It's Acadia Time...Day Five

Up before 8:30 to bright skies and blowing winds.  

It was warm enough this morning that I was able to sit outside with my coffee.

We had talked about going for a bike ride on Schoodic but decided it was too windy and it would be chilly, so we decided to hike Homans Path, to Emery Path, then back to Sieur de Monts.  

We left Edgewater at 11:07, 59* winds @ 11mph.  We drove the long way around, through the park to Rt. 3, then back to Sieur de Monts where we actually found a parking place fairly quickly.  Parked at 11:48, warmed up to 63*.  

We used the bathroom, then headed along the Jessup Path to the Tarn, where we realized we had gone the wrong direction.

The Tarn

Sooo, we checked our map, turned around and walked the right direction to the Homans Path trailhead.

The path was predominantly granite steps uphill for .4 of a mile.  

We were pleasantly surprised to see this on the path.

I felt like this tree was still reaching for the sky, although it had seen better days.

Look at that beautiful blue sky.  What you don't see is the wind...

Then we came across this

Next stop...the end of Homans Path at 1:04, 63* winds @ 14.

There was a beautiful view of The Great Meadow and the Porcupine Islands.

We sat here and ate our snacks before heading down the Emery Path.  Two bald eagles were soaring nearby.

Titan is always with us.

The way down started with this nice flat section, then the steps returned.

Looking back from where we came.

Another look back...

Then we were done, reaching the Sieur de Monts spring and the Emery Path trailhead at 1:36.

As we reached the parking lot, a ranger was excorting a cormorant through the driveway toward the grass.

We've never seen anything like that before.

We left the parking lot at 2:10 and drove to Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound in SW Harbor where we sat outside for lunch.  Bill had the clam roll and I had the shrimp roll.  They were yummy.

From there, we drove on to the beach at Seawall.  We sat at one of the picnic tables, ate our chocolate chip cookies from Local 130 in Shapleigh and read for about an hour.  It is such a beautiful, quiet place.

We left at 4:42 and drove back to Edgewater, arriving around 5:20. 64* winds @ 11.

We got most of our stuff packed, ready to leave in the morning.  We ate late so had cheese and crackers for "dinner".  

Another trip to Acadia in the books.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

 

It's Acadia Time

Woohoo!  It's that time of the year when we visit Bar Harbor and Acadia.  

Neither of us slept very well but we managed to get up around 7:30 and leave the house around 9:40.  It was 73*, clear and sunny.  We got breakfast at the McDonalds in Sanford, then headed to Biddeford to drop Tessa off at Bark Ave for the week.  We got as far as the blueberry plains when Bill remembered he didn't pack his hiking boots.  Back home we went.  At least it provided both of us an opportunity to use the bathroom...again.

We got to Bark Ave around 10:50 and were on the road headed north by 11:00.  

We stopped in Belfast at 1:00 for lunch at McDonalds and sat outside in the sun.  81* and mostly sunny.  It felt good!  

Back on the road at 1:45, stopping again in Ellsworth for iced coffees from Aroma Joe's at 2:35.  It took them forever but they were tasty.  Got gas in Trenton at the Shell station, $3.64/gallon ($2.49 last year).  Grrrrr.  We sat for ten minutes waiting for some ******* from CA to come back out, actually pump some gas, then go back inside to pay.  

As we have done for the past 18 years, maybe, we are staying at the Edgewater Motel and Cottages.  This is our first year in Cottage No. 4, it's a lot larger than our usual No. 6 but the view is less than spectacular, as it's sandwiched between the two cottages in front of us. ;o(  

We arrived at Edgewater at 3:30, 77* and cloudy.  Got everything unpacked, paid our balance, said "hi" to Dave and took a ride around the Loop Road.  So much traffic. :o(. Took a spin through Bar Harbor and found a parking space at the harbor.  Bill had a hankering for fish tacos so we ate dinner at the Fish House Grill, sitting on the deck. It was a beautiful evening.

The view at dinner

The tacos were good (not as good as the ones at Margaritaville in Key West)  but we didn't realize when the waitress asked if we preferred chips or fries, that we would be charged an extra $3 each for fries.  Since the tacos were $18, it was a rather expensive meal, considering it was TACOS.

We left at 6:26, walked along the pier and watched the Mary Todd raise the sails...very cool.  From there we drove to Hadley Point to watch the sunset.  

When we first discovered this beach several years ago, there were literally only two or three cars there.  Now we have to pack in the back row because the place is packed.  

There were numerous groups with beach fires, which smelled kind of good; however, the sunset was underwhelming.

It wasn't a complete loss tho.  I joined a FB group called "Welcome to Bar Harbor's Famous Parking Show".  From the title, you can imagine the posts it generates.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words and this picture speaks for itself...

When you're from NY or CT, the rules don't apply to you

The signs clearly say..."No Parking Between Signs".  The reason being, there is a ramp there that people can drive down in order to unload/load their canoes, kayaks, boats, etc.  Obviously, they can't use it when other vehicles are parked in the way.  It was a pleasure to post this online.

