Friends in Maine

Our friends in Maine are Andrea and Harold Hede.   Not only have they been our wonderful neighbors in Lake Joanna Estates since 1994—-they have now been our host and tour guides of the West Penobscot Bay area of Maine.   They have a summer home 15 miles north of our campground in Camden and hosted us to a delicious meal at their amazing and unique Cottage.  This is a picture of their cottage.

Their cottage is located in a small village that was once a Methodist camp—-from 1834 to 1934.

The camp started as a group of wooden platforms (12’ X 18’) that people would pitch their tents on. It was centered around an amphitheater and a park on the west side of Penobscot Bay.   In 1869 one of the men who regularly attended decided to build a small wooden cottage on his wooden platform to make it more comfortable for his family. This happens to be the cottage that the Hedes now own, named the “pioneer cottage.”

Over time, other campers did the same and soon all the platforms were transformed into unique cottages. As the years went by, people updated and enlarged their cottages.   In 1934 the Methodist church sold the camp and this is now a very beautiful and interesting village named Bayside.

The Hede’s Pioneer Cottage has been enlarged twice. From Harold’s research, a front two story addition was added in 1887 and a bedroom addition later.  The Hedes have owned it for 18 years.  Harold is one of these men who can fix, build and do anything. I have known a few men like him in my lifetime and admire what they can do. Andrea can take any place and decorate it to look amazing. So, you can imagine how special this cottage is.

They have taken special care to keep it as close as possible to it’s original appearance.  Look at this old photo that they found that was made around 1910. It was taken by a company in Maine that published post cards and had made this picture of the camp cottages around this time. They recognized it as being their cottage.

Compare the two pictures above and see how they went to such detail to make the cottage like the original design. Notice the lattice work on the eves and the design on the roof shingles.

These are some views around Bayside.

This is where the amphitheater was. Can you imagine camp meetings in this beautiful location?

A park in the neighborhood.

To top it off—Andrea treated us to a homemade rhubarb and strawberry pie for dessert. It was fabulous and I could kick myself for not getting a picture of it!

Also—-their cottage is for sale if anyone is interested.   I have their contact information   🙂

They took us to see a few of their favorite locations nearby.  This first was Owl’s Head Lighthouse.  Check out the location.

As you can imagine, this location gave some amazing views of the bay. I wish I could post a panoramic picture of the view from this vantage point.

It was interesting to watch this lobster boat checking his lobster traps. If you look close you can get an idea of how many traps were in this area.

One thing I learned about lobstermen.  They each have uniquely colored buoys.   You had better not mess with their traps.   We passed a busy harbor on the way to Owl’s Head and I got this picture. I would love to spend an afternoon on one of these boats to watch these guys work their traps.

We drove through the neat little town of Rockport—just south of Camden. It is also a beautiful town on the shore with a beautiful harbor.

There is a neat story about this town. There was a seal in this harbor that was orphaned as an infant. He was rescued and hand raised by local tree surgeon, Harry Goodridge in 1961. They named him Andre’. Harry taught him commands and tricks. He became a mascot of the whole town.   Although he was free to come and go as he pleased in the Harbor and was fully self sufficient, he preferred his human family. He swam to southern New England every winter and then returned to Rockport each spring—150 to 300 miles. In his later years—he spent his winters in aquariums in Boston or Connecticut. The following spring—he would be released from the aquariums and few weeks later would appear back at his home is the Rockport Harbor. At the age of 26, his owner found him dead, apparently injured in a territorial fight with another male seal. This sculpture was erected in the park at the harbor in Andre’s memory.

Thank you Andrea and Harold.  Next—Acadia