The Far East

Tuesday, July 27.  Today's roadtrip included a visit to Eastport, the easternmost city in the United States and also the West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec, the easternmost point of land in the United States.

Eastport is a deepwater port which actually covers several islands although the downtown is on Moose Island and connected to the mainland.  There are many artisans in the area and the downtown reflects this.  Edie did some heavy duty shopping while I tagged along and actually learned some history behind the sea glass jewelry which is big here.  It is a great little town where people drive to the wharf and catch mackerel on their noon hour while enjoying great scenery.
While there, we toured the nearby Raye's Mustard Mill (http://www.rayesmustard.com/) which is the last stone-ground mustard mill remaining in North America.  While there I learned that the last sardine factory in the United States closed last month (Rayes use to supply the factories with their mustard).  Since sardines packed in mustard are a favorite staple of mine on solo trips, I panicked and bought a supply along with some of their custom mustards.
After lunch we drove to Lubec.  We tried the salt tasting room of the Quoddy Mist (http://www.quoddymist.com/)
Sea Salt company, a small one man operation, but discovered our palates were not up to the task and the many different flavors were lost on us.  I don't think wine tasting rooms have anything to worry about here.
A trip to the West Quoddy Headlight ended the far east portion of our trip.  They proudly state that standing here at sunrise makes you the first person in the United to welcome the new day.

Jasper beach was another locally hyped location as a natural beach made entirely of jasper and rhyolite. We spent considerable time looking for it and decided it was probably not worth it unless you were a geologist or stone collector.
For dinner I pushed for a repeat on the lobster special at Helen's but our neighbor talked us into the dinner at the Riverside Inn Bed and Breakfast (http://www.riversideinn-maine.com/).  They required reservations but had room for us early.  Edie ordered the Lobster Devon while I had the Maine seafood medley.  Both were the best meals of the trip.