This morning we took the dogs to the beach in Shorey Cove. It was so interesting to see the make up of the beach. In addition to the sand, which is not the magnificent sand of Great Beach, there are lots of shells and lots of small rocks. The rocks are primarily different pieces of colored granite, with grays, and whites, and pinks, and some a smorgasbord of each. There are shells you don't see here in Florida, either! There are lots of blue mussels, and where we landed, I thought someone had been eating barbque ribs, until I realized they were razor clams. At low tide, there were seaweed covered rocks and tidepools in one section. We saw one huge piece of kelp washed up on the beach, maybe ten feet long, and a foot and a half across.
We took the dogs back to the boat, and after we'd rinsed them off, went ashore to the Gardner Family Homestead, thanks to our invitation the afternoon before.
We were greeted by Chris, his wife, and daughters, and were invited to tour the old house of Captain Gardner. It is definitely a sea captains house! His bedroom overlooks Shorey Cove. I lost count of the numerous other bedrooms! I laughed about hoping all this kids and grandkids would visit at the same time... There is a heavy rope for a handrail on many of the stairs. There is an old bread oven off the main fireplace in the dining room.
Eve offered me a blueberry muffin that I'd smelled the day before entering the cove, and found it tasted as good as they smelled!
The island has been passed to Captain Gardner's heirs, and the Monk family, many of whom enjoy time at the property during the summer, in the multiple houses on the property.
We walked up to the stables, as the girls showed me their favorite horses, and looked at a little of young piglets, buried up in the hay, contentedly munching away. In the stables, Chris showed us the carriages, one of which they still use on occasion. There are cows, and sheep around as well, too.
We walked over the cut lane to view the Chandler Bay side of the island while learning a little bit about the history of the island.
The hillside is covered in wild blueberries, which grow low to the ground, less than knee height. The blueberries are in full season, and we plucked blueberries for a little bit before returning to the dock, where we'd tied up the dinghy. There is an old railway running beside the dock, with a huge anchor holding the rails in place. I saw evidence of the hydraulic system that they now use to power to old machinery. Cliff would have loved it!
We spent the day relaxing, and took the dinghy to the east side of the island during late afternoon. It was so windy out of the southwest, that we wouldn't circumnavigate the island, but still got wet on our return trip.
It was so nice to have such a snug anchorage for the night!
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