Monday Morning:

Today we woke up...about 11:00 AM to the sounds and smells of my wonderful wife making pancakes and bacon. Mmmmmmmm good stuff. We had originally planned to spend the day relaxing here at the cabin but we still haven't found our "monster" lobster. Richard was going to try and find one for us outside of the "normal channels" but the bad weather and the rain (fresh water kills lobsters) coupled with the fact that market price jumped .75 cents a pound over the weekend meant that they sold everything they had.

We decided that, since the Americans had us at a stand still and we only had one day left, we were going to see what we could find back over on Campabello Island. We went back to the restuarant from yesterday where they also had a fish market and found some great looking lobster.

We got a couple of 2 pounders and a couple of 3 1/2 pounders (which are illegal in the U.S.) and loaded them in the cooler. Now that we had our catch for dinner we still wanted to find that "monster" so we went down to the harbor only to find out that they had sold an 18 pounder just yesterday (aaaarrgh...so close!!!). We stopped by two other places but no luck so I guess the big dog gets a free pass on this trip. That's OK though because I don't think it'll be the last time we come out here.

We brought our catch back to the cabin and proceeded to have one of the best dinners EVER!!! The downside was that we really had to work for our food because we didn't have any shell cracker thingys. We had to do it all with forks and fingers (typing gingerly right now). It was a real mess and a whole lot of fun.

OK, it's 1:30 AM and we've got a lot of driving ahead of us tomorrow. I'm not sure if we are actually coming home or stopping somewhere along the way but we have all week so I'm sure we'll make the most of it.

Bye: Craig

Sunday Night:


We were worn out from all the hiking and climbing we did at both lighthouses so everyone ended up taking a nap. I dozed off and woke up to hear Dylan laughing as he watched something on his laptop and Braxton and Marcie were having a lively discussion. I promptly fell asleep again and woke up a second time to the sound of snoring in 3 different octaves. Yep...all 3 of them were sawing logs with ridiculous enthusiasm. No dozing off with all that noise going on.


We were ready to have a relaxing evening.


We made a bunch of popcorn and started a nice game of dice which quickly turned into an all out war. New rules were made to keep things fair and honest but it didn't matter...Marcie won anyway. Dice was followed by the loudest euchre tournament I have ever witnessed. We ended the evening by watching a movie and we are kicking back to read until we fall asleep.

Definitely looking forward to tomorrow: Craig

Sunday Afternoon:

Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada

We took the short drive through Lubec and crossed the bridge into Canada on the way to visit East Quoddy Lighthouse. The island is 9 miles long but only about 3 miles at the widest.

East Quoddy Lighthouse is unique because it sits on the last of a series of 3 small islands...at least they are islands during high tide. When the tide is out, however you can descend the rickety stairs and walk across to the next island until you ultimately reach the lighthouse. This trek is definitely not for the "easily winded" I can tell you that. The challenge is to make sure you get back before the tide comes in because if you don't make it in time you will be stranded for about 8 hours (so bring a deck of cards or a harmonica or something because there is nothing to do except watch the waves).

The lighthouse itself is like everything else up here. Very scenic, quaint, rustic, unique, etc... We had a lot of fun even though it was locked up tight as a drum. Dylan kept trying to find a way in until he actually read the notice on the door warning of intrusion alarms. We're not sure how many he set off but was probably more than one.

We stopped at a little restaurant on the way back for a Father's Day lunch. Marcie, Dylan and I had clam chowder and lazy man's lobster which was 2 pounds of lobster meat that they had already removed from the shell. No fighting for it. Braxton took the easy way out and ordered a pepperoni pizza... think about that one for a minute. We go all the way to Maine for...pizza? He won't live that one down for a very long time.

Our last stop on the island was at former President Franklin D Roosevelt's summer cottage. How anyone can build a 34 room mansion, call it a cottage and only visit it three times is beyond me. I think they meant to say that he visited 3 times after becoming president but it still seems a bit extravagant. Nice place though.

That's it for now: Craig

Sunday Noon:

As the fog slowly retreated out into the bay, the family of 4 frolicked around the light house like the tourists they were, unaware of the man eating lobster approaching out of the mist...............

