Down the coast to Belfast

August 8

Down the coast to Belfast

We went down the coast to Belfast a lazy little sea side community.  On the way up to Bass Harbor, we past it up on a bypass. 

This little town was settled before the US had a constitution in 1773.  Since this was a rainy day, we had the streets to ourselves until the sun came out, then people came out from everywhere. 

There is a shoe store there that claims to be the oldest shoe store in the US.  It dates back to the 1830’s.  Inside were a lot of the old advertising posters.  Several I recognized from my Grandfather’s store in Cookeville (Maddux and Proffitt).   I spoke with the owner and we talked of some of the

old brands of shoes that both stores carried.  While there, Jan found a pair of warm house shoes.  The owner told me that in the early years of the store the original owner sold firewood, honey and all sorts of products to make it through the early years.

We learned that there was a harbor walk that went from one end of the harbor to the other and then joined a “rail trail”. 

This was music to our ears, so off we go to find and walk along it.  Before we could have the energy to walk, we had to stop at a local restaurant for sustenance. Since everything on this trip is seafood, we ordered a clam and andouille

“po boy” sandwich and we each had a cup of clam chowder.  I can get used to this kind of eating.
The walk was beautiful going through the dock area.  There were so many beautiful ships. 

In Tennessee we have cars on blocks up here they have boats.