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Casco Bay (General)

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ladyanne47
ladyanne47
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5 out of 5
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Editor Pick

Casco Bay and It's Many Islands!!

  • October 4, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by ladyanne47 from Stamford, New York
Casco Bay and It's Many Islands!!

Being on the Casco Bay is like coming "home again". Every year we take the Casco Bay Ferry Lines to rent a cottage on Cliff Island. The island is the last one out that is serviced by the ferry, and it takes sometimes a good hour and half to reach it. We never tire of the ritual of parking at the freight garage, unloading, parking the car, acquiring a ticket, and waiting at the gate terminal for the next ferry run to Cliff Island. If it is a good long wait, we take an excursion of Commercial Street on the Portland waterfront, and explore the newer shops and cafes of the Old Port.

This year I rushed to the Variety store and bought Maine "whoopie pies", bottled water, soda and chips for the boat. The energy in the air of the boat time is always anticipated as the beginning of another great time on the island. Summer people, residents and lobster fishing families mix in an array of different needs and belongings. This year it cost us $9 for a ferry ticket and $4 for our bicycle, dogs are also $4 if you do not carry them on. Anything that is carried on does not cost anything.

The ride through the islands is always so pretty, and the ferry makes many stops dropping off and picking up passengers and cargo on the many islands. The hardy ones like to sit on the open decks of the mid section, and the more frequent travelers who commute and such usually sit on the lower section of the ferry that is protected and heated in the winter months. The bay is peppered with lobster buoys and lobster boats. Also, many pleasure crafts frequent it's waters, especially the sailboats which are busy making there way along the beautiful more protected bay. From a distance you can see the mainland and as it gets more blurred with the distance that takes away to a summer retreat. From one side looking east, you can get glimpses of the open sea in between the islands. A soft line hovers over the blue horizon telling you that land on the other side is very far away to a different continent.

The islands of Casco Bay were once nicknamed the "Calendar Islands" because it was said there were the same number of them that were days in the year. All I know it is our second home.........and oh, it feels so good.

From journal Back to Maine Again

Editor Pick

Casco Bay's Cliff Island, Maine

  • April 4, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by ladyanne47 from Stamford, New York
Casco Bay's Cliff Island, Maine

When one tries to write about a place they have just visited it is really difficult to say much about it because you don't know much about it except the quick exposure you have just experienced, all you can really say is how it affected you personally.

However, this is one place I know a lot about because it is where I have vacationed in July every year since 1990. We as a family (which now that the children have grown is mostly my husband and I and an occasional grandchild or visitor) have come to love this place like home, and our exodus from Upstate New York starts with a loaded car headed for Maine. We have to take everything we need, for it is an island that we get to by ferry, and if we run out of something, we just can't go to the store to get it.

One thing we have plenty of is fresh lobster right off the boats at the end of the day. We order them in the morning, and pick them up around 5am when the lobster boats usually come in for the day. Another tasty treat is the fresh caught striped bass we catch just about everyday. So with the steaks we bring with us and keep in the freezer, it is almost "surf and turf" every night.

Cliff Island is located in the Casco Bay off the coast of Portland, Maine. It is the last island that is serviced by the Casco Bay Ferry Lines. About 2 miles long and ¼ mile wide, it is home to about ninety year round residents and 300 summer folk who either own a seasonal cottage or rent one. We rent one which is on a rocky point overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and looking far out to sea. With a wide wrap around porch we can see from all directions and love to observe the wildlife around, the incoming storms, the passing of many schooners and sailboats, the local lobster men, the sunrise and catch the last of the sunset that reflect off the cliffs across the Fisherman's Bay.

It is a place our children grew up riding their bikes on the dusty sandy roads, swimming in the cove or off the ferry dock, fishing, and playing baseball with the other island kids. So don't tell anyone about this place. It's a secret. It is very difficult to find a place to stay, the same families have a monopoly on their places from year to year.

Finding sea glass and shells, having ice cream down by the ferry landing waiting for the last boat to come in with new visitors or old ones just leaving. Going to the old Stone Library three mornings a week, hoping the books will last you until it is open again. Having community suppers, and movies and dances in the Association Hall on every Monday night are just a few of the joys of Cliff Island, Maine.

From journal Portland--Best of Both Worlds

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