Sharp's Travels

Our trip began at 9:30am this morning. The temperature was 54 degrees. We put on an extra sweatshirt under our motorcycle jackets and headed for Boothbay.

We stopped at the Edgecomb Eatery for coffee and a bagel before arriving at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Me at 11:30am. It did reach the low 70’s and that made for a very pleasant day to walk around the gardens.

They had the garden of the five senses; visitors immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, tastes, fragrances and feel of the plants.

The Slater Forest Pond featured the water lilies surrounded by lots of shade loving plants.

We took wide stone steps to the Woodland Garden. It was a big grassy area surrounded by dogwoods and shade loving plants.

We ventured through the big arch into the Rose Garden. Many of the roses had passed their prime but we were lucky enough to see a few varieties.

The Hillside Garden wound through the woods with great views of the water. There were many varieties of trees and hostas plants.

The Shoreland Trail was a well-groomed walking trail along the Back River. They had a number of stone benches to sit and take in the beautiful view. There were extensive plants, hardy native trees, perennial flowers and ground covers.

We passed the Fairy House Village, an enchanted area for children. They can use the natural materials and make their own creations.

We came back out on a dirt road heading for the Rhododendron and Perennial Gardens and were lucky enough to hop a ride on a golf cart to the garden. This one-acre garden features a massive tiered waterfall, pond and terraced stone steps that lead to the different levels of the garden. There were more than 100 kinds of rhododendrons and thousands of perennials and bulbs.

We took Birch Allee back to the Visitors Center. The road was lined with young birch that someday will be a very impressive site. It was a beautifully laid out place. They are in the process of creating 2 new gardens sections that should be open next year.

Gay took lots of pictures; the flowers were all so beautiful.

Back at the parking lot a sign read EXIT-DO NOT ENTER! Now how do you think we are going to get out of here! We succeeded despite the sign.

On our way back to HWY 27, I spied a sign that said Fused Glass Art. I thought that looked interesting so we stopped. It was an old church turned into a Gallery and living quarters. The owners summer in Boothbay, Me and winter in South Carolina. Mack Bear, one of the owners, makes fused glass kaleidoscopes. They were beautiful. I would have bought one if we weren’t traveling. They had jewelry, bowls, and hanging glass art. His wife, Susan, also paints and she had some wonderful pieces hanging around the gallery. I bought a pair of earrings and a bracelet.

I had one more stop I wanted to make. I had spied a fabric shop called ON BOARD FABRICS in Edgecomb. What beautiful material. I ended up buying a couple of different pieces of fabric. I could have bought more but we needed to get it back to the 5th wheel and the bags on the motorcycle were already full. I’m looking ahead to doing a quilt this winter. I’ll buy a piece here and a piece there and hope it all comes together!

We were back home by 4:45pm. The temperature had dropped to 65 degrees. The last few miles were a little cool riding.

A spectacular day.

Gay has uploaded pictures of the day. See album Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens