Maine Event - Day Seven

Put on your Internet seatbelt folks--it was another big day in Mid-Coast Maine! Now that we've been here for a full week, Leigh is warming up to the local wildlife. This is a Maine Coon cat--complete with three legs! We got our day started with a rousing parade in Wiscasset. It was a rather small parade, but it got the job done. I think the only things Emily really wanted to see anyway were the firetrucks, and firetrucks had they. Hunter's Breakfast & Lunch was well represented with one of the most elaborate floats. As you can see, the turkey got out for a bit of fresh air. By the end of the parade, the sun had once again made us aware of its presence, so we decided to swerve down to Popham State Beach. We visited this beach last November, and as you can guess it was much different at this time of year. It also held a surprise for us that we couldn't have imagined. As we were eating our lunch on the beach, I noted that the waves were coming from two directions. The brightest among us might quickly deduce that those two directions are the right and left. About 300 yards out from the beach there lies an island, which is probably 200 yards long. There are also some other islands, and for whatever reason they cause the waves to be directed in two different directions. Where they meet, they build up a sand bar. We were fortunate enough to have arrived just as the tide was going out, and we noticed that the beach was growing! People were walking out on this sand bar, and with a bit of wading they went all the way to the island. We started heading that direction, looking for shells and what-not as the newly exposed sand wasn't as "picked over" as the beach. The sea kept receding further and further. Eventually we went for it--we only had to wade knee deep for about 30 yards, and then we were on the beach that the island now had. We climbed up the granite to get a view of the other side, and by that time the sand bar between the island and the beach was fully exposed. Now the beach was gigantic, and there was steam coming off of the newly exposed sand, wafting away in the breeze. The "new" beach was dotted with tidal pools, the smaller ones disappearing as the thirsty sand drank them (sorry--feeling a bit poetic there). Emily had an absolute blast playing in this landscape. The largest tidal pool had a bank of sand about three feet high on one side. This sort of beach transformation is, of course, run-of-the-mill for those that live in coastal areas or visit often, but for a couple of land lubbers from Indiana, it was magical. We heard a couple of thunder claps and could see clouds gathering to the west, so we hit the road with a destination of Ice Cream. We drove down the road a piece and lodged our order, and just as icy treats were delivered the sky opened up and it started raining anvils and ball peen hammers. We waited a bit for the rain to slacken so that we could be at least partially dry for the drive home, and then headed back toward Howard Lane. Emily was asleep within the first three minutes of the ride. We napped, ate some leftovers for dinner, and then set forth to Wiscasset to see fireworks. Since we had some time to kill, we stopped at Sara's Cafe and shared some pie. At 9:30 PM, the pyrotechnic display began, which was Emily's first. She wanted to see them, but perhaps due to the late hour, she just couldn't fully appreciate the finer aspects of noisy, colorful, glowing embers being shot into the air. I thought she would be thrilled, but she just couldn't keep her attention on the fireworks. We stuck it out to the end and then headed for the barn.