New England - July 2013

 Monday July 15 –

Today we headed off to Maine.  That wasn't originally on our agenda, as we thought it would take too long; but we have friends who invited us to come visit in Blue Hill and we couldn't resist!   We stopped at the Information Center just over the border, near Fryeberg, to get a map and some general information.  One of our questions was where was a good place to get some maple syrup - which (coincidentally?) was right nearby - at Weston's Farm just north of Fryeberg.  So we made a quick stop there and bought some dark syrup and some snacks.

We had a whole day to use up so I was hunting for a hike that wouldn't be too far out of the way - I found Rattlesnake Mountain (near Raymond, ME).  It was billed as an "easy hike" and good for children.  So we located the Bri-Mar Trailhead about a mile north of the Crescent Lake Boat Launch along Route 85.  It did indeed start out easy.  A nice walk across a meadow (left) and then a  wide path after entering the wooded area  - but then it got very steep.  VERY steep.  We found a nice view, which was apparently only about half a mile up, but it was quite hot and we were exhausted already!  So we took pictures of the view (right), including Panther Pond, then hiked back down, feeling rather wimpy since we passed a 6 year old who was skipping along and didn't seem tired in the least! 

Next stop was New Gloucester at Pinetree Gardens.  This was not a store in any real sense, though there is a sign that says "Store."  It’s really a warehouse.  But there is an office there; you can place an order on site and they will fill it on the spot.   While John was waiting for his seeds, I played hide and seek with a charming little bird in an apple tree.  I have no idea what it was - it looked a lot like a leaf.    You have to look closely (maybe click on the pictures to enlarge them) to find it!  I took dozens of pictures and these are the clearest ones.  I am easily entertained.

As we neared the coast, we drove over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge - a 2120 foot suspension bridge over (duh) the Penobscot River.   The left tower in the picture is a 420 foot observatory (the tallest public bridge observatory in the world).  We stopped at a pull off and took pictures of the bridge and also the opposite direction, where the river opens into Belfast Bay (right),  but we didn't go up the tower on this trip.  

We let Jerome (our GPS) direct us the rest of the way to Ensworth’s outside of Blue Hill.  (We double checked his directions with the ones Lynne sent!)  We got there around 5 – Tim was still rinsing off equipment from their day of sea kayaking.  We went to the Fish Net for supper - a small fresh seafood place - then we  had a little driving tour of area.  It was quite interesting.   At left is a view of Blue Hill Bay.  Below, on the left, is a phenomenon known as the "Reversing Falls."  You can just see ripples coming from under the bridge we are standing next to - if you are there at the right time (an hour or so before high tide is said to be best) those ripples become up to 3 foot waves - and the direction reverses with the tide!  Apparently a popular sport is paddling, surfing, skiing or tubing under the bridge at "falls time."  In the center is a Great Blue Heron who seemed to be scouting for his supper.  And at the right is a picture of Stevens Bridge (aka Falls Bridge - after the reversing falls below it).  Built in 1926, it is one of only two "rainbow arch" bridges remaining in Maine.


Tuesday July 16 – Tim and Lynne asked if we would be interested in kayaking and we jumped at the chance, though we warned them that this was brand new to us so we would need lots of instruction.  We had a brief on-solid-ground orientation to the tandem kayak, then loaded up the trailer and made our way to Little Deer Isle then down to the tip of Deer Isle to Stonington.  Beautiful view en route at left and crossing Deer Island Bridge at right.  We paddled out to McGlathrey island; had lunch and explored a little on the rocks.  We saw some cormorants, guillemots and a couple of seals.  I took our waterproof camera but it's very hard to take pictures from a rocking kayak so there aren't any wildlife photos!  The pictures below start (left) at Stonington Harbor; the center picture is the view we enjoyed while we ate lunch on the island and the one on the right shows some of the rocks we climbed around on after lunch.  It was a gorgeous day - the water was very smooth (nice for newbies) and the breeze was wonderful.

The picture to the left was taken as we headed back to Stonington Harbor.  Tim is in the front, then Lynne and we are in the yellow kayak - you can just see its front! Tim guessed we paddled about 6 miles today - we had a great time and were only a little bit sore the next morning.  We stopped for fresh lobsters very near the harbor and then had some ice cream snacks in town before driving back.  What a yummy dinner – my first whole lobster (I'm glad I had that experience among friends and not in a restaurant!), with corn on the cob and salads.  We were so full that we had only tiny snacks of ice cream with strawberries before bed. 

Wed July 17 – We left around 9 AM this morning after a delightful oatmeal breakfast.  What a lovely visit!  Lynne took the picture at the right before we left - very nice porch for rocking!  You can't really see them in the picture but all along the top rail are sand dollars drying out.  On one of their kayaking trips, they came across the "mother lode" as it were and Tim spent some time diving down a few feet to bring them up for Lynne's collection! 

We drove over to Acadia National Park which is very close by.  After a stop at the Visitor's Center to show my Senior Pass and get a parking permit, we drove down to Jordon Pond.  We made a lunch reservation at the Jordan Pond House and then walked the 3.3 mile trail around the pond – what a nice, LEVEL walk and mostly in the shade.  Then we had a delightful lunch out on the lawn – I had blueberry iced tea and a cranberry/ chicken salad with fruit and crackers; John had a panini and we both enjoyed the view.    Below are two pictures from the walk around the pond: the water was so clear it was almost like the Caribbean, but the trees were definitely not Palm Trees!  And at the right is a picture of the lawn during lunch time!

