West Quoddy Lighthouse

So many of these latest vacation posts may be out of order and are certainly dated incorrectly. That's because sometimes I start a post and don't finish and post it, so when I finally do get it posted it posts with the post date and not the date that things actually happened. Oh well.

Since my first full day in Maine was spent in the "neighborhood," and I knew I was going sailing on Thursday, I decided Wednesday would be my day to do the one thing I knew for sure I wanted to do. I'd been up the coast of Maine many, many years ago, but only as far north on the coast as Bar Harbor. I wanted to see the lighthouse up in Lubec, Maine, the furthest point east of the contiguous United States. It was going to be a 3-hour drive just to get up there, but I'm almost always up for a road trip.

West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine

Isn't it beautiful? I loved that it was so foggy and windy when I got there. I love that it's so different from so many of the lighthouses I've seen so far on this trip. And the fog horn could be heard. It was the perfect lighthouse experience.

If you take a look at a map of Maine, you'll see that this lighthouse is indeed the easternmost point of the U.S., but it's also the furthest on north on the coast of Maine. There is a whole lot of Maine north of the coast, but the general consensus is that part of Maine is basically Canada! Lots of French spoken up there, and very remote. 

I had a wonderful conversation with some of the park guys in the little visitor's building. Two of the guys were "summer" guys - only come to Maine in the summer. But this guy - who would be the perfect Santa Claus - lives in Lubec year round, and he's lived here all his life. He says when he's gone for more than a couple of days he gets homesick to come back to Lubec. He spends a lot of his time in the winter removing snow! I learned that a lot of people who live in Maine during the winter have a winter job of removing snow!

This guy told me that there was another lighthouse I could see in Lubec, but the lighthouse was actually in Canada! He gave me directions and told me where to go to get a good view. 

This is the Mulholland Point Light on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. It is literally across the Quoddy Narrows that you can almost swim across. Looking to the right is the little bridge that takes you from Maine to Canada.

For such a remote area of the state, the foliage is still alive and thriving. It's very green and wild. In fact, I found my perfect Christmas tree!

I found a little restaurant in Lubec to have lunch, and how could I pass up fresh lobster? So far, a lot of the little places I've found to eat have had great food and even greater views. Every time I was seated, I asked to be seated near a window or even, weather permitting, outdoors. Every little harbor view or grand ocean view, reminded me of why I love this part of the country so much.

Lunch view - a quiet fishing harbor

This was my favorite lobster roll - nothin' but lobster and a little mayo. It was perfect!

The weather was predicted to be very, very wet and windy, but I'd made it all the way up to Lubec, the lighthouse and lunch, and the weather held. BUT, it did not hold on my drive back to Lincolnville. Sometimes it rained so hard I almost pulled off the road because my windshield wipers couldn't wipe fast enough. Several people did pull off. Then it would taper off only to turn into a deluge once again. It was a wild, white-knuckle drive south.

It was wonderful to see some of the leaves already changing into their autumn colors.

Besides eating a lot of lobster, I had my fair share of scallops also. And this restaurant did not skimp on the portion of scallops. I was stuffed when I was done eating!