2010 Lighthouse Day Scheduled

Following the great success of last year, the 2010 Lighthouse Day has been scheduled for Saturday, September 18, 2010.

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse

The State of Maine, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the American Lighthouse Foundation have again banded together to organize the second annual Maine Lighthouse Day. This year 25 of Maine's wonderful lighthouses will be open for visits by the public, including some that are not normally open for public viewing.

You'll have to transport yourself to the lighthouses, but once there you'll have a rare opportunity to view these navigational wonders, up close and personal!

In celebration of last year's first Lighthouse Day, we prepared a map of Maine Lighthouses, which is provided below, so you can find your way to the lighthouses you would like to visit.


View Maine Lighthouses - Brewster House Bed & Breakfast in a larger map

Our Lighthouse Tour package, our Sail into the Sunset package, and our Fall Foliage Surf & Turf package are perfect for lighthouse lovers, too!

C'mon to Maine and visit some of our greatest treasures!

Let's Look at Lighthouses: Cape Elizabeth Light

Not far from their more photographed cousin at Portland Head stand the the two towers known as Cape Elizabeth Lights, or Two Lights. They were first erected in 1828 as rubblestone towers, then replaced in 1873 by cast-iron towers.

The towers have different light patterns, one fixed and one flashing, so they can easily be recognized from the sea, and the two lights form a range, allowing a vessel to know its position precisely when the lights are aligned. The west tower was discontinued in 1924, while the east tower still functions as an aid to navigation, marking the entrance to Casco Bay.

The U.S. Coast Guard website contains historical information on lighthouses and relates the following events which took place at Cape Elizabeth in 1885:

One of the most thrilling episodes in the history of the lighthouse occurred on January 28, 1885, when Keeper Marcus A. Hanna saved two crew members of the schooner Australia which had grounded on the ledge near the fog signal station. The two men had taken to the rigging and were coated with ice, unable to move. The captain was drowned as a huge comber washed the deck. Keeper Hanna, securing a heavy iron weight to the end of a stout line, attempted time and again to reach the men with it. Suddenly a towering wave struck the schooner and smashed her against the rocks, putting her on her beam ends.

Keeper Hanna again threw his line and watched it land on the schooner. One of the seamen managed to reach it and bent it around his waist. Then he jumped into the sea and the keeper, with great effort, pulled him up over the rocky ledge. The keeper now heaved the line a second time and finally it reached the second seaman who wound it around his icy body. Then he too jumped into the ocean. Just as the keeper’s strength was exhausted in trying to haul ashore the second man, help came in the shape of the keeper’s assistant and two neighbors, who helped haul the man to safety.

The present light is 67 feet above ground, and 129 feet above the water. Its beam is visible for 17 miles.

The keeper's  house at Two Lights is privately owned. The owners have enlarged the house and added other features, so it no longer appears as it did when being used to house the lighthouse keeper and his family.

Near the east tower is a well-known lobster shack, which makes the Cape Elizabeth lights a delightful place to visit.

Let's Look at Lighthouses: Marshall Point Lighthouse

The charming village of Port Clyde is a busy lobstering community, near the tip of the St. George peninsula, and has access to both Muscongus Bay and Penobscot Bay.

The lighthouse was originally constructed in 1832, to guide mariners into and out of Port Clyde harbor. The present 31 foot tower was built in 1857. The "new" keepers quarters were built in 1895, after fire destroyed the original keepers' house.

Despite being located at the entrance to a harbor, rather than in a major shipping channel, Marshall Point lighthouse has seen its share of maritime disasters. In 1886 a steamer was wrecked on a nearby ledge, but all passengers and crew safely escaped. In the 1920's another steamer struck the ledge, and the crew attempted to escape in a small boat. The boat capsized, and all were lost. Ironically, they would have been saved if they had remained aboard the steamer, as it did not sink.

Marshall Point lighthouse was electrified in 1935, and automated in 1971. The ground floor of the keepers house now contains the Marshall Point lighthouse museum.

