Anniversary cruise on the Maine coast

Our 43rd wedding anniversary was Thursday, August 15, so we decided to celebrate it by taking a little boat cruise from Portland up the coast to Bailey Island. It's a trip we'd been wanting to take, and Thursday gave us perfect weather to be out on the water.

We arrived at Casco Bay Lines bright and early in order to make sure we got tickets for that particular day's trip. After tucking the tickets into our pockets, we took a little foot tour of the Old Port area. It was interesting to see the waterfront come alive to retailers, although the fishermen and lobstermen had been up for hours.

This is Portland's United States Custom House. I think it's a beautiful building.

Casco Bay Lines' boats take on passengers from various gates here. Most of the boats are also car ferries, taking residents out to their homes in Casco Bay or taking summer visitors to their rentals.

Our boat tour left the dock at 10:00 a.m. sharp. Here we are pulling away from Portland Harbor.

As we left Portland behind, we could see the famous Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the world. I've seldom seen it from this angle.

I wouldn't mind owning a sailboat such as this and spending my summers on the water!

This is Robert E. Peary's summer home on Eagle Island. Peary is the Peary of North Pole fame. He grew up in Portland and attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick. The island to the left of this one is where he trained his dogs for their North Pole trek.

Two hours after leaving Portland, after a beautiful trip around numerous islands and after dodging hundreds of colorful lobster buoys, we arrived at Bailey Island. This osprey nest greeted us.

We and the other passengers are about to disembark. The people lined up on the wharf are waiting for us to leave the vessel so they can take a two-hour cruise around the nearby islands while we have lunch.

This is our little boat, the "Island Romance."

Rather than eating at the closest restaurant, Cook's, Ken and I decided to walk a short distance to Morse's Cribstone Grill. We were glad we did. We ate at a table on this long walkway.

I ordered a lobster roll, sweet potato fries, and cole slaw. Absolutely delicious.

Here we are, our tummies full, about to head back to the boat.

First, though, we decided to take a walk on the famous Cribstone Bridge. According to Ken, this is the only cribstone bridge in the world. It's made of granite slabs, spaced so the tide can ebb and flow through it. The bridge connects Orr's and Bailey Islands.

There's our little boat again, as seen from the Cribstone Bridge.

It was now time to board the boat and head back to Portland Harbor. We took a slightly different route on the way back and saw more islands with lovely summer homes.

We arrived back in port feeling exhausted from a full day on the ocean. It was a good exhaustion, though, the kind that only a day breathing salt air can create. The Bailey Island Cruise was a perfect way to celebrate forty-three years of marriage.