We had a quiet day today, caused in part by the rain this morning. Riding in the rain is OK, but starting to ride when it is raining Cats and Dogs is often difficult and it was for Paul and I today – it was chucking it down, so we left late today after thge worse of the rain had passed. Last night we stayed at a really good Bed & Breakfast called Elsa's Inn On The Harbor, in Birch Harbor, Maine. Here is a photo of the house....
What was good about this B&B was breakfast, because many of the family arrived and sat and talked to Paul and I about the history of the house, work, travel and lobster fishing. Megan who runs the house now told us about her Grandmother who used to receive many fishermen and family members each morning for coffee and it seemed the tradition carries on to this day. We found the discussion about lobster fishing especially interesting and we learnt that young lobsters shed their shells as they grow and they are then called “soft shells” and are vulnerable when in this condition, so they hide away in the nooks and crannies until there shells harden – they are then hungry so are relatively easy to catch and as a consequence are worth less. As the lobsters grow they are called “hard shells” and are larger and are worth more. Crabs have seen a big decline, so the demand has gone down, and the price followed suit. It used to be more common to get huge crab catches, but not today.
We stopped for lunch near Ellsworth and had lobster and crab chowder – delicious!
After lunch we missed (it must have been the mist that prevented us from seeing it) an important turning to drive a loop road in Arcadia National Park, so we skipped that (we will do it tomorrow) and arrived early at our B&B on Deer isle, which is driven onto via an impressive looking bridge which is very high, presumably so that it could allow sailing ships to pass unhindered below. We took advantage of arriving early and did something really exciting instead – out laundry. Ho hum, but these things need doing when you are on the road. Here is a picture of the bridge to Deer Isle....
What was good about this B&B was breakfast, because many of the family arrived and sat and talked to Paul and I about the history of the house, work, travel and lobster fishing. Megan who runs the house now told us about her Grandmother who used to receive many fishermen and family members each morning for coffee and it seemed the tradition carries on to this day. We found the discussion about lobster fishing especially interesting and we learnt that young lobsters shed their shells as they grow and they are then called “soft shells” and are vulnerable when in this condition, so they hide away in the nooks and crannies until there shells harden – they are then hungry so are relatively easy to catch and as a consequence are worth less. As the lobsters grow they are called “hard shells” and are larger and are worth more. Crabs have seen a big decline, so the demand has gone down, and the price followed suit. It used to be more common to get huge crab catches, but not today.
We stopped for lunch near Ellsworth and had lobster and crab chowder – delicious!
After lunch we missed (it must have been the mist that prevented us from seeing it) an important turning to drive a loop road in Arcadia National Park, so we skipped that (we will do it tomorrow) and arrived early at our B&B on Deer isle, which is driven onto via an impressive looking bridge which is very high, presumably so that it could allow sailing ships to pass unhindered below. We took advantage of arriving early and did something really exciting instead – out laundry. Ho hum, but these things need doing when you are on the road. Here is a picture of the bridge to Deer Isle....
