Exodus!!

Peaks Island has survived the annual Great Bugout Day. Every year about the third Saturday of August, the great exodus of summer visitors departs Peaks for their winter homes to get ready for school and all their Fall activities. Strange things occur when everyone wants to leave at once yet the car ferry only holds a maximum of twelve cars. The string of cars lined up to get on the ferry runs right up Welch Street around the corner down Island Avenue and usually winds up near the Plantes. Three to four hour waits are not uncommon so the downfront merchants have one of their best days of the Summer; lots and lots of hot dogs and ice cream cones are definitely consumed during the lengthy wait.

Yet, the mood is usually pretty festive, tempers are pretty well curbed and the last few hours spent on Peaks are peacefully passed awaiting one's "turn" to drive down the ramp and onto the ferry for the 20 minute run into Portland. Of course, by the end of the day, the ferry's crew is exhausted and have definite thousand yard stares. Some islanders sit on the wall on Welch Street waving fond goodbys eagerly looking forward to an evening of quiet, a lowering of electricity in the air and a return of the sound of crickets in the evening. Tides come in, tides go out; Peaks has survived another great Exodus!! I spent just enough time downfront to catch a few pics of this annual event; enjoy. I certainly did.