Day 7 Boothbay Harbour

I had some time on my own today as M was taking her aunt to church to be introduced to some of her friends. I got a lift with them into town and decided to have a look at the other side of the harbour. As you can see the weather was very dull and overcast but it wasn't raining and it was still quite warm.

There is a bridge that you can walk across to the other side.

This church stood out as we left the harbour yesterday on our whale trip, so I came to have a look. In front of the church on the other side of the road was a sculpture of a rowing boat which was a memorial to all those who had lost their life at sea in these parts.

The memorial listed their names, ages and how(if known) they had lost their lives. A large number were fishermen who had fallen overboard.

I decided that I would walk to the Botanical gardens which didn't seem that far away. I only had the town tourist map with me which was not to scale but it looked as though the walk was about a mile and a half.

As I left the town buildings behind the sky got a little darker but I reckoned on a half hour's walk. I had arranged to meet M there mid afternoon so I would be able to get a lift home. Neither of us had any signal on our phones so we knew we couldn't rely on contacting one another that way.

Then the rain started. At first I decided to just shelter under one of the trees but as the rain got heavier and heavier I realised this was no good and I continued to walk. It wasn't cold but oh my was it raining. I did have a thin shower proof jacket on but not my real rain gear or walking boots. By now I knew that the tourist map was of no use. Firstly I had already walked about 3 miles and was still nowhere near and secondly it had begun to disintegrate as it was so wet.

I arrived at the gardens a couple of hours after leaving the harbour. I was soaked to the bone and my feet were squelching in my shoes. It was probably a five mile walk which would have been wonderful if the weather had been pleasant. However, I arrived looking like a drowned rat. I tried to dry off a little in the toilets but that didn't work. I then went and had a hot drink and some soup in the cafe but as I left I had to apologise to the staff for the pool of water I had left on the chair and at my feet. I do hope they understood it was just rain!

Good use of pumpkins.

Finally the rain had stopped and the sun was out. I walked around the gardens gradually drying out except for my feet.

The gardens cover 300 acres and were only started 10 years ago.

There was lots to see and as I began to dry off I started to enjoy all the colours and the variety of plants.

I was surprised that so many plants were still in flower.

Of course thee were pumpkins everywhere.

I was surprised to see a number of monarch butterflies enjoying the late sunshine.

There are numerous trails through the garden's woodland and down to the river bank.

A chipmunk checking me out. 

A large fence surrounds the gardens to keep the deer away.

Wolves on the prowl

I was delighted to meet up with M and her aunt who were enjoying a walk through the gourd tunnel. We all enjoyed the gardens very much but I was ready to go back and have a hot bath and get into some dry clothes.