The Prettiest part of the trip to Maine...

Our biggest adventure during our trip to Maine was taking the Ferry out of Lincolnville to go see my friend Lauren on a little island off the coast called Islesboro. I haven't been to many of the islands off the coast and I was pretty sure I hadn't been to Islesboro, so I was excited to go see it and to give Robert a taste of what a Maine coastal island is like (very different from a Gulf Coast Island like Dauphin Island). I am not much of a ferry person, but I had this flashback when we got on-I think I was about 10 years old and I remember seeing my dad at the helm, or the wheel, or whatever...it was very weird, but comforting. Plus it was a beautiful day as long as you had a good jacket on, and I hadn't seen Lauren in 3 years.
It was only a 20 minute ferry ride to the dock on the island, which is in a little harbor and right at the historic lighthouse the island is known for. Lauren was there to greet us and it was like no time had passed at all. She and Robert had not met yet, so I was excited for them to meet and see what they thought of each other. I think they hit it off right away because Lauren is so sharp and witty. Her commentary as she drove us around the island was hilarious and entertaining and set Robert right at ease.:)
Despite the fact that she is on crutches because of having knee surgery a few months ago she took us from one end of the island to the other (14 miles) and got out to show us different places along the way. We got lunch at one of the 2 markets on the island (home made greasy pizza and yummy cookies!) and at it at The Narrows-the part of the island that is only, like, 100 feet wide (it's skinny). There was a beautiful sea wall that was built to keep The Narrows from flooding during storms and people had built pretty cairns on top. Lauren said some of them have been there for quite some time.
After our lovely lunch we went looking for my ancestors! My grandmother informed me that some folks we descended from on her birth mother's side were founders of the island of Islesboro! I was psyched to find this out and Lauren was really intrigued too, so she took us to 2 of the oldest cemetaries on the island. I didn't really expect to find their graves, but, at the second cemetary, we found them! Samuel and Lucy Pendleton were right there in the middle of the cemetary with their children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren all around them. There were lots of other Pendletons in the cemetary too-all of them tied to the sea as Captains and those sorts of things. It was SO cool to find them! Later on we sat down and figured out that Sam and Lucy were my greats 5x over. Their daughter Niobe (I'm still wondering where that name came from) married a Bachelder and that's how she ended up on the mainland and my family descended from there.
After our very exciting cemetary search we went back to Lauren's parents' house-where she is staying during her recovery-and found a lovely little home-made house with an amazingly huge garden (WHY I didn't take photos I don't know). I got to see her kitties again and we got to meeet her rats for the first time! Yes, I Know, Rats don't sound very appealing, but they aren't your regular sewer rats. They were all very sweet and polite and totally excited to be hanging out with new people. They remind me of cats that actually love to hang out with people. They ran around on the bed and climbed all over us...it was awesome! I'm still a little weirded out by the hairless tail, but I am totally sold on rats...even after one of them got excited and chewed a couple little holes in the pocket of my hoody.:)
Sadly, the day had to end there and we got back to the ferry to make it back to the mainland by 5:00pm. It was sad to say goodbye to Lauren, especially since she is moving to Arizona soon, but at least we got to re-connect for a little while. *Tear*
After 3 days of non-stop, we went home to eat with mom and Buzz and go to bed early-which was SO nice to do. I Loved going to sleep with the windows open and nothing but Peepers calling to each other outside the window. Luke's cat Murphy came in to cuddle with us for a little bit and we slept really well.