First Saturday: Sea Kayaking and L.L. Bean

After swinging into the weekend Friday night with a Portland Sea Dogs baseball game, we rolled out Saturday morning to visit Freeport, Maine. Our group split into two, with half of the students dropped off to peruse the L.L. Bean flagship store and Freeport Village Station's outlets and boutiques. The rest of us embarked on our sea kayaking adventure at the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery School. 

At the center, we were outfitted with appropriate footwear and colorful life jackets, before receiving a crash course in Kayaking 101. Surviving flailing paddles and students chest-bumping in their padded vests, we trouped down to the dock where we paired off, climbed into our kayaks, and were set free by our two wonderful guides. The steep learning curve of kayaking was manifested by several sessions of bumper boats as those of us in rear seats learned to work our rudders with foot pedals. Getting the hang of it, we collectively set off for an island where as promised by our guides, we soon saw several seals inspecting our crew with cautious curiosity.

One particular seal was much larger than the harbor seals who frequent the area and the guides tentatively identified him as a grey seal due to his size and light-colored patches. The guides instructed us to circumnavigate the island, where they pointed out several bald eagles and their secluded nest. Having rounded the island, we then idled about the area where the seals like to fish and were rewarded with inquisitive whiskered visitors swimming near our kayaks.

Several students had mentioned swimming, and after returning to the dock, the guides told them they could take a quick dip. Despite the overcast skies and chilly water, six students splashed into the ocean for a brief swim. Back at the discovery center, we doused our shoes and life jackets in a disinfectant solution while thinking--with both amusement and sympathy--of the second group of students, who would shortly don our cold and wet gear. 

The bus then shuttled us to Freeport, where we indulged in some retail therapy and checked out the L.L. Bean campus while waiting for our peers to return from kayaking. Reunited, we dispensed dinner stipends to the soundtrack of a sound check for L.L. Bean's summer concert series. The students set off in pursuit of Maine's signature lobster roll at one of the many food carts on the scene. Two hours later, we gathered at Coffee By Design to board the bus back to campus and our nightly routine of ping pong, pool, and card games.