Harpswell, Maine

Even though we kept driving North from the Catskills, we could not escape the 100 degree heat! On Friday, we headed to Portland, Maine to pick up Matt's cousin Katherine on our way up to their summer house on Long Reach in Harpswell, Maine. As we drove through Massachusetts skirting Boston on 495 the temperature was nearly a record in Boston at 103!!! It was close to 100 when we arrived in Portland but had plenty of trees to hide under in Katherine's yard as we picked a bucket of raspberries in preparation for our short ride up to meet up with Katherine's husband Roy and their son Ben who had gone up earlier in the day to get things ready for our arrival.
After packing up the car, we took a round-about way up to Harpswell; first Katherine took us on a tour of Portland showing us their cool neighborhood with all of its unique shops and nearby universities as well as the harbor.
Long Reach is a stretch of water way up in Casco Bay just south of Brunswick. The house we were going to was built by Roy's Dad many years ago on a small point of land in a very secluded area. We needed Katherine to navigate us there since we had to go about a mile and a half down a dirt road through heavy forest off the main road in Harpswell to get there. It is in such a beautiful and quiet place, but then again, when up in Maine nearly every house is in a beautiful quiet place.
What would a trip to Maine be without a voyage aboard a locally built classic wooden yacht? It was sooo nice to escape the heat out on the open ocean (where the temperature immediately dropped to the high 70's). The "Maya" is a custom 40 foot wooden ketch designed and built locally in Harpswell for Roy's Dad back in 1970. Bella just couldn't see enough of the boat: in the cabin, out on deck, and then a few laps around the topsides. After lunch, she laid down on one of the large berths below and took over an hour nap quickly rocked to sleep as we sailed out on the morning wind and back through various rocky islets back to the mooring on the afternoon breeze.What a great view from the dock behind the house: and look at those happy vacationers!