Summer Visitors Leaving Pemaquid Point for Wicked Long Trip South

I was down the peninsula at Pemaquid Point this morning showing a couple of homes, putting an "Under Contract" sign up, dropping off some liquid refreshment in the fridge for a client who is getting in late, checking on a door at another listing when I saw hundreds of Monarch butterflies while at  40 Seawood Park, a listing I share with Anne Bourne. It was spectacular with this one bush covered with all sorts of brightly colored insects flitting from one flower to another. This picture doesn't begin to do the scene justice because despite what the guy at the Apple store will tell you IPhones are not every bit as good at taking pictures as my Canon G11. Besides that it is nearly impossible to focus on one of the little buggers because they are flying all over the place sucking up nectar so that they can FLY TO MEXICO. Strange but true. To step into my Cliff Claven shoes for a minute the Monarch butterfly will travel 2,500 miles making it the longest migration of any insect. From what I understand from a friend from New Harbor every year about this time the Monarch Butterflies congregate around Pemaquid Point before they launch themselves on their trip south. For those folks heading back to their dreary non-Maine existences that have a ground migration of several hours you should suck it up because a Monarch Butterfly takes more than two months to go from Pemaquid Point to whatever beach front resort they hole up in until their summer rental is ready for them again.

It really is amazing and if you have a chance you should head down to the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse area and see if the Monarchs are still gathering.

And on another note, just so no one gets the idea that my day is all about butterflies, beer deliveries and putting up "Under Contract" signs, I walked into this monster when I walked through a door as wasn't looking where I was going. I never knew spiders could make such a high pitched squeal when you walk into them but then again maybe it was me. I like spiders but only when they are in a documentary sucking the life out of some poor grasshopper. I don't think this guy is migrating anywhere because I could have sworn he or she was following me out to the car. But I was running and shrieking so who knows?

Our Newest Listing is a Movie Star (or Forget "Message in a Bottle" How About "The Seventh Day"?)

Maine has been the backdrop for a number of Hollywood movies. Who can forget such classics as "Casper the Friendly Ghost", "Graveyard Shift" and that near Oscar winner "The 12 Dogs of Christmas"? But long before Forrest Gump ran to the Marshall Point Lighthouse or Kevin Costner was moping around Shaw's Wharf with his "Message in a Bottle" there was "The Seventh Day". Not to be confused with "The Seventh Seal" (who knew a movie about a chess game could be so boring?) or even the "The Seventh Sign" (Please Demi, put a top on) but a 1922 silent movie starring Richard Barthelmess and directed by Henry King who came back to Maine 34 years later to film "Carousel" in Boothbay Harbor with Mrs. Partridge).

The Seventh Day is interesting only if you have a fondness for old wooden boats, New Harbor and John's Bay. Or if you like stories involving local folks getting mixed up in the shenanigans of rich people from away who have questionable morals and a fondness for captain's hats. But what I found really interesting about the movie was local scenery, including the fort,  the lighthouse and particularly the house in the movie at about 7:45 in.

This is the same house that Becky Brown and I have just listed in New Harbor at 8 Monument Lane. There have been some changes to the house since the 1922 movie but it is easily recognized as the same home. From the trim details above the windows to the stained glass window pattern in the double front door and the decorative moldings on the porch, much of the exterior has stayed the same. I have to admit that I have not watched all 6 of the 12 minute clips of the movie but I am working on it. The house also appears in the third clip a couple of times and because it is such a nice backdrop I am certain in the last 3 reels as well.

Feel free to contact me for more info.

Click here if you would like to see more pictures of 8 Monument Lane.