles, roller skates, and skateboards. It sounds quite safe to me.
Walking at a fast clip, we do stop now and then to take pictures. In the photo below a fishing boat is drifting along to allow its guests to cast their lines. A friend of ours calls these boats 'Head boats,' because of the number of people (or heads) they will take out at a time. The boat is barely visible, but needs to be zoomed.
We stop to read about the 2007 Patriot's Day Storm that caused heavy flooding from South Carolina to Maine. Lasting four days, there were homes lost as houses were cast upon the rocks, and there were at least 18 casualties.
The lower part of the monument is about a fund set up and shows
"Gratitude to all who Rallied to the Call that the Marginal Way Must Endure." There's a quote by John Muir: "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike."
I can only imagine what happened in 2007 and what the residents felt. Herb has read the sign and walks ahead up the steep hill, while I stop to read.
Continuing on, we come to an area where the tide rushes in through an opening between the rocks. Then a thicket of vegetation where we hear chain saws cutting out invasive Asiatic Bittersweet that kill the existing native plants. Then they will plant Bayberry, Blueberry, Chokeberry, Sweet fern and Juniper, which will provide food for some birds and mammals.
In case we get tired or just want to sit and enjoy the scenery -- and seagulls -- there are park benches along the way, and the restaurant at one end of the trail provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. Drinks include Mimosas, and I know someone who loves a Mimosa!
Two things get my attention as we walk near the restaurant at Perkins Cove. A drawbrige is being opened to allow a boat with a tall mast to pass through. Also on the left side of the photo are flags being flown from a flagpole in the shape of a ship's mast. Inside the gift shop of the restaurant are stickers, and my favorite contains 'Wicked,' an adjective widely used in New England.
Making our way back toward the other entrance, I see some berries and wonder if they are wild Maine blueberries. Some are red and some are blue.
Herb walks ahead carrying the bag with our purchase from the gift shop, while I stop to take more photos.
Some areas of the beach are sandy, with families sitting in their beach chairs, but other areas are rocky. A few brave people walk along a narrow rocky ledge and I wish them safety. A blue flag is flying to indicate that one should swim with caution because of possibly being swept away with strong current.
Willie of Sweet Georgia Brown, and of Walldog and Willie
Thursday, August 11, 2022
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