Category: Campground Life

I can’t believe my summer here is almost over! (Well, except Fiber College of course.) I’ve met so many new people, created new memories and made connections I’ll never forget. Summer’s almost over but we haven’t slowed down.  I set up an entire display window on Monday for Fiber College at the Belfast Chamber of Commerce. It came out super cool and I really enjoyed doing it. I volunteered to help with marketing this year and I’m happy to say that our numbers are up…although I participated on the Facebook page, my focus has been on Instagram…check out @fibercollege to see our pictures!

 

This past week I had the chance to be the artist in residence at the campground and it was so cool. I met so many kids from all over the world! I did quite a bit, from paintings to mini aquariums to sun catchers. I think I enjoyed my time more than the people who participated did! The weather was great all week so we sat outside and did artwork and crafting. It was really fun.

 

I also did quite a few beach walks this week! We found lot’s of invasive green crabs, urchins and hermit crabs. There is a type of seaweed that tastes like pickles, called Bladderwrack! There’s actually a lot of edible seaweed in Maine and it’s always fun to point it out. We also found a jellyfish this week! It was washed up on the beach but it was still super cool to see. I’ve been coming to this campground since I was 10 and I’m still finding new things everyday.

 

The eclipse was this week as well! We had about 60% coverage here in Maine. The eclipse that’s happening in 2019 however, is apparently suppose to have 100% coverage here in Maine. In the middle of the eclipse Astrig and I were walking and we happened to stumble upon a ‘luna moth’ caterpillar, which was an odd sign. Hopefully it brings us good luck!

To top off an amazing week, we got a baby goat! His name is Binx- like the genius cat from Hocus Pocus. He’s so sweet and he follows Lolli around everywhere… I am sure going to miss it here!

 

 

 

 

 

As I sit on the sun deck of the office writing this post, I can’t help but think about school starting again in just about a month. I signed a lease on an amazing home overlooking the bay. t’s less than a five minute drive to UNE, it’s a little red cottage, and I couldn’t be more excited. The best part about it is it has over flowing gardens. I’ve always been drawn to the soil and I can’t wait to watch the foliage change as the year goes on. At Searsport, there’s still new foliage and plants growing in everyday. I was gardening yesterday and a sweet bumblebee stopped by and said hello 🙂

As always, there’s been live music just about every night this week. Emily & I are still in the process of mastering our ukulele’s but getting a feel for the music really helps. Sometime’s we’ll jump in and if we ever get lost with all of the new chords, all we do is play a C cord and we sound -almost- like we belong. It’s really fun and I love interacting with the people who stay here!

On my off day, I’ve been exploring around Belfast and beyond. There’s always so much to do,

What a day it is today- the degrees are slowly nudging into the 80’s, with a cool breeze and a clear sky. I think my favorite part about living on the ocean is the smell- I have always loved the smell of the ocean (perhaps that’s why I’m a marine biologist). The past few days have been great- we got new t-shirts! Don’t worry, there are some for sale in the store so you can snag your own.

I am also officially the mother of two (cats) now! Emily and I were hiking in the middle of the woods, and we heard meowing. We were really confused, but kept walking. Eventually, this tiny white kitten popped out of the bushes- we decided to keep her and name her Pia. I have another child named Blaze, who is 17, and the biggest Maine Coon cat you’ll meet. They love each other which is awesome and Pia walks around the campground on a leash like a dog, so when you see us come say hello! Pia met Trevor yesterday and loves him.

The other day I got to go practice my screen printing with Susan Tobey-White. She’s actually offering some classes at fiber college this year! She’ll also be doing rolling classes, and her assistant will be on of my close friends, Allysun. Susan focuses on printing with everyday objects and working with texture- it was a really cool day off.

I also love doing the lobster bakes- serving has always been something I’m passionate about- along with customer service! I love talking to and mingling with the guests. This may be a little weird, but I also love the colors at the lobster bake. The food is right from the bay, or our gardens, so it’s super fresh, and the colors really pop.

 

Can’t believe I only have a month and a half left here, but I’m focusing on enjoying the moments now!
See you soon 🙂
xo, Amber

 

 

 

 

 

Hello all! It’s been a great few weeks, even through all the stress. Our old computer system was hacked, so we switched everything over to a new site- on the fourth of July no less. We were all bored anyways- we wanted a challenge 😉

We were in the fourth of July parade, which was really fun. I never thought children were scary though. Not until I had a sack of candy, at least. I can’t tell you how many lollipops I threw that day, but every time I made eye contact I threw a handful. It was a great time, and seeing the community come together was a meaningful experience.

