Day 109 – Very foggy this morning when Rob went to the cliff with his coffee. 50 degrees, 7 a.m. Very low tide; all he saw was Kingfishers. The girls are doing great, no problems there, knock on wood. By 10 a.m. the fog had cleared, looked like a gorgeous day. We left to run an errand & to get breakfast before whalewatching.
On the way into town, looking out over the water, we could very clearly see Grand Manan, a Canadian island which is large & usually covered by fog. A good sign for whalewatching! We stopped at the town recycling center with the trash & then went to Sallie Ann’s Cafe, a new place in Lubec. We’d heard very good things about this Cafe & were not disappointed. This small space had previously been occupied by the Atlantic Coffee House. It was redone & opened as Sallie Ann’s just this year. We rarely go out to eat these days; we prefer to get dinner on the seldom occasion that we go out to eat. (Gotta stay on budget.) But this meal, which was reasonably priced, was excellent & we’d definitely go back again. I am not a breakfast person to begin with, so that’s saying a lot! Rob had the Double Egg Sandwich on 21-grain bread with cheddar cheese, grilled onion, & jalapeno peppers. He loved it & said it had just the right amount of heat. For him, that means it was really spicy hot. I got the Frittata of the day – it had kale, grilled onion, tomato, & cream cheese. It came with their home fries (golden potatoes & sweet potato bites, not fried but grilled with fresh herbs) and a small kale salad that was wonderful. Their coffee was excellent, also. We had a table in the back overlooking the harbor & wharf & the bridge that crosses over to Canada. All for less than $30 including the tip. They serve breakfast until 10:30 or so, then switch to lunch (which people haved raved about). They are only open for dinner for a special occasion once a month called “Full Moon” dinner. One seating, reservations only, special dishes picked by the chef – no menu. We intend to try both the lunch and the Full Moon dinner sometime.
We crossed the International Bridge & stopped at the Visitor’s Center. There was a really nice view of the city of Lubec, sitting just across the water in the U.S. The nice lady at the Visitor’s Center said that she’d heard that it was going to be a long, warm Fall season. YAAA! This is contrary to what we’d heard in the U.S. – that it was going to be an early, cold & snowy, winter this year. We like the Canadian viewpoint better.
Campobello Island, NB
Lubec, ME from Campobello Island, NB
We arrived at the whalewatch store early to pay for our trip. Since we had extra time before the beginning of the trip. We took a little side trip to Herring Cove Provincial Park. This Park, on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, is a lovely park with hiking, biking, canoeing & kayaking; a campground, restaurant, beach, & a golf course. Herring Cove Beach & Campground offers 40 electric sites, 36 wooded sites without electricity, 12 beach sites, & 5 rustic shelters. We drove thru to check out the campsites. They were very nice, particularly the wooded sites, private & large. There is a dump station; there are water spigots throughout the campground. We decided that when we take our Atlantic Canada trip, we’ll probably stay here. It would be a great starting point for that trip. The brochure says $30-$50 (Canadian) per night plus a 10% senior discount. At the Office, Rob was told it was $28-$35 (Canadian, including tax). Open this year May 25 to October 7, it varies yearly depending on weather conditions. Herring Cove Campground Office (506) 752-7010; Call Center (for reservations) 1-800-561-0123.
On to whalewatching. We went out of Head Harbor again. While we were waiting to get on the boat, two Bald Eagles flew over. A great start to the trip. The boat was full & Mackie had Robert with him this time. He’s usually been on the trips when we’ve gone out, but last time he wasn’t there which left Mackie to narrate, answer questions, and captain the boat by himself. It was a very lively group this time with six ladies from New Jersey who had traveled up to Lubec on a vacation to see their friend who has a knitting & yarn business here & lives up here. She was taking them out on a whalewatch & they were quite the feisty group. One lady had never seen a whale before & was so excited that we thought she was gonna have a heart attack. They were really funny. Also aboard, much to our surprise, were Kari & Simon, the couple who took over her Aunt’s cottage just down the road from us, and who were here for a two-week vacation. We all had a great time.