Although the light was automated, and there was no need for a traditional lighthouse keeper, Thomas and Lee Ann Szelog applied to live as tenants on the second floor of the keepers house, and did reside there for 14 years, from 1989 to 2002. They published a photographic journal of their time at Marshall Point as Our Point of View.

Many may recognize Marshall Point lighthouse from the film, Forrest Gump, as it was the lighthouse where actor Tom Hanks ended his cross-country run. A photo of Hanks hangs in the lighthouse museum.

Recipe: Bananas Foster French Toast

Ruth is always looking for new recipes and making changes (adjustments?) to existing recipes. A while back she was on a croissant French toast track - trying a variety of croissant French toasts, similar to our tried-and-true Strawberry Croissant French Toast, and she came across her current favorite (repeat guests will know that Ruth's favorites come and go, but they're always wonderful!).

These are also a favorite with the guests, so give them a try, and let us know how you like them!

Bananas Foster French Toast

4 Servings (can be doubled/tripled, easily)

2 large eggs
1/2 C whole milk (can use 1/2 & 1/2)
1/4 t (or more, to taste) cinnamon (we like a lot!)
1 t vanilla extract

4 large croissants, cut in half

3 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 T dark rum (or 1/2 t rum extract)
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C chopped pecans
1 1/2 C bananas, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

Batter:
In a shallow dish, whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla.

In a large skillet or griddle, melt some butter over medium-high heat. Dip
croissant halves in egg mixture to coat both sides. Using a fork, lift
croissant from custard and let excess drip off a little. Place croissant
halves in hot skillet/griddle. Cook 2-3 min. per side or until lightly
browned. (you can keep them warm in 350 deg. oven, but they will deflate a
little if left too long)

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, stir together butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, dark rum, cinnamon and pecans. Stir occasionally and when mixture is syrupy, toss in fruit just till heated through, about a minute or so. Spoon over French toast and garnish with powdered sugar and a few pieces of banana and dollop of whipped cream.

Drum roll please....

Maybe the drum roll is a bit much, but we're pretty excited to have seen the final touches put on our fireplaces for three of our queen guest rooms this week!

As past guests will know, none of our rooms had fireplaces when we purchased Brewster House. In the summer months that is only rarely an issue (but they still make nice, romantic, additions to the decor!), but in the autumn, winter or spring, they are practically a necessity.

We talked to different fireplace vendors and found a fireplace model that was especially thin (front to back) so it wouldn't take up too much room in the guest rooms. We also found that, to avoid cutting the baseboard heating supply, we would need custom mantels to house the fireplaces. We talked to a friend who is also a furniture maker, Paul Baines of Paul Baines Fine Woodworking, and we began discussing the options. One concern we had was that, with a new mantel and fireplace, the room could be crowded. Paul came up with the idea of incorporating an armoire and dresser drawer into the mantels. Due to space considerations, each of the three rooms ended up with a different configuration, but this is the basic idea we decided to use.

We ordered the fireplaces and Paul took measurements, met with the fireplace vendor and got the manufacturer's specifications. Then he went to work. Meanwhile we contacted the fire marshal to be sure everything would be done correctly, and lined up the installation of new gas lines (propane, actually) and connections to the fireplaces.

Nothing ever goes entirely smoothly, and we found that the fireplaces did not come with some parts we thought were integral to their operation (a way to turn them on and off!) and appearance (non-combustible decorative material to cover the spaces between the fireplace and mantel). We forged ahead, and with Paul's help on some of this, got the gaps filled and the remote controls installed.

Paul's workmanship is fantastic, and we can't recommend him highly enough. Even with the fireplaces "not quite" finished, guests have been thrilled by the addition of them to their rooms.

We've taken some initial photos, and will probaby be posting more before long, but the photos accompanying this article give at least a glimpse of the new fireplaces.

By the way, as you'll notice from some of the photos, we've also completed naming the rooms after Maine lighthouses, so there are canvases of photos of the appropriate lighthouse in each room - over the fireplace, when possible.