The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Savage Oakes Winery near Union, Maine

We left Acadia National Park around 7:00 am yesterday and drove up the town of Ellsworth where we stopped at the Home Depot parking lot where they have free wi-fi. Then went across the road to Walmart and did some shopping.

We needed a new brush to clean the grill on the BBQ so I went into Home Depot to get one. The cashier says "This is Maine, just leave the lid of your BBQ up and the bears will clean you grill overnight."!

We travelled highway #1 around and down to Camden, Maine. Never been to this area before, and didn't expect it to be so busy and touristy. But of course it was a beautiful summer Saturday in July, so I guess busy
was to be expected!

Beautiful new bridge built beside the old one at Bucksport, Maine

We didn't stop in any of the little towns along the way because it would have been difficult to find parking even for a car, let alone the motorhome. But we did stop in a grocery store parking lot just outside of Camden and we left Sherman there and took the car for a drive. I had seen a nearby ski hill where we may have been able to overnight in their parking lot, but when we got there they had a sign saying the area was only open during certain hours and it didn't include overnight. Oh well. So we continued on to a Harvest Hosts Winery to see if we could stay there. I had sent them an email in the morning and hadn't heard back from them, although I hadn't given them very much notice.

We found the Savage Oakes Winery with no problem. Sandra welcomed us and explained that she is looking after the place for her brother who is away for a short time, and that's why we wouldn't have got a response to our email. But she was aware of the Harvest Hosts program, and showed us where we could park. So we went back and got Sherman, and brought him up here.

The tasting room at the Savage Oakes Winery

They have a pretty garden and trail to the vineyard

The grapes are starting to grow!

The vineyard

When we stay at a Harvest Hosts vineyard or orchard, we try and buy one of their products in exchange for being able to overnight with our motorhome. Not always though, and only if we want or need and like their product or pricing. This time, after taste testing quite a few different wines, we decided on a bottle of White Rose for $13.79. When making up our expenses for the month, we put half of the cost towards the "alcohol" column, and half towards the "overnight expenses" column.

Our nice bottle of wine, and nice scenery out our front window!

Sherman, and the evening sky at Savage Oakes Winery

Yesterday's drive, 93 miles (149 kms)

9 comments:

  1. Another beautiful picture at the top of the blog! Didn't know any Home Depot offered free WIFI. The vineyard looks lovely. I like the idea of breaking down the cost of the wine...very clever!

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  2. Sounds like another great day on the road. At those prices camping in a winery every night would be very cost efficient and certainly having you sample a lot on wines.

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  3. Must admit, never thought about that technique for grill cleaning. We love to park at the wineries but we're not wine drinkers. Thank goodness we have friends who are. We found the northeast roads to be busy no matter where we were. And the streets through the towns very narrow. Makes for some exciting times.

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  4. Truman said... I lived in Union for 27 years next door to where the winery is. Still have 16 acres a stones throw from the winery. Anybody want to start a vineyard and give them a little friendly competition? Almost ran into the arms of a bear when I was 6 years old. We know and knew all the Savages and they are top cream of the crop.

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  5. Not a bad deal, wine and a nice place to park.

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  6. We enjoy visiting real wineries. This one looks very nice:)

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  7. Cheers!..hope the wine was tasty no matter how you itemize it!!

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  8. FULL-TIMERS...OCT. 17, 2009...We found out that Home Depot had free WIFI when we were travelling through the States in March making our way up to Nova Scotia. Always nice to know that it is available.

    George and Suzie...It's always nice to sample the many varieties of wine and then sit back and relax and know you don't have to drive.

    Jim and Sandie...Your friends are lucky! Even the back roads are busy here. The narrow streets are nothing here as we are used to the narrow ones in Mexico, these don't come close.

    Truman...It is a lovely area around Union and Camden, too bad it is such a busy area. Talking to Sandra and her mother, I can see why you say they are the cream of the crop, very nice and friendly people.

    Kenny and Angela...We thought so.

    WBY...Thanks.

    Chuck and Anneke...If you have time you should try and stop by at this winery. Very nice people and yummy wines.

    Sue and Doug...It was!

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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