Boothbay Harbor

We've been in delightful Boothbay Harbor for two days now, and it's just, well, delightful! The bay is huge with lots of mooring balls, but plenty of room to anchor too. Ashore, there are lots of inns, shops, and restaurants.

It seems like nearly every business has a carved, gold leafed sign, so we are enjoying seeing those. Even the hardware store has one.

We spent one rainy afternoon eating a leisurely lunch and sharing a bottle of wine at Boathouse Bistro and Tapas Bar. Great food there.

Today we decided to rent bicycles and ride out to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. When we got to the dinghy dock we got to talking with some other cruisers and Howie mentioned that one could take their dinghy to the garden, so we went back to Thistle, packed a lunch, checked the chart, grabbed the handheld VHF, and set off towards Townsend Gut.

Across the bay was easy enough, and even up Townsend Gut was fine, but after that it got confusing. We made a wrong turn and ended up at a "bridge" that was little more than a culvert, and since it was low tide, there wasn't even enough water to float our dinghy. We backtracked and went around another island, under two bridges, and finally found the garden's guest dock.

The garden did not disappoint! It had a large intensely cultivated area with perennials, roses, herbs, annuals, and vines. Everything was nicely labeled and beautifully maintained.

However, the larger portion of the garden was paths and trails through a more native landscape. This area was full of ferns, mosses, fungi, spruce, fir, and birch trees. 

We missed the peony and rhododendron bloom, but we did catch this beauty near the rhododendron garden. I've never seen a white spider. Cute, isn't it?

We would highly recommend visiting Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. It has something to please everyone, including kids. There is a garden just for them with a maze and a coloring cottage, and toys to play on. There is also a Fairy House Village where kids are encouraged to create homes for the fairies who live there.