Lately I’ve been figuring out how to operate the new computer system, but when I’m not doing that I’m either mowing, weed whacking or hauling brush. I love being outside and being active, so any chore outside is great to me.

The weather has been great- the sweet peas, tomatoes and cherries are growing through the roof. The gardens are so beautiful, the bees are buzzing and making honey, and I’m so happy here! It’s really a special place. We had bubble blowing and hula hooping the other night- I’ve been practicing some new hooping tricks (not great at them) so if you see me around feel free to call me out on them! Emily and I also got to go to a Celtic music festival, I’m 25% Gaelic, so I knew some of the songs they were preforming.
I hope everyone has a great week. 🙂

xo,
Amber

Hey everyone, it’s been an interesting few weeks.

The weather has slowly progressed from ‘meh’ to ‘eh’ to ‘wow!’ It’s really starting to feel like summer here, and I love it. Although I’ve lived in Maine my entire life, the hotter the weather the better for me. I went kayaking last week when the weather hit the 90’s, and it was lovely. I hung around the ocean that day, and all of the sea urchins are starting to venture in.

My biggest project has been our new goat/sheep village- I want to call it Shearsport Shores. Emily and I were given five colors, blue, pink, green, yellow and orange- and were asked to combine them in such a way that they complimented and stood out from our huge billboards. We have a general store, a watch tower, two town houses, and a church! So far, Trevor and Ester have taken oven the church we have- not together of course. As soon as Trevor steps out, Ester runs right in! Lollie is enjoying the smallest house we have, and Maggie and Millie love the watch tower.

Another huge project we had was to tear our Store At The Shores apart. We ripped everything out and reorganized the entire store. On the plus side, it really came together beautifully and I’m excited to sell some lovely things very soon. We got these beautiful handmade ornaments in the store as well, they really stand out.

 

I think my favorite thing about working the store is asking the question “How did you hear about us?’ I was on the phone making a reservation yesterday and I guess Searsport Shores is a huge hit in the Smoky Mountains… how neat!

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Xo,

Amber

We are currently fortunate to have a very experienced musician, Jeff Weinberger, coming in and teaching the entire staff to play ukulele. We had our first lesson on Thursday, and through all the laughter and strumming, we actually made serious progress. We learned multiple chords, and put them all together to play the song “Jambalaya” by Hank Williams.

Playing our first tune

Hey everyone! My name is Emily Corrales. I just graduated from the University of New England with a degree in Sports Management and minors in Business and Coaching.  So what brings me here you ask? A new adventure in an unfamiliar place, I would say! I am a recent graduate originally hailing from Connecticut, and it is safe to say I had never been up this far into Maine (I even thought this was the top of the state, I was wrong. Apparently, there’s still five more hours to go…). So, when this opportunity arose I jumped on it immediately. I will be doing a little bit of everything this summer while enjoying my stay here at Searsport Shores. From gardening, woodworking, grounds keeping, to marketing for Searsport and all the events we host –  keeping busy is not a concern of mine at al

l.

My first few weeks have been neat. I’ve learned to drive every vehicle we have on the campground. From the tractors to golf carts to a mini manual tractor/car mix, I have loved every second.

Learning about new things has always interested me, and I am learning new things every day. I get to do a lot of agricultural work while I’m here, which is always nice. I love being outside and I love to garden, so Searsport is a great fit for me. These past few weeks, in between rain showers, I have been planting hundreds of plants all over the campground. Norma, who is our head gardener, has already taught me so much. For example, when you plant potatoes, you want two or three ‘eyes’, or sprouts, off the potato’s so they can clone themselves. The rest you cut off and plant somewhere else. For corn, you must plant it in rows of four so it will be able to pollinate itself. I enjoy learning about facts like these to supplement my future.

Currently, I am working on a big mermaid display in the store. The sections we are (attempting) to have in the store this year, are ‘Maine Made’, ‘Vintage Camping’, and ‘Mermaids’. We brought in a 10-foot piece of driftwood (which is literally twice my size) and we are trying to turn it into a mermaid haven. It’s coming out pretty good, the hardest part was getting it inside…

I’m looking forward to meeting new people this summer as well. Please feel free to say hello to me the next time I see you around the campground!

Your friendly staff member,

Emily