Exploring Boothbay

It’s the 4th of July, and we’re in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. We certainly knew where we’d be around 9:00 PM, but the rest of the day was fairly open.

I asked Kim if there were any special festivities in town, and she said, “No, but if you want to visit the Botanical Gardens, you can use my car.”

How sweet, but we needed to dramatically increase the step count, anticipating a major holiday dinner at Coastal Prime, so we planned to bike to the gardens.

I punched in the address and selected “Use Less Busy Roads” on Apple Maps.

We got two options – both were 24 minutes, so we took the suggested route. I had followed this route to Hannaford on Wednesday, but once we got past those strip malls, the road got a little scary for biking.

It went to 35 MPH with a narrow bike lane right after the lights. After the rotary, it went to 45 MPH, and the bike lane disappeared!

Fortunately, there weren’t too many cars passing us, but I made a mental note to try the other route going home.

The Coastal Maine Botanical Garden

The road to the gardens was a rather steep hill – glad we had eBikes! Once there, we found a nice bike rack near the main building. I bought tickets online ($20 each for seniors purchased in advance), and the entrance process went smoothly.

“Have you seen our trolls?” Said the gate agent, Liam, with genuine excitement.

The gardens feature five giant trolls constructed out of scrap wooden pallets. The wooden statues are the work of Thomas Dambo

“Born in Odense, Denmark, Thomas Dambo lives and works in Copenhagen. Building and creating with wood since the age of five, Dambo has become one of the fastest-growing personalities in the Scandinavian art world. As a child, he would scavenge his neighborhood for discarded wood for his projects, carting it home on his bicycle. This childhood love of “treasure” hunting certainly foreshadowed his now global troll hunts.”

http://www.mainegardens.org

Mrs. Horne grabbed a map, and we headed for the Butterfly House.

Next we walked the grounds and took in the beautiful flowers.

Just before the first troll lies a Bee Exhibit.

At that point we encountered the first Troll.

By then, it was 1:00, so we headed to the cafe for a quick lunch.

It was surprisingly good once I tuned it up with a bit of Sriracha. It also serves a few sandwiches, chowder, salads, and beverages, including beer and wine.

After lunch, we crossed the Great Lawn and enjoyed a little Zen in the shaded gazebo.

At this point, I’d pretty much seen as many plants as I wanted to see. Mrs. Horne wanted to see more Trolls, so we headed down the trail toward the Shoreline Trail.

We were no longer in an open Botanical Garden but rather on a wooded nature trail with a few modest exhibits.

After an extended downhill hike, we reached the shore and headed left to find Birk.

We included this photo to illustrate the immense size of these gentle sculptures.

Comparing the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens to others I’ve visited, I say Maine’s is more rustic and far larger than most. As mentioned, I enjoyed the nature walk (hike) better than the formal gardens. The trolls are unique and probably justify the price of admission.

The Middle Road route home was far more civilized than the Townsend Road we took to get to the gardens. We still ended up doing a mile on Barters Island Road (45 MPH and no bike lane), but after that, we were mostly on 25 MPH streets.

Back in Amazing Grace, we returned to our favorite pastime: people-watching from the Skydeck.

Coastal Prime

Knowing we’d be back on the boat for the fireworks, I made 6:30 dinner reservations at Boothbay’s top restaurant – Coastal Prime.

We enjoyed a great meal here in 2022 and knew exactly what to expect. Like all the great steak houses across America, they offer a wide variety of Prime cuts of beef. They also have more seafood options than you’ll find at a Ruth Chris or Mortons.

The sun was beginning to set as we walked across the wooden bridge.

As the host showed us to our seats, I noticed three very comfortable seats at the bar looking out at Boothbay Harbor and grabbed them.

Our server was an interesting young man named Hunter.

Hunter is from Poland, Maine, and is home to Poland Springs. He recently graduated from Diesel Mechanic School but prefers tending bar (for now).

Mrs. Horne started with a Virgin Painkiller.

I went with my regular Steakhouse beverage of choice.

Peter ordered the Nigiri appetizer.

Mrs. Horne and I shared the Duck & Pork Pate with the bread service.

Peter diverged from the steak house theme for dinner with Vodka Parm Rigatoni.

Mrs. Horne went with her customary steak house dish.

If Mrs. Horne hadn’t ordered a Prime Filet, I would have had one with Au Poivre sauce ($7 upcharge), but they had a very enticing Short Rib special, so I jumped on it!

The Short Rib was about 6 ounces but perfectly cooked – falling apart on the inside with a crusty bark on the outside. The sides weren’t particularly memorable – charred broccoli and twice-baked potato. I was a little disappointed that the fried onion garnish was cold, but all in all, it was a great dish.

I shot a photo of Rich and Mindy’s Riviera 54 as we left.

We were crossing the footbridge just as the sun was setting.

Back on Amazing Grace, we took in the sights and sounds of everyone getting ready for the fireworks.

We’d witnessed a private fireworks display here in 2022, and this show was a little farther away and to the south. It was gratifying nonetheless.

Plan B Time

We were scheduled to leave for Rockland and perhaps Camden on Friday. The forecast for Saturday isn’t great, which likely means Movie Day. It made no sense to burn 300 gallons of diesel simply to watch movies on a rainy day in a different Maine seaside village. Fortunately, Kim found a way to squeeze us in until Sunday, so we are staying put and further exploring Boothbay.