Maine Lobster Festival

I'm trying to keep the moving saga posts in order, and since a handful of photos I want to share with you are on my phone (and for some reason, the email I sent myself didn't work), I'm taking a break to show you something fun we did this week:  we went to the Maine Lobster Festival!

Now, this is one of those things that we always manage to miss, despite coming to Maine every summer.  To be fair, it's never really been part of our planning to say, "oh, what festivals are when?" but we're also always a little disappointed to learn of whatever "wow that sounds cool" thing that is happening that we have to miss. 

Mick has been pretty adamant, too, that he wants to spend more time doing things as a family now that we're in what he considers to really be the land of festivals and fairs.  I happen to always be up for a family outing. 

So, we got to Maine Monday.  We were exhausted and were literally collapsed on the couches and happened to catch a local news show that was doing a feature on the 64th annual Maine Lobster Festival, and we knew we had to go.

A quick Google, and we learned that the festival started Wednesday and was only $5 for adults on the first day, and both CAM and WHM were free!

Sign.

Us.

Up.

We had no idea what to expect, other than the fact that it was a solid almost-two-hours away.  We got to take a nice summertime tour of rural Maine and I learned that there are an awful lot of construction companies, auto/diesel repair companies, and antiques shops in rural Maine as you travel between the quintessential little Maine towns.  Not so much by way of grocery stores and shopping, but if you need something built or fixed, you won't wait long.  It was funny.  I'm not being critical.  It was really funny.

Anyway, as we got closer to the festival, there were no signs.  Not a one.  We were supposed to park at the local middle school or high school and take a shuttle bus to the waterfront, and there wasn't a single sign anywhere so much as recognizing the festival, nevermind directing traffic.  Which also cracked us up -- it's so typical of Maine!  If you don't know where it is, they probably don't want you coming.

But we got there, rode a school bus over, paid our $10, and got to enjoy a nice afternoon by the water.

We took a picture by a giant lobster.

We may not have been too happy about taking the picture by the giant lobster.

We shared a lobster roll (mmmmmm) ....

.... but didn't choose to wait in the line for lobster -- especially because our local place has them for $3.99/lb right now.  No need to wait in line!

We took the kids on the giant ferris wheel to see the views.  Cost of admission:  $10.  Cost of ferris wheel:  $18. 

 But the views were worth it. 

We also played the squirt gun game where you shoot water into the clown's mouth and burst a balloon.  CAM played first and even though the announcer tried, he couldn't get anyone to compete against her.  (Secret "amen" from me, thankyouverymuch.)  Hooray!  CAM won!  I didn't take a picture in time, but because CAM won a prize, that meant WHM and Daddy had to play, too.  Still no competition, though, so both kids now have matching prizes.  Phew.

There was a Navy ship in port, and we walked down to the waterside to just relax and check out the scenery.  They were tendering people over to the ship, but we'd have had to wait an hour and Mick didn't have it in him.  He blamed the kids, but I think he was just done.

Perhaps the only semi-smiling photo of the day.  She wasn't grumpy, but you sure can't tell it from the pics I got!

After we stayed by the water for a while, we walked back to the main part of the festival, and tried to get the kids to post for photos near an old boat that was turned into a very pretty planter.  I suggested taking some pictures to give to Gram and Grampa Bob for their respective birthdays, which are in a few weeks.

But the grandkids weren't too interested in pictures.

In fact, all they could think about was cotton candy, and once we walked back to where we'd seen it and bought a bag, that made the world better.

Finally, we made our way back to a part of the festival that was set up with giant tents where they had craft vendors, art vendors, and a childrens' tent.  Our two kids found a sand table, and the day was done.  We spent about 30 minutes just letting them play, and then we headed back to the bus and the school and the car and the drive and unpacking.

Definitely a good way to start our lives here in Maine!

--Jen

Pin It