Maine - Day 10 - Eastport and Lubec

Sunset Point RV Park
Friday, 10 August 2018

today's route

I know it doesn't look like I went much of anywhere at all, but that ended up being 90 miles and about 6 hours.  For one thing, there was a lot of road work being done, leaving miles of extremely bumpy unpaved road and one-lane road with traffic flaggers and heavy equipment to dodge.  And for another, the road follows the water, so it goes around corners and up hills and bends here and there and I just don't want to go very fast over some of it.  And it's really pretty, which I found distracting.

I passed a youngish man walking along the road holding up a sign that I think advertised stun guns for $20-$30.  I have no idea what that was about.

I was first aiming for Raye's Mustard in Eastport, which George at my previous campground had told me about.  And I'm glad I went.  I just barely made it for the 2nd of the 2 morning tours of the factory.

Raye's Mustard Factory

Raye's is a museum, but it's also an operating factory and has been designated a working museum.  They're in the middle of a renovation that they hope will be finished next year and will allow visitors to see a whole lot more of the process than we can now.

Raye's is the only remaining stone-ground mustard mill in the US.  It's still in the same family that began it in 1903.

They didn't let us take photos but showed us their equipment, which are still they same things in use for more than 100 years: enormous 200-year-old granite stones from France to do the grinding and belts - like conveyor belts - but these make the stones turn.

They process 1-2 times a week and use 550 pounds of mustard seeds each time which, when you think about it, is a LOT of mustard seeds.  They get their seeds from Saskatchewan, which seems to have a perfect growing season for mustard seeds.  They tried to get them from Presque Isle, to have an all-Maine product, but apparently Presque Isle doesn't have a good growing season for them.

The first step is winnowing the seed;  next it goes to the first set of stones to be flattened into flakes.  The flakes are then mixed with vinegar and with water from their wells and sits overnight.  Next the mixture passes through 3 more sets of stones, becoming thicker and creamier at each step.  Next, it's aged for several weeks, and then finally various flavors are added and it's bottled.

They're very proud of themselves for having taken 1st and 2nd and 3rd places in one competition against French's mustard.  I tasted their version of yellow mustard and it does indeed beat French's - and I like French's.  Much of the yellow color comes from turmeric, which we were told helps prevent leg cramps.  (Did you know that?)  The whole thing was very interesting.

statue on the waterfront

plaque below the statue

We went into downtown Eastport for lunch along the waterfront.

I hadn't heard about the media events on this plaque but had certainly heard of 9/11.

Eastport bills itself as the US's easternmost city.

If you can blow up that photo of the boat harbor, you might note there are 4 different boats with Trump/MAGA flags on them; one of those also has a Confederate flag on it, and since it has a Maine registration number on it I wondered what the deal was.

Eastport's boat harbor

downtown Eastport

There's a pleasant walkway along the waterfront which we could only take partway because Gracie started coming unglued about going any farther for some totally unknown reason.  I couldn't hear or see any children or balls or loud noises or large trucks or all the usual suspects.  Anyway, rose season must be over because I saw bushes covered with rose hips.  They reminded me of Alaska, where they use rose hips to make jams and syrup, but I don't think I've seen anyone in the Lower 48 doing that and don't know why not.

We drove back to the campground and just beyond it is the turn for West Quoddy Head Lighthouse.  The station was established in 1808 and the current lighthouse was built in 1857.  It's the farthest east in the US, and also the farthest north in Maine.  There's a stone in front of it with some of this information but, unfortunately, the photo I thought I took didn't take.

Very attractive here took and once again Gracie flipped out - refused to walk down to the lighthouse from the parking area up above.  Dexter went down with me.  I just don't know what's wrong with her.

After this visit, we drove into Lubec, which is about a mile down the road from the campground.  Lubec also bills itself as the farthest east town in the US.  [Author's note: they're all forgetting that part of Alaska crosses the International Date Line and is technically the easternmost point in the US - oh, well.]  I'd say it's a toss-up with Eastport. 

Lubec is the entry point to Canada where the Roosevelts went to Campobello Island.  There used to be a ferry across - maybe there still is sometimes, though it was closed when I was there and it's high tourist season.  Anyway, there's a very nice newish bridge and I'm guessing that's why no ferry.

If you can push these 2 photos together, you can see Campobello Island.  The bridge in the far right of the righthand photo is the bridge to the island, and the buildings on the other side are Canada's version of customs and immigration.  I didn't see any barbed wire, though I didn't cross over for a look.  But you know those easy-going Canadians.