Sandra and Bob Jackson got married on June 24 of last year, and came to Boothbay Harbor for their honeymoon.

When they arrived, they were pleasantly surprised to find the town packed full of happy people, the harbor full of boats of all shapes and sizes, and a band playing at the Whale Park. They didn’t know the town was in the throes of the annual Windjammer Days.

Now the Jacksons are planning for their first anniversary: A week-long stay in the harbor during the 2018 Windjammer Days celebration.

Bill Bailey, who’s in charge of the musical entertainment for Windjammer Days, met the Jacksons at the Whale Park during one of the concerts last year. They were dancing to the live band. “When there was a note of music being played, they were there,” he said. “Depending on the weather and whatever was going on around town, the crowd would ebb and flow, but these guys were always there. And I was always there because I was supposed to be there,” he said with a laugh.

Bailey introduced himself, and the three became fast friends. “When we had to move tables they jumped up and helped.”

Bob Jackson said he and Sandra love music, and dancing to it. During Windjammer Days, different bands play daily, and sometimes twice a day.

Mark and Dianne Gimbel, secretary and treasurer of Windjammer Days, met the couple one day when they went down to check on things at the Whale Park. Bailey said he invited them to meet the couple because he thought they were “the epitome of what we wanted to have for people at Windjammer Days. They just came into town, not from here, and they were enjoying every minute of their time here.”

“Bill told me about them, and introduced me to them,” Mark Gimbel said. “I thought, 'Wow, this is awesome.'”

Shortly after meeting them, Gimbel invited them to return this year, to spend a week-long first anniversary enjoying Windjammer Days.

Bob Jackson said he and his new wife had already been talking about coming back this year.

Last summer, they stayed at the Boothbay Harbor Inn. They left after a few days and drove to Round Pond to visit Sandra’s grandparents’ grave. When they got back in the car, they decided they weren’t ready to go back to Porter yet. They came back to Boothbay Harbor and got a room at Cap’n Fish Inn, “by the skin of our teeth,” Sandra said.

This year they will be staying at Fisherman’s Wharf from June 24 through June 30. They’ll have a much shorter walk to the Whale Park for music and dancing.

Gimbel said he’ll be securing a spot for a sail on one of the windjammers for the couple, most likely the Heritage, on Wednesday, the day the windjammers sail into the harbor. Neither of the Jacksons has been on a windjammer, and they said they’re excited about the prospect. "We’d love to go on one of the schooners,” Jackson said. “We have a pontoon boat for a lake – not exactly a windjammer.”

Jackson said they are looking at their new life together as a second chance. He was with his first wife for 50 years, and Sandra was married for 48. They belong to the same church, and they knew each other, but neither thought they would marry again.  Their spouses died within a month of each other, in 2015, and they started carpooling to a bereavement support group. “We’d go out for coffee together.”

“I guess the Lord had a different plan,” he said. “Yeah, it started with a cup of coffee, then dinner. We got to know each other and found we had a lot in common. We loved being with each other, and the next thing we knew we were making plans. And now here we are in Boothbay Harbor!

“This is going to be a great experience. What fun. This is a second life for us.”

Shortly after Jackson’s wife died, he and his dog took a cross-country trip in an RV to visit his siblings in Washington state. “It was a 7,000-mile trip with just me and my dog.” Last year, he went back on a train, with his new wife, to introduce her to his brothers and sisters.

The couple will be eating all the lobster they can get their hands on, including one when they are guests for the annual Cabbage Island Clambake, thanks again to Mark Gimbel.

Bailey said around two thirds of the musical groups will be from the area this year, and you can bet the Jacksons will be dancing on their one-year anniversary.

“We had so much fun last year,” Bob Jackson said, “Meeting people, and enjoying the music, the pirates coming in and Sandra getting hugs from them.”

“We’re so thankful we were invited back,” Sandra said.

Bob Jackson is pastor of the Riverside United Methodist Church in Porter.