Fort Point State Park

It's always difficult to leave a vacation spot when the weather is beautiful but there's not much of an option when the time comes.  Today was one of those days ;o(  

We left Edgewater at 8:45, 54* clear and sunny.  We stopped for gas, got breakfast at McDonalds in Ellsworth and stopped again at Cadillac Mtn. Sports for their 20-40% off sale.  I bought shorts and a new bike helmet, Bill got a new helmet and lights for the bikes.  

We left there at 11:10, 63* and beautiful!  We were determined to find Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs after being unable to find it when we searched the last time.  There is a big sign on Rt. 1 but once you turn, there isn't another sign.  This year we used the GPS - Brilliant!

It was opened in 1974, covers 120 acres, a mile of rocky shore, along with a tidal sandbar.  It includes the geographical remnants of Fort Pownall, a ditch and large earthen bank shaped like a four pointed star.

photo from howderfamily.com

Fort Point Light Station was established in 1837 "to aid in the growing number of ships navigating the Penobscot between Bangor and Castine."  It was the "first river light in Maine".

Beautiful views of the Penobscot River from up here.

The fog signal is a "1200 pound, cast iron bell suspended on a pyramidal tower built in 1890".

Information, along with a diagram regarding how the bell works, hangs in the window.  Very ingenious!

We took the path near the bell tower and ended up along the river, where we found the tidal sandbar, along with a notice that there were strong tidal currents, so "no swimming".

We did a little more walking and were about to return to the car when we discovered a sign for the pier.

We walked down the ramp onto the dock(?).

Such a beautiful day to be on the water...hahaha

It was pretty breezy and the dock was rockin', even without Bill's help.

We headed back to the car, but we are believers in the saying "never miss an opportunity to pee", so we did.

I don't think anyone has hung their coat or purse here is quite some time.

It was nice that we didn't have an agenda and we stayed about 45 minutes.

We left at 12:45, stopped in Belfast for lunch, temp was holding steady at 64*, then on the L.L.Bean where we dropped off our bikes for tune-ups.  I found a pair of capri biking pants, which I bought with my Bean Bucks.  

We stopped at Hannaford in No. Berwick and got home at 5:35.  Unpacked the car, stripped the bed, changed the towels, washed the sheets and towels, had dinner, unpacked my suitcase and took a shower, made the bed and finally sat down around 10:15.  Wendy called twice but it was bad timing and we didn't get a chance to visit.

Always nice to be home, even when home isn't Bar Harbor.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Eagle Lake, Connor's Nubble and Bubble Pond

Got up around 8:00 to a clear and sunny morning!  WooHoo!!! It's about time.  Sat on the deck and enjoyed my coffee, watching a big fog bank along the opposite shore.  

Left the cottage around 10:30, 63* and sunny ;o)  Parked on the road near Eagle Lake and headed out for a nice, easy bike ride.  Well...easy except for the long, uphill ride along the edge of the lake.  But!  My notes indicate that the last time we rode this hill, I had to stop and walk up because I could not pedal uphill any more and this time...I rode the entire length of the hill.  I guess those hours at the Brickhouse are paying off. 

We rode to the trailhead of Connor's Nubble, locked our bikes and hiked to the summit, all of 588'.

Look at that blue sky!

We stayed up there for 25 minutes soaking up the sun.  It's such an easy climb with such great views.  However...Do Not climb wearing bifocal sunglasses and carrying a water bottle. There are a couple of places where both hands come in handy.

Eagle Lake from Connor's Nubble

Looking across Eagle Lake to Cadillac Mtn from Connor's Nubble

Mount Katahdin in the distance?

Looking the other direction

Going down was a lot easier!  We hopped back on our bikes and rode to Bubble Pond for lunch.  We had the only picnic table to ourselves, along with the view.

The wind was blowing 16 mph right off the water but it was still warm.  It was windy enough to create white caps.

The parking lot at Bubble Pond is no longer available to use so if you don't walk around the corner, you would never see this awesome bridge.

We rode back along the other side of Eagle Pond to our car, arriving at 1:56.

From there we drove maybe 10 minutes to the Asticou Inn for our fix of popovers and tea.  It was amazing how foggy it was there and we watched the fog roll in and out while having our treat.

We drove home through Bar Harbor and Bill waited in the car while I bought an "I (heart) BHM" car magnet.  Profits from the sale benefit a local non profit.

