Leaving Acadia around 2pm on a Saturday afternoon, we ran into what we are calling the Maine phenomenon. We started looking for a campground and found they were all full. Then we started looking for a hotel as a backup, and they were also all full. Well it turns out in Maine during the months of July and August, all campgrounds and hotels are completely sold out by 3p. And I mean “all” places to lay your head. If you do not have an advance reservation somewhere you will be out of luck. We drove for three hours before we found a hotel that had one room left. It had no amenities other than a bed, and it cost me $160 for the Saturday night. If I wanted to stay Sunday night, the price dropped to $59.
Don't Tread on Me
The hotel was in Freeport, where the LL Bean Flagship store resides. So, we went and took a picture with the famous boot for fun, before going lobstering. We even saw our book “Going Lobstering” for sale in the store! We found a company in Kennebunkport that does lobster tours to teach you about lobstering. The captain was very informative and told us all about the lobstering. Lobstermen check up to 800 lobster traps a day, and they have to bring in at least 100 lbs of lobster to break even. The market rate for their catch is $5.50lb. Check the price of lobster in your area and you can easily see the mark up for the middle man and delivery!
What was really fun was that we found out that George Bush Sr. resides in Kennebunkport during the summer, and we checked a lobster trap right in front of his $20million dollar home. He even comes out to the lobster tour boat on sunny days to shake hands and say hi. George Bush Jr. was also in town while we were there (though we did not see either President). One funny thing the captain did say about the Bushes was that Barbara can be seen driving around in her smart car (as they are going green), and she is followed by two large Yukons (the secret service). So, much for her saving the environment with her carbon emissions footprint. 🙂
We loved the lobster tour and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun informational activity the whole family can enjoy. Chloe fell in love with the ocean while we were on the boat. She literally hung over the side of the boat to get as close to the sea as possible, until the captain asked her to please get down so she would not break his perfect record of never losing someone overboard.
Lobstering Family Style
Lobster Attack