Sorry, I guess I should leave the fancy writing to Braxton and Janae.

The lobster approached the odd contraption sensing something was not right. Dinner did not usually present itself in such a gift box. Hunger egged him on. Like a bird to the proverbial worm he edged inside the door. His intuition kicking in too late he tried to back out only to be rudely smacked on the behind by the same door that had so powerfully invited him in.

Okay, my family is telling me to get back to blogging about our day. Sadly we could not go up into the lighthouse so we headed off into the park to find a way down to the beach. The scenery is beautiful. Dylan and I wanted to take little side trails that offered more adventure but Pa (Craig) and Ma (Braxton) kept threatening a good whoopin if we did not stick with them on the "safe" trails.

We finally made it to the beach and proceeded to climb, hurtle, jump, limp and wind our way around. The exploring and climbing out here is amazing. Caution: Do not wear sandles as Craig soon found out. All the rocks that you see us climbing on will be under water at high tide. There are tons of shells and "things" galore to find.

It is amazing what you can do with photography. Sheldon and Erika we are not sure what happened to your camera but you should see our "new" one. We are quite happy with it.

After much climbing, some sore legs, backs and feet, not to mention a sore tush that I will refrain from mentioning to whom it belongs, and we decided to head back to the cabin for more appropriate attire before heading to Campabello Island in Canada.

See ya on Campobello Island. Marcie

Sunday Morning:

Breakfast is over. Cleanup has commenced. We (I) made a rule that if you cook you do not have to clean up. This was not as strategic as I had thought when I discovered the boys had done the dishes in greasy water and I had to rewash ALL of the dishes. After stocking the refrig with all of the necessary items we have decided that since the day is clear even if there is no sun, the fog has lifted and we are headed down to the boat house and then on to see a light house up close and personal.

Though the boat house looks rickety it has tons of character and exploring the beach turned into a damp if not downright soaked experience mostly because I was not expecting the wave to hit as fast as it did. Dylan thought it quite funny but I am heading back to change into dry clothes.

The mist off of the ocean must have some strange effect on mid-westerners. Give me your feedback on this but they usually aren't this silly are they?

Okay, maybe you better not give me feedback on that. There is not enough room on this or any other blog for you to share all of the instances that come to mind. On to the lighthouse!

Bye for now, Marcie

8:00 AM, Sunday

I woke up to the sound of dad rooting through the cupbords and grumbling about no coffee, so of course he woke me and Braxx up to go to the store to get some of the miracle liquid. Also, the donuts that were added onto the grocery list under my recommendation were amazing. After that little side trip to the store dad made coffee so strong that it marched itself over to the cup got in and yelled "Come on, let's get this over with!!!" Once Braxx had taken a drink and immediately spit it back out dad decided to make us all a breakfast of what looked like ham, cheese, and eggdrop soup until he realized that the burner had been turned off 'snicker' and then knew that turning on the burner was the key to his perfect breakfast. Well, time to eat a wonderfully homemade breakfast and then it's off to the lighthouse to explore.

After settling in Craig and I ran to town for some supplies. They must still be in the 1800's here because when asked if there was anyplace to buy jeans (we mostly brought summer clothes) the young clerk smiled brightly and replied "Sure. You can probably go into Ellis. They would have some". I proceeded to ask how far that is and she replied "Oh, about an hour or so". I knew I was in trouble then. What, no place to shop? All the clerks keep whispering every time I come in. I have been to the IGA 3 times in one day. They are used to seeing people once a week or once a month.



On the way back to the cabin we decided to sneak down to the lighthouse and take a peek. The fog was rolling in and gave it the perfect look. It feels like we're in Scotland or something.

After returning we dined on a gourmet meal of Hungry man (too tired to cook and it is one of the boy's favorite not good for you meals). I was in my element when we discovered a 550 piece puzzle. I proceeded to drift into my own little world with only a few times of being rudely yanked from that world by obnoxious laughter from the other side of the cabin as the guys watched a movie. My side of the bed and a book are softly calling my name. The pull is g e t t i n g s t r o n g e r. C a n ' t
r e s i s t a n y l o n g e r. Goodnight
Marcie