The Westbrook ice disk
What’s your opinion? Does the ice disk indicate aliens in Westbrook or a natural, earth-bound phenomenon?
We decided to head over to Westbrook to have a look at this huge, round, rotating hunk of ice in the Presumpscot River. Never having been to downtown Westbrook before we hauled out Samantha-Michelle, our trusty GPS. (Although how trustworthy Samantha-Michelle really is doesn’t bear close scrutiny. There was that time when we were up around 7000 feet climbing out of Death Valley and ‘she’ kept telling us to ‘make a left’ - right off the mountain road! So, we now take her advice with a grain of salt.)
Downtown Westbrook on a freezing cold Saturday in January was a hopping place to be! I’d hazard a guess there were at least 100 people on the riverwalk. We took a few photos from about 20 feet above the river until we spied a parking garage on the other side where we figured we’d get a bird’s eye view of the ice disk.
Visitors from around the world -
The riverwalk has a pedestrian bridge to take you across the Presumpscot. We meandered, quickly, - remember it was freezing!- and found we were not the only people with the same idea. It was a regular little party on the roof deck. People on Facetime showing the phenomenon to family in Europe, a guy with a drone buzzing all over taking videos, and little kids yelling, ‘I can’t see! Pick me up!’ Yes, it was a regular family outing-picnic-circus kind of day.
We walked around a little while longer, then decided it was way too cold! That’s the difference between being more in a small town with lots of open spaces and a ‘city’ with concrete buildings that pull the heat out of everything and funnel the cold right at you. Brrr!
End of the ice disk?
Soon after our visit, the temps dropped even further and the slowly-rotating circle froze to the far bank of the river. Then we got 2″ of rain and temps in the 50’s and the edges started to crumble. What had once been an almost perfectly circular disc 100 yds across started to yield to the current of the river and fall apart.
For a little while the river ducks were using the ice disk as their own private merry-go-round! Winter fun for all in Maine.
Looking to come to Maine in any season? Check our availability here. See you soon!