"Let's Go To De Islands Mon"

Well, this was a bitter sweet weekend for us. We were of course very excited because we moved into our home on Saturday. Our first time ever, home of our own. But at the same time both of our parents returned to their respective winter homes in the mid-west. :-( We will miss them very much! It was also very sad to see Jason's parent's home closed up for the winter ( we lived there for 4 years). Its seems very strange to see it vacant & closed up- it was always bustling with people & pets. And lastly- seeing everyone off means summer is over. And it is always sad to see it go- as its one of most beautiful times of year up here. So in between unpacking boxes we went for a little summer-time ride to cheer us up!

First let me explain where I drove in relation to where I live. I live on a series of Islands & a Peninsula that makeup the town of Harpswell. Here is a little map of Harpswell to give you a better idea:

I drove from Cundy's Harbor to Bailey Island, its about a 45 minute drive to get from my house to Land's End at the tip of Bailey Island. Its a very pretty little drive that would cheer anyone up! Take a peak!

Here is view from Jason's Parents house- our starting point!

Crossing the bridge onto Orrs Island. Pretty view on this bridge....

Soon after Orrs Island comes the bridge to Bailey's Island. This bridge is the Cribstone Bridge. Design of the 1,150-foot bridge was complicated by the tides in the area known as Will's Gut. It was decided to build a cribstone bridge using granite slabs from local quarries. Granite slabs were considered sufficiently heavy to withstand wind and wave, while the open cribbing allowed the tide to ebb and flow freely without increasing tidal current to any great degree. Some 10,000 tons of granite were used in the project. A concrete road was then built on top of the cribstones.

Bailey Island Bridge was recognized as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The Bailey Island Bridge is believed to be the only granite cribstone bridge in the world.

Here are some other pictures that came from Wikipedia:

Below is the Bailey Island Library

And just some random photos taken along the way.

Gotta love the picket fence!

That's Mackrel Cove Above

Here we are at Land's End.

There is a fun little gift shop here where you can buy all kinds of cheezy maine gifts. Maybe one of these days I'll do a give-a-way with some fun little prizes from this shop :-)

Jason & his father enjoying the view from the deck of the gift shop.

And finally a few more random pictures from our drive back. Now, I could have taken a ton of pictures of houses that would wow you, there are a bunch of huge luxury homes along the way, but I prefer the character of the old buildings.

Like these!

And now back to the cottage....This time the grass in NOT photoshoped! :-)

The grass is starting to grow! Hope you are having a wonderful week and enjoying these last few days of summer as fall is just around the corner!