After two long days, we spent today relaxing in Shelburne. During the American Revolution, the middle-class Loyalists pulled out of New York and Boston, settling in Shelburne. As a result the buildings in the restored waterfront date from the late 1700’s.

The members of the local yacht club invited us to a BBQ and concert. On the way there we caught sight of some of the aforementioned loyalists doing some kind of re-enactment dance practice in full uniform. Had a great sunset and are ready to push on tomorrow. Good night!

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Edit: More photos of Shelburne

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Tonight a storm moved in just at sunset creating the most beautiful curtain of pink in the sky. Meanwhile, commercial fishermen were unloading their catch. Itching to see lobsters Jenny & I went to investigate. Turns out the lobsters they were unloading were, in fact, sea cucumbers.

For the uninitiated, I give you an except from my tome in progress: Nasty Things I Have Encountered:

• Sea cucumbers live on the bottom of the ocean.
• Fishermen in Maine drag the bottom to turn catch them.
• They have a suction-tentacle-foot-thing on one end.
• They can be long and flacid or contract to a grapefruit-sized lump. 
• They can throw-up themselves (turning inside out).
• They stink.
• They are nasty.
• To the initiated, they apparently belong on a menu. These *beauties* are headed for the Asian market. I hesitate to include this in the food category.

Be warned. Clicking the thumbnails on a full stomach is not advised. 🙂 

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Quinlan, Jenny and I arrived at the boat today. We flew into Boston to visit with friends, and then drove up to Maine to rendezvous at the boat. I was really impressed at how capable and comfortable Geraldine really is. For her part, Quinlan adjusted quickly to the quirks of living and sleeping on a boat. Apparently blueberry pie goes a long way in convincing her that life on the boat will be sweet! A highlight for her was taking a bath in the cooler. Between that and woof-woofing at all the dogs on the dock, she is in heaven.

On Sunday after church, we took a tour of nearby Acadia National Park while mom and dad finalized the boat. Having been to many of the “trophy” parks in the west, we found Acadia to be lovely, but missing the jaw-dropping wonder and scale of places like Bryce Canyon and Yosemite. Still, the place has a magic and quaintness to it that makes you want to stick around to try and determine which cute ice cream shop in which cute town takes the tasting trophy for Mount Desert (appropriately pronounced Dessert) Island. But it’s not to be; on Tuesday we shove off for Canada.

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