This weekend, Denise and I were treated to an exciting adventure by the Ellsworth Lodge. We arrived in town around 5 o’clock on Friday to our accommodations, known as Under Canvas. After signing a waiver and receiving instructions on how to start the wood stove, we were escorted to our tent.
This was no ordinary family camping tent. It was a large, semi-permanent structure with a bed, sleeper sofa, full bathroom, and the aforementioned wood stove. The tent itself was a spacious canvas-walled structure erected on a hardwood floor platform, modeled after an African safari style. While there was no electricity, the tent was supplied with numerous rechargeable battery-operated lights and power packs for personal devices. These were truly excellent accommodations that we enjoyed throughout the weekend.
After unpacking, we were transported to the Lodge for a delightful Friday night brisket meal, accompanied by a great duo playing a wide range of classic rock and country music. We had a wonderful time catching up with Donnie and Sue, Jonah and Christine, Eric and Leanne, and everyone else at the Lodge. I even met a couple visiting from Pennsylvania.
Later, we retired back to “Under Canvas” and met a friend who turned out to be a regular near our site. As we walked up the pathway to the tent, Denise spotted a small black object that seemed to be moving about. Fearing it might be a skunk, she shone her phone flashlight onto it and we were relieved to see it was not. however, it was a porcupine!
I assured her that porcupines are slow and lumbering creatures that generally want nothing to do with humans as they are strict vegetarians. To prove my point, I walked around it, only having to give it a slight berth. Denise wasn’t convinced and suggested we go down to the on-site restaurant common area to enjoy the evening shore and campfires while the porcupine had time to move on. So, I went back around it, and we did.
After enjoying some drinks and a wonderful campfire, and doing some research on porcupine habits, we made our way back to the tent site. To our surprise, our friend was still there, enjoying the green shoots of grass in the path to the tent. This time, I assured Denise that the person on Google who suggested a 20-foot berth around these animals was being overly cautious, and we both passed the porcupine without incident.
The next day, we were treated to an excellent breakfast in downtown Ellsworth, visited the world-famous Momo’s cheesecake shop and returned to camp to relax and explore the shoreline. Around noon, we drove over to the Lodge to participate in their monthly cribbage tournament. The format for the tournament was new to us, and we both found it quite enjoyable. In fact, we plan to try it at our Lodge.
There was a scoring system (beyond wins and losses), and everyone played five games. In the end, the scores were tallied, and the winners announced. Congratulations to Chip, Jonah, and Rick for first, second, and third place. By then,it was time for supper, so we headed back to “Under Canvas.”
That evening, we explored the shore even more, saw more wildlife including loons on the bay and a large green crab frolicking just offshore. Supper from the resort restaurant was wonderful, and we topped it off with s’mores we prepared on their campfires. We headed back to the tent, and our good friend the porcupine was awaiting.
Having been assured by the staff as well as myself, Denise stopped and took some pictures and then passed the porcupine without incident to reach our tent.
On Sunday, we had breakfast again at the resort and headed off to Bangor for the North District Soccer shoot. Thank you, Ellsworth, for a memorable, fun-filled, and exciting weekend. Our next visits will be in Old Town and Gardiner next weekend. I’ll file my detailed reports here upon our return.