Got back to the cottage around 4:00 and sat down by the shore reading till 5:00.  

Bill grilled burgers which we ate with some green beans that Dave gave us and some broccoli.

Packed most of my stuff and the groceries, except for the food in the fridge.  We both agreed it was a good week although it went by too fast.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)  

Kebo Mtn.

We left the cottage at 10:03, 55* and mostly cloudy and drove past the parking area again, hoping to score a space for the Cadillac North Ridge Trail but it appears we are not meant to hike that one this year.  We proceeded with Plan B again, Kebo Mtn.  Although my list of hikes completed has this checked off, neither of us remember it...at all...and there are no notes about the hike, which is very unusual for me.  I said maybe it was before my OCD completely took over ;o)

I think we found the last parking space in the Sieur de Monts Springs parking lot!  WooHoo ;o)  We headed out around 10:40, took the Hemlock Trail to the Kebo Mtn Trail to the summit. 

Hemlock Trail

An early trail marker "Strath Eden Path"

However...this was the completely, totally wrong way to go!  We got off the trail a couple of times but thankfully Bill found his way back without too much difficulty.  It had poured rain last night and it was very obvious that it did some damage to the trails.  We should have reached the top from the other side!  Also thankfully, the summit is only 407'.

The guidebook touts "great 360* views".  Here's the best one I could find.

If you look super, duper close you might see the ocean.

The way down, which should have been the way up, we did see some Showy Mountain Ash

and some peeks of the Kebo Valley Club, the 8th oldest golf club in the nation.

This section of the trail was recently reworked and was pretty easy on our legs.

Once we found our way down, we were still unsure which way to return to the car but Magellan figured out a way, although it turned out to be the long way!  

We ended up on the Great Meadow Loop, the Hemlock Road and the Jesup Path.  There was evidence of some early color along the Hemlock Road.

Admittedly, the Jesup Path is one of my favorites.  It's a nice boardwalk with benches located along the way.  We stopped and had lunch here but were a little disappointed that we didn't see any wildlife and it was very quiet...no birds, no frogs, no nothin'.

The View at Lunch

The ferns were beautiful!

Overall, it was an easy hike, even though we totally screwed it up.

We planned to go to the Asticou Inn for more popovers but it was too early so we headed to Northeast Harbor to walk around and kill some time.

It's a cute little town with a small Main Street and a large harbor, although there are a lot of places to visit on the town map.

We wandered into a couple of stores but didn't see anything we absolutely needed to have.  I did, however, want a cold beverage and we ended up in the 123 Main Street.  A small, clean "grab 'n' go" establishment with fresh sandwiches made daily, lots of yummy pastries (many gluten free) and cold drinks.  Since we were still planning on popovers and tea, we ordered lemonades.  

They were very good, not too tart and not too sweet.  We were siting on the available couch, just chilaxin and the owner brought us a palmier, saying she couldn't watch us sit there without something sweet and we should try this French pastry.  Well...it was delicious!  A very light sweet pastry and easily divided, although we both could have eaten the entire thing alone.

Very sly sales technique on her part because it was so good, we bought two to take with us.

By the time we left, we decided we didn't need to go for popovers, so we headed home.  But first, we searched out a "hidden gem" that I saw posted on a FB page I follow called I Love Bar Harbor Maine.

As it turns out, it isn't far from where we stay.  It's a small lake at the very fringe of Acadia, called Lake Wood.

We walked down a short hill from the small parking lot and voilá, there it was.  Funny thing...there were two women along the shore who turned out to be sisters.  They grew up in Bar Harbor, their father had been a summer park ranger for years and neither one of them was aware of this lake.  It had a nice beach and one of the sisters has a neighbor that says he swims here all the time.  This will be beautiful when the foliage is peak and the sky is blue.

We sat in chairs by the shore and read for awhile and I visited with Wendy.  It's totally different when the tide is out and is going to be one of the perfect places to spend my everafter.

Bill grilled chicken early and we went to Hadley Point to watch the sunset.  There was a large cloud bank along the horizon and we thought it would be a wasted trip, but we were very surprised.  The sunset was spectacular.

These were from my cell phone but Bill took better ones with the "real" camera.  

(insert sunset photos here)

We ate dinner when we got home, I took a shower and we watched the season openers of the Chicago shows.

Thanks for stopping by...
:o)