A Day at the Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine

There are times when things are so close that we don't pay attention to them. Take for instance the Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine. It's only 40 minutes down Route 1 but in our 11 years in Belfast, we've never made the journey. Today was the opening day and it was free admission (as opposed to $6-7 a person) for any and all neighbors - I like that price!

While still trying to break my "church thinking" mode, we headed south on a very warm day. We entered through a small gate and immediately fell into the midway with almost un-winnable games and rides. How amazing it was to watch young families with their tickets for each ride and realizing that for some it required saving up for a few weeks and for others no price was enough to bring a little joy to their children. I didn't check on prices but I am sure it was easy to spend megabucks in a very few minutes!

We moved through the food trailers....oooh I loved the smell of the dough boys! We walked through a couple of different tents with a variety of items for sale, and then found a couple of other tents with some local stuff. It was nice but I felt that the "professional" fair folks outnumbered the local folks and took away some of the hometown feeling for me.

Did I mention that the Lobster Festival is located beside the harbor? Looking out at the harbor was truly a highlight with all of the boats - many different sizes and shapes including sailboats, yachts, and I believe a US Navy aircraft carrier, the brilliant blue sky, and the beautiful water. As we stood looking out we saw a boat that serves as a restaurant and bar when tied to the dock but we didn't go on board. Might be fun to come back another time.

Turning away from the water we came to Jesse Seafood's display of fish that had been caught in the area and to be honest, some were very ugly! I think one was a wolf fish or something like that. I believe they were eatable but after seeing what they looked like, I think I'll pass.

We stopped for a drink and a view overlooking the festival and the folks before ending our adventure. As I sat watching folks moving about completely unaware that we were watching them I reflected on the fact that God watches over us and we don't think that God sees us or we forget that God is ever present in our lives. Interesting perspective...would we do things differently if we could see God looking down on us? By that I mean would we try to get away with less and give away more of what God has given to us?

On a side note, I started the final Harry Potter book and to date it's been interesting...