The breakwater

A walk to Rockland Light is one of the good things to do around here, especially when it's hot. It's nearly two miles round-trip, with all the sea breezes you'd want, and the dog, although she hates jumping the gaps between the rocks, doesn't complain too much and keeps a reasonable pace for once.

The breakwater also makes the harbor pretty safe for large boats - the windjammers, the Coast Guard, the trawlers, the Navy warship open to visitors during the Lobster Festival. Now we hear that Rockland is getting the ultimate touristical compliment. The big cruise ships are coming. There have been some little ones here and there, the 50- or 100-passenger teenagers sailing the coast from Bangor, but in the fall of 09 we're supposed to get the kind that, if the ship were full and all the passengers came ashore at once, would increase Rockland's population by nearly 50%. What will Rockland do with 3,000 tourists? Disembarking from a ship owned by Royal Caribbean? Which, if the town fathers are really nice to them, might deign to dock overnight?

I'm definitely going to track these itineraries. Maybe even get a glimpse of the monsters from the safety of my deck.