We finally made the long awaited trip to Eastport and it ended up being well worth the wait. Eastport is a historic port in the north east corner of Maine with a great view of New Brunswick Canada across the sound.
Morning Fog
The weather was perfect with low winds and clear skies. After a short pause to sort out a fuel flow issue on the ramp we got started and headed east. Fog in the valleys added to the beauty of the flight along the Canadian border. Our Flight path also took us past other potential day trip areas like Rangeley Lake and Mount Snow. The trip across the narrow northern portion of New Hampshire was very short and we quickly entered Maine. We made the eastbound leg at 11.5k to take advantage of the prevailing winds and to provide some additional options over what we thought would be a remote route. But we ended up being impressed with the number of airports as we motored over this wild part of New England. One airport that stood out as we flew past was Charles Chase Municipal Airport – a definite must visit.
Bangor ME
The huge runway at Bangor was easily visible from miles away and we were reminded why it is/was an alternative shuttle landing site. Other Air traffic was very sparse on the way across and the controller must have been a little bored so he took the time to let us know how poor his radar coverage was after we past the Old Town Airport (and canoe factory) continuing east.
As we started out decent into Eastport we were captivated with the remoteness and beauty of this part of Maine. Eastport is a working community that still relies upon the sea. The town is dominated by a huge commercial dock on the eastern side and the peninsula is surrounded by salmon farms – very cool.
Eastport ME
The hospitality couldn’t have been more amazing. During the planning stage I called the airport number listed by AOPA – according to the women who answered the phone this number was actually for the Town Hall but she quickly put me in contact with Steve. Steve is an A&P who works at the airport and he graciously offered us advice on where to eat and left two bikes in front of his hangar for us to borrow. But Eastport’s airport community’s hospitality doesn’t end there. After we landed we were met by a local character – we never got his name – though we did get part of his life story. He had heard us coming into land and headed to the field to see if we needed a ride into town! We had to defer since we had the bikes waiting, but as we talked he shared with us the summer schedule at Eastport International – Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast – September Pirate Festival – October attack on Canada complete with a toilet paper aerial bombardment.
After visiting the facilities in the airport building – I am not quite up to calling it an FBO as it was definitely a building in transition – we collected our borrowed bikes we headed into town. It was only 10-15 minute ride into town and you can’t get lost – we tried stopping to discuss whether to head to the state park or into town and the Fire Chief stopped to ask if we needed directions – amazing. The ride was made even more interesting by all the deer alongside the road and in people’s yards eating apples. We passed within 20 feet of two sets of does and fawns taking advantage of people not keeping up with the apple harvest for a late morning snack.
The town is right out of a picture book from the 1950s – the first think you encounter is the working fishing pier with a great view of New Brunswick, Canada. We also saw the Eastport Windjammers – a lobster boat converted to a tour vessel. They take tourist to see the whirlpool, watch whales and to pull up lobster traps. We didn’t have time to take a cruise this time but this gives us an excuse to come back.
The commercial docks are a great place to take a break, check out the fishing boats, grab a funnel cake, and check out the light house out in the sound.
Just by luck we happened to pick the Pirate Festival weekend for our trip to Eastport. Unfortunately the Pirate Festival was pretty low key this year due to COVID but there were still a remarkable number of people walking around in eye patches.
The commercial downtown is dominated by a 20 foot fisherman statue. The history of the statue is a bit unhappy but still interesting. The statue was added for a TV reality show – Murder in a Small Town back in 2001. The sad thing is the winner was actually killed on 9-11-01. He was in member of the NYFD and died in the tower collapse. The town decided to leave the statue up as a memorial to him and installed a plaque on its base with a brief summary of its history and memorial to Fireman Angel Juarde JR.
Our next mission was to find food. While there are multiple good options we chose to try out the local fish market/restaurant recommended by A&P Steve – Quoddy Bay Lobster. They had plenty of outside seating and we were able to watch the unloading lobsters direct from the boats to the holding tank while we waited for our lunch.
For lunch we shared the seafood stew which was amazingly good, a lobster roll – with melted butter and a haddock sandwich with lemon aioli. All were amazing though Jamie and I were both reminded that we are not really lobster people no matter how much we wish were – also the room temperature melted butter left us wondering. I can’t mention this meal without discussing the coleslaw which was some of the best I have even had. We definitely will eat here next time though we will probably go pure Seafood Stew and Haddock sandwich.
Jaimie isn’t happy she has to share:-)
After a little mustard shopping with the pirates. Eastport has been famous for Rayes’ stone ground craft mustard, since 1900. We bought a small jar for a very affordable $4.50 and made our escape before the pirate dressed clerk made us walk the plank.
After getting our mustard Booty we again mounted up and biked back through town past the art gallery and other historic buildings before heading back up the hill and out of town to check out Shackford Head State Park. Shackford Head State Park is on the west side of the island opposite downtown. After climbing up to the crest of the island we were reluctant to head back down the other side, but the lure of the park and future adventures served to buck up our resolveJ. We only made it to the entrance but now have a good feel for the area. Shackford State Park has many hiking trails that take you along the islands picturesque rocky coast. Interesting at the entrances to Shackford State Park is a marina that housed this very cool weathered boat. In the same vicinity was a Maine Technical School for boat repairmen – though based on the condition I am not sure if it was still in operation.
After taking in the sites and getting a few publicity photos with the bay behind us we jumped back on our bikes to pump back up the hill to the airport.
The bike trip back to the airport was a little challenging going back the 2-3 miles uphill back to the main drag. Again that darn Newton and his gravity had to do his work on us as we worked to get back up to the island’s crest. But once we got back to the main route it was a pretty flat ride back up to the airport. The park or the town can be reached easily by bike in less than 15 minutes from the airport.
Once we arrived at the airport we found the RV waiting patiently for us. After returning the bikes we took on about 20 gallons of $4.85/gal 110LL for the flight home. The flight home was late summer scenic with clear skies and very moderate winds. It was an easy 1.6hrs home at 8.5K with only 8-12kts of headwind, at economy cruise we did 160kts TAS burning 10.2 GPH. My copilot seemed rather pre occupied and quiet on this leg for some reason.
Summary: Eastport is great and we will be back – hopefully for an overnight next time. Things we still want to do; take the Windjammer boat tour, actually hike around the state park and of course eat more seafood maybe even with a beer next time.
MikeAdmin
