The Sabbath, Shakers, Lobster, Eartha, Vodka and Custard

Sunday, 10/10

A gray morning, but we all head to New Gloucester to visit the SabbathDay Lake Shaker Village, dating from 1782.  Shakers were, and are, a religious group with colonies scattered throughout the east and Midwest.  This colony is considered the last active village.  Unfortunately, the village was closed to visitors on this day.

Turning lemons into lemonade, we head for Freeport where everyone visited the multi-building LL Bean store, had more lobster rolls and clam chowder, wandered along the streets looking for that special bargain.  Well, the women did while the men enjoyed standing in the sunshine, learning more about the area from the "locals". 

Freeport's stores have to love these shoppers.

Further exploration took us to "Eartha".  Not a female, Eartha is the largest known globe in the world.  Designed by the employees of the DeLorme Company, this 3 ton rotating globe represents one of the largest computer mapping databases in the world.  The printed data on the globe is a composite of satellite imagery, ocean-depth data and information about road networks & urban areas.  Sorry, but no picture can present the works, but you can go to www.delorme.com to learn more about it and the company.

Then, there's vodka.  Potato vodka, that is!  Of course it has to be made from potatoes if it's to be made in Maine, one of the largest potato producing states.  A tour and samples (of course!) were part of the afternoon.  By the way, blueberry flavored vodka was not a hit, although blueberries are another major Maine crop.


Hey!  Men can shop too!

 Custard?  Yes, to appease Doris, we had to stop at the frozen custard shop before it closed for the season, as so many shops do in Maine's coastal area after the tourist season .  A warm afternoon aided everyone aboard to consume even more calories ... but they were good tasting calories, which makes them legal.

After all this fine dining, I can't remember what we did with the rest of the day & evening, but you can bet we didn't stop terrorizing the local lobster.