ANOTHER DAY IN ACADIA

I am REALLY slow in updating our blog. This entry is about the day we had enjoying Acadia and western Mt. Desert Island in JUNE !

My excuse is that we are traveling too much to write my travel blog. OK - that's the excuse. The reason is I'm a slug. Lazy is the word.

But we really did have a marvelous day exploring more of Mt. Desert Island both in the park and outside of it.

We started in Southwest Harbor, a quaint tiny town with a lot more emphasis on working boatmen than tourists.

Then a hike around Wonderland Trail. THIS is what the Maine coast is all about. Quiet, beautiful waterfront, no people.

Didn't see much wildlife but the plants made up for it.

Even the trees were blooming.

 On to Ship Harbor Trail.  Again, great views of the surf.

 The next stop was Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

Built in 1858, automated in 1974. A sign said that there was a trail to where you could get a better picture so ......

It only stands 56' above high tide but that is enough to guide boats into Bass Harbor.

Our new found friends mentioned in the last blog suggested Thurston's Lobster Pound. They proclaimed it to be the most scenic dining place in New England and promised us great food besides.

They were right on both counts.

The view from our patio table. You order at the counter inside and they bring your food. From the looks, I'd guess our "62" was probably the second time around for the day.

That large stack of "crates" are lobster pots.

After a short wait, the food arrived.

I ordered the lobster roll and Carol ordered the Lobster Stew.

From their menu:

Lobster Roll

Filled to the brim with our famously fresh, handpicked lobster meat. We lightly toss those claws, tails, and knuckles with mayo, and pile them on a grilled bun with a bed of lettuce. No fancy stuff necessary. Available in two sizes.  (Don't forget a fork for the big one.)

Lobster Stew 

As traditional as it comes. Our own fresh lobster stock makes this cream based stew rich and delicious. Nothing but flavor and lobster. Straight from the boat lobster, and lots of it.

Apparently our new Work Camper friends really do think this is the best place on My. Desert Island. It's a 25 minute drive from the campground and we caught them here for lunch.

More views of Thurston's and the harbor with the working boats.

That little bitty gray and green one story building is the original Lobster Pound. The two story gray and green addition came next, followed by the two story yellow roofed "porch."

One of their original delivery trucks.

We needed to walk off that incredible lunch so we stopped at Echo Lake for a short hike on our way back to the Campground.

Our next day had been planned for a walking tour of the town Bar Harbor.

BUT,
It was rainy.
We were tired,
Locals told us a cruise ship had docked.

We took a quiet day, walked the campground and got ready to depart.

God is Good. Even, or especially, on lazy days.

BAHHHH HAAABAAAA

Well, not REALLY Bar Harbor but we sure did love Mt. Desert Island. Bar Harbor is the largest town on the island, but we didn't even walk round the town.

Acadia National Park is THE reason to visit this part of Maine and we spent three days enjoying the park and the adjoining small towns and harbors.

We stayed at Mt. Desert Narrows RV Resort. We normally shy away from any campground with "Resort" in the name because, as I've written before, we are not Glampers. We're not even "campers". We do not go to a campground to spend a weekend communing with nature at the campground. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It just isn't our idea of traveling. We use our Airstream as a home away from home and sleep and eat in it while we tour whatever is in the area we came to see. That said, we really enjoyed our stay here. We met some wonderful work campers who gave us lots of good information on local and touristy stuff.

We met them the first evening. We had gone to bed early. I got up because I thought there was a big light right outside our Airstream. I checked, because I sure was going to ask for another spot in the morning. Here is what I saw out the door -

"CAROL. GET UP AND COME OUT HERE."

After I convinced her that her Jammies were just fine we walked down to the shoreline. That is where we met two couples who were also enjoying the sunset.

Incredible sunset and wonderful new friends. what a great way to start our visit to Mt. Desert Island.

Oh, and if you want to sound like a local, "Desert" is pronounced "Dessert". No, I don't know why.

The next morning we got an early start to drive through Acadia.  But not a REALLY early start. I had told Carol that an absolute "must" was sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain. "We can be the first people in the United States to see the sun that morning."  Except sunrise at the summit would be at 4:59am with dawn breaking at 2:39am. AND we wouldn't be the first to see the sun. That only happens at certain times of the year.

So we started like civilized people, at the Nature Center around 8:30. It was a great way to start our tour of the island and the park. The Park Loop Road circles a major section of the park and offers incredible views of the ocean, the harbor and Schoodic Peninsula which is separate part of the park that is not on Mt. Desert Island.

Bald Porcupine Island

 Schoodic Peninsula

A beautiful private residence.

A steep walk down to...

 

Sand Beach

 Thunder Hole

Wildwood Stables 

Lunch at the Jordan Pond House.

Carol had a lobster roll and "side" salad.

I had lobster salad.

And we splurged on their famous popovers.

A view of Jordan Pond with "North Bubble" and "South Bubble." The pond is in a glacier formed tarn and is 150' deep.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. arranged the building of over 57 miles of carriage roads where motor vehicles are prohibited. About 45 miles are in Acadia Park. He personally supervised almost all of the construction of the road and 16 of the 17 stone faced bridges.

As tourism increased in the early 1900's, there was a great deal of pressure to open the carriage roads to motor vehicles. Rockefeller decided a better plan was to build a loop around the island for cars. He started what was to become the Loop Road in 1927 and retained Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to design much of it. It was completed in 1958 and provides a wonderful tour of the east side of the island, Cadillac Mountain, Jordan Pond and Eagle Lake.

Way too late for sunrise and way too early for sunset. But we enjoyed Cadillac Mountain and the views from the top.

Bar Island. The "sand bridge" connects it to Mt. Desert Island at low tide.

    The end of a wonderful first day in Acadia National Park.  AND my Senior Pass made it FREE !! If you qualify, be sure and get yours before August 28. On that date the price for a lifetime pass increases from $10. to $80. This is a link to a site that lists all locations where you can buy one in person.