After lunch we drove up Cadillac Mountain and took lots of pictures - samples on left and right!  This is supposed to be the first point in the US to get the sunrise each morning.  But that didn't inspire me to get up before dawn to see it!  On the way back to the motel (Days Inn - nothing to write home about but a great bargain in this high-priced area) I made a wrong turn and we had to drive back through a few blocks of Bar Harbor.  In those few blocks, we saw a sign posted for a Celtic Concert tonight held at the College of the Atlantic so I decided it was providential that I made the wrong turn!   We had an early supper at Jack Russell’s Steakhouse and microbrewery so we could get to the concert.  (My crab cakes were good; John had the haddock and also enjoyed the brown ale.)
 
The concert was part of the Acadia School of Traditional Music and Art - this is apparently the first year for this summer program in this location.  Tonight's concert featured many of the instructors, most from the Cape Breton and Quebec area.  Among the performers were Troy MacGillivray, Ryan McGiver, Richard Forest and a Maine duo: Velocipede.  The grand finale included all of those who performed tonight and some who didn't!  They conferred for a couple of minutes to find something everyone could play and then they just jammed!  It was very fun.  At right you can almost feel the beat just from the picture, can't you?

Thurs July 18

This morning, we started at the Wild Gardens of Acadia (left picture).  These were very nicely kept and organized – we found names for a couple of plants we had not been able to identify: Canada Lily and striped maple.  We stopped at a few viewpoints - one gave me this nice view of Egg Rock Lighthouse.  We drove by Sand Beach where the parking lot was totally full and we lost interest in stopping there.  Continuing on down the Park Loop Road, we stopped at Thunder Hole and had fun scrambling over rocks for a while - see the 2 pictures below.  However, there was no activity at the hole so we decided to come back tonight at high tide and hope for more.


Next we drove up and around, over Somes Sound and down to Wonderland at the tip of that peninsula.  We stopped at a few overlooks and also stopped at Sea Biscuit Café in Southwestern Harbor for John to get a sandwich.  Bad choice.  It took literally 45 minutes for a chicken salad sandwich.  I won't go into the details because I just read on their website that this restaurant is now closed.  That's probably a good thing.

Finally we got to Wonderland and spent an hour or more playing on the large rocks, exploring the numerous tidal pools and looking at the small rocks on the beachy areas.  There were many lovely views of birds, sailboats, etc.  One of my favorites is at the left.  Below, left to right, are another beautiful view from out on the rocks, a close up of one of the many tidal pools, and a sample of the variety of rocks all around that area.  It was very hard for John not to bring them home!  (Rock collecting is not permitted in the National Park.)


We made one more stop - at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse  - before driving back around to Bar Harbor.  It was just a short walk and a lot of wooden stairs down to a point where one could see the lighthouse; not great views but I did get a couple of pictures (one at left).

Back at the motel we showered and changed and set off to Bar Harbor for the evening.  We found a nice parking place on West St. only a couple blocks from Main.  We had supper at the West Street Café which was very nice.  It was before 6 PM so we got "early bird" prices - a special bonus.  I had grilled salmon with mango chutney; John had stuffed haddock.  We could just barely see the harbor from the terrace, but there was other entertainment - the horse and buggy route came right by our outdoor seating.  Then we walked down the Shore Path (along the shore - duh), gawked at some of the mansions, enjoyed the views (center below is a 'glacial erratic' known as Balanced Rock) and were amazed by the giant rose hips in some of the gardens near the path!  


We returned via Main Street which was very crowded and a little crazy.   There was a band concert in the park and the whole area was just packed with both pedestrians and cars.  We had ice cream snack at CJ’s Big Dipper (very yummy) and made our way back to the car, passing the fountain and the harbor.  

We drove down to Thunder Hole again but that was a big disappointment – the tide was pretty high but we missed the actual "coming in."  I'm not sure if the timing was really the problem, but, though the hole was now covered with water there was still no thundering (pictured below, right). 


Friday July 19 –

We left for home around 9 AM in dense fog.  Here's a non-view crossing the Penobscot Narrows bridge (at left) - compare to picture above from a couple of days ago!  We couldn't even see the water under the bridge.  We passed literally 40 miles' worth of backed up traffic on I-495 outside of Boston.  (Note to self: do NOT travel on weekends ever again, if we can possibly help it! ) These were mostly people heading up towards the mountains we were leaving so at least we were heading in the right direction.  We left the interstate and took the "scenic" route (Hwy 2) which was a good road until it got to the western part of the state - then it became a twisty mountain road!

It was still scenic, however - see a view of the Berkshires at right and a small wind farm at left.  Got into the Albany area around 6:30 PM and stopped at the Red Roof Inn at the airport.   This was not a great find but it was not only a summer weekend, but also the opening of the Saratoga racing season so most accommodations were fully booked.   We had supper at the Olive Garden just a block down the road – that WAS very good.  I tried the new Tuscan garlic chicken) and enjoyed it very much.  We filled up the gas tank and then stopped at Hanafords to get breakfast and lunch food before turning in for the night.

Given the motel issue tonight, I made a reservation for tomorrow night – another Red Roof Inn but this one has good reviews and is just off the highway south of Toledo in Maumee, Ohio.  That gives us about 10 hours of driving tomorrow but only 8.5 on Sunday to get home.

We hope.

Saturday and Sunday July 20 - 21.  

Well, our 10 hours turned into about 11.   First, I made a wrong turn (or rather, I didn't turn where I should have).  I was distracted and didn't notice that the highway didn't continue straight.  That cost us half an hour, then we ran into some detours and construction.  When the scenery changed over to this (picture above, left) we knew we were on the way home!  Good old, flat midwest.   We used up an extra hour Sunday stopping at the New Pioneer Coop in Coralville to pick up some favorite items (yeast-free bread) we can't get near home.  But we still got back early enough in the afternoon to get almost all unpacked and some laundry started.

It was a great trip and we had lots of fun but we're also glad to be back home for a while.