It has been a wonderful couple of days with our friends Adam and Susan. Yesterday we took in the Maine Maritime Museum, which is a great institution in Bath, near the famous Bath Iron Works.

Emma waits her turn to pilot a tugboat. Click for larger.

The museum is filled with great maritime history, including model ships, paintings, fishing equipment, cargo, and interpretive exhibits for the kids. Outside, there are sheds and barns with the historic equipment used to make wooden ships.

There’s also a great wooden fishing schooner on site which was built in 1942, although it seems much older in design. You can go aboard and check out everything up close, which is cool.

Not actual ships, but a painting! Click for larger.

Today the weather is a bit better than yesterday, but still cloudy most of the day. We’ve been out walking and talking about everything in the world.

Adam and Emma. Click for larger.

Sign of the week! Spotted at the Maritime Museum

Today a neighbor (a former schoolteacher) came by and gave us a homeschool project for Emma. Irish Moss (a type of seaweed) is commonly found on the beaches here. It’s the source of the food ingredient carrageenan. We collected a cup of Irish Moss, cleaned it, and boiled it with milk, sugar, and chocolate.

Irish Moss ready for boiling. Click for larger.

The Irish Moss releases carageenan, which thickens the mixture and makes a sort of pudding. (You strain the Irish Moss out after boiling, before things thicken up.) Actually, it came out more like chocolate gelatin, so the mouthfeel is peculiar, but it tastes just fine. Emma likes it. I think we used too much Moss relative to the milk.

Now we are all in the cottage, and Susan is helping Eleanor finalize what promises to be a spectacular dinner. Here’s the menu:

Vietnamese salad rolls with shrimp
Tom Kha (Thai coconut soup — sorry Brad)
Salad with Asian greens, plums, mandarin oranges, cucumber, snow peas
Rice
Stir fry noodles (tofu, snow peas, black bean sauce, ginger scallion, coconut water, sliced chicken, lime juice, garlic)

On the side: A dipping sauce made of satay sauce, peanut butter, coconut milk, ginger, black tea, mint, scallion, lime juice, and red curry paste

So that’s our Labor Day 2006. No barbecue this year. Your results may vary. 😉

The Luhr family examining periwinkles on Bailey Island.