Lobster

Before we left on our Summer Sojourn, we had contacted a former co-worker in Maine who has been Lobstering since his retirement some 20 years ago. Jerry and JoAnn Walls had said, " Yes, by all means drop by." When we were ready to leave Canada and head West to Maine, we sent the Walls an email to arrange timing. They responded with an email that said, in effect, would we like to go out on their lobster boat and pull dinner, or drive over to Bar Harbor and site see. Holy Moly ! Go out on a lobster boat and catch dinner? YES!
Jerry and JoAnn kindly did take us out on their boat and we did pull traps for dinner. Rather, Jerry pulled them. Some of them are over 300 feet deep and weigh LOTS! (he uses a winch) The Walls have someting like 480 traps out and it takes them about 3 days to pull them all. After the 3rd day, they start all over. Jerry rises at 3 am and is out until about 3 in the afternoon. When he gets home, he is on call as an ambulance driver. Whoever said retirement was boring needs to spend a day with Jerry ! We brought 7 lobster home for dinner and had a feast that evening. The following day they sent us off with fresh lobster sandwiches. Jerry lobsters for about 6 months, then pulls his boat and traps for the winter. Boat side prices for lobster, when we were there, was about $2.90 a pound. Most restaurants in New England are charging up to $25 a pound for Lobster dinner. Jerry makes his own traps and floats in a really nice spacious work barn. Their home is Jerry's boy hood home that he has extensively remodeled and modernized. It is a very attractive and comfortable New England style home in Bass Harbor, Maine. Their daughters and their families live nearby so all in all, retirement for them is great. Click here for photos of the adventure.