Little Cranberry Island

The commuter ferry to Little Cranberry Island left at 3:00. We headed out at 2:30 to catch it. Tucked away in SW harbor is the dock. A small mixed group of people were on the boat – vacationers and islanders. The Capt. counted 8 and turned to Elle, J and I "I saw some porpoises on my way over here. We'll keep an eye out for more". J was more excited about that news than Elle was.

The boat made 3 stops. 1. to a near by dock on NW Harbor, 2. Great Cranberry Island and 3. an unexpected stop to let a local and her son off on an island we aren't familiar with. We stayed on the main deck of the small boat. It seemed the locals went up top. The sun was hot anyway. I took a zillion shots of the boats and mountains. When I loaded the camera up for this entry I saw that we had taken 166 pics just tonight... just a few huh?

We chatted with a local woman who was heading out to the island to have dinner with a friend. She was very nice and reminded me of our neighbor Kit. Physically and personality wise. We all scattered when we exited the boat. J, Elle and I Went East to see a jeweler and some painters. We didn't have to worry about Elle too much walking since there aren't many cars and everyone was either on bikes or in a golf cart ( I didn't see any clubs).

We got to the jewelers and it had closed at 4:00.... It was 4:15. The store was not on a foundation and it didn't look steady. A small woman from the house right next door asked if we wanted to see the store, she had a key and would be happy to let us in (she was a friend of the store owner who wasn't around...yup, we're on an island ah ya). HEAVY MAINE ACCENT! SHe mentioned the store was an old shack from the harbor and instead of destroying things they try and have secondary uses. And at some point soon they'll put it on a foundation.

Next we headed over to a gallery. J's sister Cherie had bought a wood cut print from this gallery years ago. It's a beautiful space. The 2 owners were there and invited us in and extended Ellie an invitation to sit at a drawing table and have fun creating some art. She did and they enjoyed watching in her so we could walk the 2 floors of the gallery. Not typically a trait of a shop owner... they usually want the kids hand cuffed to tree outside the store.

I'll spare you the conversation with them but they were delightful and they really enjoyed watching Elle as they are expecting their first grandchild in Sept. They were both islanders and painters with some great work and if we could we would have bought a painting but they were a little over priced. As J said "most of that stuff is kitchen art with dining room prices". Funny and true!

On to Isleford for dinner.

J had steak, Elle had pasta, I had a Quahog and a Caribbean seafood stew dish. Good, Good and Good!

Elle was an angel for dinner. Completely well behaved and we were told as much by the couple next to us who were clearly marveling over her throughout their dinner and until we getting dessert they finally let us know how impressed they were. That was very nice of them. I think they felt they owed it to her since when our waitress was bringing over dessert Elle squeled in excitement but they dessert got delivered to them... It was hysterical!

We timed it right. Right after dinner we had 10 minutes to enjoy the sunset as we waited for the ferry back. When we got on to the boat we saw our Kit look-a-like and she was with her dinner partner who was toting an accordian. Sure enough he went up on the top deck and played. We went up and enjoyed him playing some great jigs while Elle danced around mesmorized! It was perfect and the views were incredible! I took video of the playing and the dancing.

When we got home we wanted to enjoy the evening a little more so we headed down the road and each got a drink. Listening to the waves and the clanging bells doesn't get old.

Wow, I'm tired!

Til tomorrah