September 6, 2007
288 miles
NE Corner Trip
Day 7
Thursday
We left Bar Harbor at 9:30am with sunny skies and 57 degrees to head further northeast with the intention of fleetering as far NE as we possibly could go in the USA.
Some places are just too interesting to pass up whether you're ready to eat or not.
Some places are just too interesting to pass up whether you're ready to eat or not.
Ruth & Wimpy's Home of Wilbur the Lobster
Ellsworth, Maine
Ellsworth, Maine
We keep rolling on Coastal US1 --
the Downeast and Acadia Byway.
We pass by the turnoff for Schoodic Peninsula...this time.
It will stay on the list for... next time. 
I have NEVER seen a Cranberry Bog...until driving by here.
The tide was out and the birds were circling looking for tidbits left behind.
Near Cutler, we stopped for some photos of the US Naval Radio Station.
The small harbor town of Cutler on ME191 looks (and smells) like the fishing village it is.
See how low the water is when the tide goes out? That's why all the boats get anchored out away from the shore. But then you ask, "How does the skipper and his mateys get back to shore?" Good question! Answer: Tenders. Not Chicken Tenders, but the little boats called tenders. That's why you see a couple smaller boats (tenders) anchored out there. They are left on the anchor buoy while the skipper is out on the big boat. Now you know.
We're getting further and further east. We turn at Fitzhenry's Store onto the smaller Boot Cove Road still heading east.
Boot Cove Road takes us to Quoddy Head.
Easternmost Point in the USAWest Quoddy Head
Lubec, Maine
Before leaving West Quoddy, we chat with some other motorcyclists that we cross paths with.
Next stop: The Easternmost Town in the USA ... Lubec, Maine.
I can't help it ... I feel the urge to push the envelope. That bridge right there...goes to Canada. If I ride across it, I'll go even further east. And I can collect an International Park stamp for the collection. How tempting...
Sylvia decides to stay in the US and explore Lubec, while I zip into Canada to see what I can see there. Yep! There I go...across the bridge into Canada. Color in New Brunswick on the "fleetered there" map!
I cross the bridge onto Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.
The first cool sight I saw while on Canadian soil was rather ironic. Less than a mile into Canada and I see a huge bird soaring overhead. I look up at it ... it is so close I can see the big yellow beak and the detail of the feathers. It was a Bald Eagle heading toward to the USA. Told you it was ironic -- I enter Canada and promptly see the national symbol of America, in bird form...soaring toward the homeland. Sylvia decides to stay in the US and explore Lubec, while I zip into Canada to see what I can see there. Yep! There I go...across the bridge into Canada. Color in New Brunswick on the "fleetered there" map!I cross the bridge onto Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.Not much further into Canada, I see the sign for the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.
Notice the French on the sign...and km/h? Good thing for me the signs are also in English.
The park's visitor center where I find my next stamp. The Roosevelt Campobello International Park was created in 1964 as a cooperative effort between Canada and the US.
http://www.nps.gov/roca/
Campobello is where Franklin D. Roosevelt spent vacation time at this island cottage.
I pass Wilson's Beach and keep going. Canada Post = Postes Canada, apparently.
So I go until I get here....Head Harbor. I see the lighthouse -- East Quoddy Head Light. I put the kickstand down and trod off for a better photo angle.
There's East Quoddy Head Light... wearing its distinct markings.
After taking a few photos, I headed back to Fleeter to swing into the saddle and return to the USA. I take my seat and start rolling Fleeter backwards when it happened...
Campobello is where Franklin D. Roosevelt spent vacation time at this island cottage. I pass Wilson's Beach and keep going. Canada Post = Postes Canada, apparently.So I go until I get here....Head Harbor. I see the lighthouse -- East Quoddy Head Light. I put the kickstand down and trod off for a better photo angle.
There's East Quoddy Head Light... wearing its distinct markings. After taking a few photos, I headed back to Fleeter to swing into the saddle and return to the USA. I take my seat and start rolling Fleeter backwards when it happened...I was staring out over the waters of the Bay of Fundy ... the view you see here, when I saw it. I squinted to make sure it's what I thought it to be. Sure enough, no mistaking that broadside and tail. I saw a whale! I waited awhile staring and concentrated real hard to see if it would surface again. After about 4 - 5 minutes, I decided it could be long far gone by then so I went back to rolling back across the gravel to get turned around in the dead end road. I couldn't believe it...I actually saw a whale while sitting on Fleeter. I don't need to pay for no stinkin' whale watching tour on a boat! I can see many a worthy sight from Fleeter's saddle! Sorry, no photo -- But it happened so fast and I didn't have the camera at the ready. But really, I saw a whale. As I left, I saw people walking toward some benches with their binoculars ... bet I know what they are hoping to see! 
When arriving back to the homeland, the good ol' USA, there's a line to get in. I patiently wait my turn.
Many reminders in the area that you are
on a border town...closely sharing International waters.
I'm on US soil and that's Canada there across the water.
When I returned from my International jaunt, I met Sylvia at a restaurant near the Lubec Harbor for supper at a small diner overlooking the water.
As we finished up our supper, a couple from Ohio stopped by our table to ask if we've seen the seals. What seals? We haven't seen or even heard about the local seals. They tell us that anytime after 5:30pm, the seals usually come close into the harbor and swim in the huge whirlpool formed as the tide changes direction. We thought we were going to fire up our mounts and ride out of town once we finished eating, but now we have other plans. We're going in search of seals. We waited, we watched, and finally the seals swam in to play. Look closely in the photo below and you will see a snapshots I managed to get of one of the seals.
By the time we left Lubec, the sun was sinking low and we had about 120 miles ahead of us before we shut it down for the day. It was a cool, but comfortable 61 degree ride to Bangor for the night. 
When I returned from my International jaunt, I met Sylvia at a restaurant near the Lubec Harbor for supper at a small diner overlooking the water.As we finished up our supper, a couple from Ohio stopped by our table to ask if we've seen the seals. What seals? We haven't seen or even heard about the local seals. They tell us that anytime after 5:30pm, the seals usually come close into the harbor and swim in the huge whirlpool formed as the tide changes direction. We thought we were going to fire up our mounts and ride out of town once we finished eating, but now we have other plans. We're going in search of seals. We waited, we watched, and finally the seals swam in to play. Look closely in the photo below and you will see a snapshots I managed to get of one of the seals.By the time we left Lubec, the sun was sinking low and we had about 120 miles ahead of us before we shut it down for the day. It was a cool, but comfortable 61 degree ride to Bangor for the night. 
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