Red, White, and Blue, and White

I survived a second night in Castine without being rudely awakened at 3:00 am by Kathy Bates taking a ball peen hammer to my ankles.  So I think I've gotten over my Stephen King phobia, at least for the time being.

Yesterday was Independence Day, and Castine pulls out all the stops for such an important occasion.  American flags everywhere, homes draped in bunting, and recordings of John Philip Sousa marches playing at levels that I'm sure exceeded OSHA safety standards. 

The town common was awash in red, white, and blue -- mostly white.  According to the Census Bureau, the population of Castine is 97.1% white.  The little bit of color in town is mostly attributable to the Maine Maritime Academy, which brings in students, faculty, and staff from around the world.  So amongst the sea of white folks, there were occasional little bursts of melatonin.  And no one seemed to notice or care.  Everyone was just having bushels of fun.
 
The morning started with a children's costume parade, followed by rides around town on the volunteer fire department's fire truck.  After that, the real fun began.  On the town common there were sack races:

A tort waiting to happen.



Tug of war:

Heave ho!



And, most fun of all, a pie eating contest:

The kid on the right must be a Yankees fan.

Although I must admit, I was a bit disappointed that competitors could choose between apple and blueberry pies.  The adults almost uniformly opted for apple, while the kids dove head first into blueberry.  Clearly the children around here are all gifted, while the adults have much to learn.

After a morning crammed full of patriotica, we did what any other self-respecting Castinian would do on a nice, sunny day.  We went sailing.  Jenny, Emily, Russ, Dick, Charlie-the-dog and I took turns on the Sunfish, tooling around the bay.
 

Emily and Jenny catching the breeze.

And, remarkably, I managed to not get sea sick despite having a belly full of bratwurst and cheesie poofs.  It's an Independence Day Miracle!

The afternoon winded down with mint juleps, made with mint from Marjorie's garden (an homage to my southern roots), and gin and tonics since we were, after all, in New England.  Dinner followed -- steak and lobster with all sorts of delicious salads and sides courtesy of Dick, Marjorie, and Andy.  Outstanding. 

As the sun set, the fog rolled back in.  And, as a result, the town fireworks display was postponed until next Friday.  So we had to entertain ourselves with a bunch of sparklers, while we all sang the Marseilleise.  I'm glad to report that there were no injuries.  Which is remarkable considering how tanked we all were.

And now Team Grigsby is off to Portland for the next stop on our adventure tour.  Many many thanks to our gracious hosts in Castine, Dick and Marjorie.  You're the best!