Click on any picture to see a slideshow.
Anyway, we left on time (1:30 p.m. Atlantic time). It was calm with little wind, sunny, & 67 degrees – a perfect day. The Harbor was quite active. Several fishing boats were unloading their catches. We’ve never seen so many Herring. And so many Sea Gulls! They were going nuts around the fishing boats.
We headed straight out to the Ocean, going around East Quoddy Head Lighthouse first, and making a direct path towards an area between Grand Manan Island & the “Wolves” Islands, off the coast of New Brunswick. There had been reports of sightings of a bunch of Humpback Whales feeding off a large amount of Herring out there. This is why we made a second trip out whalewatching this year, so soon after the other trip. This year has been one of the best for Humpback Whales due to a tremendous amount of fish here for them to eat. It’s been a record-breaking year for the fishing fleet. This, according to Robert & Mackie, who’ve been doing this trip for many years. Robert said there’s something called the “25-year cycle” for the fish & it’s going on now.
We traveled out to sea for more than an hour. We could see several “blows” in the distance. There was only one other boat out there at this time. Mackie throttled down at this point & we cruised slowly to the area full of fish. We could see the “footprints” – slick areas on the water where the whales had just surfaced. There were several whales on both sides of the boat, just floating along casually. Robert & Mackie said they were napping, that they’d become more active in a bit. The whales would breathe and blow, floating by, rarely diving & showing a tail, which was good because when they dive they can be gone deep below for quite awhile.
Now & then another boat would arrive, including the zodiac boat whalewatch from Nova Scotia. But it wasn’t nearly the number of boats crowding around the whales as we had seen last time.
Looks like fun! Fundy Tide Runners out of St. Andrews, NB
The whales got tired of languishing about & made a few dives. They picked up the pace with the swimming. Time to eat. We were told to look for the “bubbles” when the whales are “bubble-netting”. The whales blow bubbles in a circle to corral the fish to make them easier to catch. The whales would open their huge mouths & take in large amounts of fish, releasing the excess water. The whales would also roll over onto their sides, white fin in the air, called “lunge feeding”. The New Jersey ladies were about to burst with excitement.
Our whalewatch tour was supposed to end at 4 p.m. At 4:10 we were still out there between Grand Manan & the Wolves, thrilled with the activity. It was a great day. Eventually, Mackie turned around & we headed back to Campobello Island. Robert said that about 50% of the time lately, just after you turn to leave, the whales will breach. We all watched the water for this to happen. It didn’t, but the whales continued to blow in the distance. Soon the whales will begin the migration south & the whalewatch season will be over for this year. Just awesome!
Such a pretty day, we decided to enjoy it more & take a drive through the carriage roads on the Roosevelt Park, a drive we’ve done before & always well-worth repeating for the beautiful scenery. This is a well-maintained dirt road which begins behind the Visitor’s Center or at Glensevern Road. Everytime we take this road or any of its turnouts, we are always surprised that more people aren’t doing it. We stopped several times to take pictures, go down to one of the beaches, walk out on a boardwalk, etc. We could see Lubec & the International Bridge. Also, The Spark Plug, the old lighthouse out in the water at Quoddy Narrows where the tide rushes in between Campobello & Lubec. The afternoon sun was filtering through the forest. We decided we must come back another day & ride our bikes on these roads.
Getting time for dinner, we crossed back into Lubec. While waiting in line at Customs to get back into Maine, there was a truck in front of us with large containers of fish. The Sea Gulls were once again going nuts.
Seagull photographed while waiting in line at the border checkpoint to get back into the US
Seagull photographed while waiting in line at the border checkpoint to get back into the US
We had a good dinner at Water Street Tavern in Lubec. I got what I’d been craving, their wonderful Wild Mushroom Ravioli & Rob got the Tavern Seafood Pasta (shrimp & scallops with spinach & sun-dried tomatoes in a wine broth over pasta). We split them & a bowl of Lobster Stew. A wonderful end to a great day.
Gorgeous photos!!! You are having a phenomenal experience.