Yes dear, I'm watching the flare: When in Maine...eat LOBSTER!

We were happy to schedule a trip out on lobster boat. The season for taking tourists out to see how lobsters are gathered from the traps was not to begin until the Saturday we were scheduled to leave. We found one boat that was planning to take a trip out before the weekend, however, and made plans to drive back to Bar Harbor. We had to leave early to be sure to arrive in time. As the snow clears, apparently every road in Maine begins receiving sorely needed repairs. It seemed everywhere we travelled, we were greeted with flagmen to funnel us in to one way detours around all the work. All that to say, plan to take a little longer to get around! As we arrived in Bar Harbor, a light rain began to fall and we received a call from the lobster boat. The captain was concerned about an incoming front and wanted to postpone the outing until 1:00 pm. Who were we to argue? We were fine with a later departure and spent the time looking at the shops in Bar Harbor.

We did get very wet as we walked around. Parking in Bar Harbor is a precious commodity, even in the pre-season! Add to the limited number of spaces a one ton dually pickup and be prepared for some hoofing around. We decided to dry out at Jordan's - a restaurant claiming to have the best blueberry pancakes in Maine. We don't know about that, but they're certainly worth the stop. We enjoyed blueberry muffins with our breakfast and coffee and cocoa to warm up.

Between showers, we walked along the main streets to do some window shopping. After the cruise, we returned to this shop that had several dozen flavors of ice cream - including lobster ice cream. Three of our party of four tasted it - can you guess which one declined?

The showers were pretty strong at times, but we had no problem finding several shops in which to take refuge.

The lovely park graces an area near a public pier.

We spotted 'the LuLu' that was our vessel for the afternoon journey. The weather was a bit more clear by the 1:00 departure time and we joined six others to meet Captain John Nicolai for a couple of hours on the water.

This was a glancing photo back at Bar Harbor as we set out to Egg Rock.

There wasn't much rain, but the cloudy weather and cold breeze had us taking advantage of blankets offered by the crew.

Egg Rock, we learned was named for the duck eggs that were plentiful on the banks. Harbor seals live on the island and we spied on them with furnished binoculars.

The captain entertained us with stories (legends based on fact and some on rumor) as he showed us around. We came back to calmer water closer to the harbor and began checking several traps set out a few days before. The first few offered a variety of crabs. We learned that crabs are somewhat of a nuisance to lobster fishermen as they steal the bait and easily escape the traps.

We learned not only about catching lobsters, but more about the lobsters themselves. This one is just barely within the legal limits to be kept.

After checking the traps, we made one more stop at this island to check out an eagle's nest.

Taking our leave from Bar Harbor, we stopped in Bangor at a market recommended by the RV park to purchase some fresh lobster for our dinner. The park delivered a lobster cooker and all the accessories necessary for cooking and eating the lobsters and also offered a few cooking tips.