Last weekend, we were up in Ellsworth visiting my father. On our way up and back, and instead of braving the insanity that is Mount Desert Island in August, we did a big drive to fill up the stamps in our State Park Passport book with Midcoast and Downeast parks. There will be photos to follow, with a few exceptions.
Damariscotta Lake, Lake St. George and Swan Lake State Parks are all lovely little lakeside parks, the kind of place the locals bring the kids to play in the little bit of sand they’ve managed to cultivate in a certain place, and maybe do a little canoeing. I’ve been to Lake St. George before as a kid, when my aunt and uncle used to live nearby. And if you’ve seen one Maine lake state park, you’ve pretty much seen them all. It’s not that the lakes aren’t nice, but I’m an ocean girl. So no pictures there.
The other exception is Shackford Head State Park. Yes, we made it all the way to Eastport, and the rain had held off until then, but no more. We’re lucky we managed to get a stamp there.
And finally, there’s Fort O’Brien State Historic site in Machiasport. Which is wonderfully historic (it’s the site of a naval battle that preceded the Battle of Bunker Hill in the Revolution), but is just an earthworks. We did see a clammer at works in the flats below, which was a nice piece of local color.
So, for the rest (and two locally managed parks), pictures will be forth-coming.