We arrived back at our home away from home at 7:00, got everything unpacked and put in it's proper place by 8:15.  

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Happy Day

Today we headed north on our annual visit to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.  We left around 9:20, 59* and cloudy.  We got breakfast at McDonalds and hit the road at 9:43.  Wendy suggested we stop at the Wild Grace Farm, across from Lake St. George State Park in Liberty, ME.  She is familiar with it because they carry her products.

We arrived at noon, 64*, looked around spotting the Beedandy items and sending pictures back to Wendy. They carry local meat and veggies, as well as other Maine made products and have a small cafe.  Bill bought Bixby sea salted caramels and we ordered apple, cheddar and honey paninis, along with a side of fruit. 

There were tables available outside, so we picked one and waited for our order to be called.  The food was very good but there were a lot of bees, drawn to the sweet honey, no doubt.  We were done and back on the road by 12:45.

We stopped at the McDonalds in Ellsworth for iced coffees at 1:58. The line was around the building and we didn't get going until 2:12.  Stopped to get gas ($2.89) at Dysarts.

We arrived in the area of Edgewater at 2:37, too early to check in, so took a ride through the park.  Oh My God...hordes of people, everywhere!  I had been reading on FB all summer about how crowded it was. Well...they weren't kidding.  We drove along the Loop Road, which was very foggy and then into town, also incredibly crowded.  I was very disheartened to see so many people.  

We arrived at Edgewater at 4:10, were unpacked and settled by 6:00. 

4:48 pm, 63*, overcast

Bill spotted a bald eagle in the tree across the cove, which we watched for several minutes.  We snacked on pretzels and pub cheese, had crab cakes and salad for dinner. I took a shower, washed and dried my hair and we watched an episode of Yellowstone.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Hiking and Biking

 A picture perfect morning!

Got up at 8:00, it was already 55*.  We left the cottage at 10:35 and it had warmed up to 68*.  We drove to Beech Mtn. for an easy, fairly quick hike.  We had to wait for someone to leave before we could park.  We left the trailhead at 11:15 and took the left fork in the trail.

While there still wasn't a ton of fall color, these leaves caught my eye.

We stepped off the trail to enjoy this nice view and I was able to take off the bottom section of my hiking pants.

We glimpsed this view of Long Lake, looking the other way.

This is the only summit with a fire tower.  It is occasionally occupied by volunteers, but not today.  

It only took us 35 minutes to reach the top and we could have done it faster except we were following a family with a super cute little girl, maybe 3, and that slowed us down a little.  We passed a little brown snake at one point but it was too fast for me to get a picture.

We hung out for about 15 minutes enjoying the view and the nice warm day.  Although the parking lot was full, it wasn't that busy at the summit.

Cranberry Islands (maybe)

Somes Sound

We headed down at 12:05, found a little color and spent some time with one of my favorite views of Long Lake.  Although I remembered this view, I wasn't sure this was the hike.

We ended up following the same family DOWN so, again, it took us a little longer, even though we passed them twice.  Arrived at the car at 12:45, the temp was somewhere between 69* and 72*.  

From there we drove about 20 minutes to a place on Echo Lake called Ike's Point to have lunch.  I thought it was a picnic area but it was not...hahaha  It was a boat launch but there were enough larger rocks that we were able to sit on the rocks and eat our lunch.  

The water was super clear and a woman walked down while we were there and went for a swim, although she did have a wet suit on, so I don't think it was very warm.

We changed into our bike clothes in the car...easier said than done and drove to the Brown Mtn. Gatehouse for our only bike ride of this visit, the Hadlock Pond Loop.  It's a 3.9 mile loop, crosses four beautiful stone bridges and took us about an hour.  We chose to take the loooong, gradual ascent, thankfully, rather than the short, steep one.  We would probably still be riding.  I didn't take pictures of the bridges because, quite frankly, we have done this ride a few times so I already have plenty of bridge pictures.  I did manage one picture of the only time we could see Hadley Pond.

Kind of a joke that it's called the Hadley Pond Loop since you hardly ever even see the pond.  Anyway, it's a nice ride and it did get out heart rates up.

We drove back through town and reached the cottage at 4:30.  Still 69* ;o)  We sat outside in the sun for awhile, came in when we got chilly.  For dinner, we went to Pat's Pizza in town and used our gift card for a small pizza and beverages.  The sunset was around 6:30, so we were practically eating in the dark by the time we finished, although there was one light which didn't do much to illuminate the outside eating area.  

We got back at 7:30 and started packing because we have reached the end of our stay.  We agreed it was a really nice day, we got a lot of exercise but didn't beat ourselves up too much.  

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Wonderland and Ship Harbor

 How did we not know about these two places in Southwest Harbor?!  We probably still wouldn't know about them except for the numerous posts on the I Love Bar Harbor Maine FB page.

It was still cloudy, cool 57* and windy when we got up.  

We left at 10:44, it had warmed up to 63* and the sun was trying to rid itself of high, thin clouds.  It's about a 30 minute drive to the Wonderland Trail, an easy 1 mile in and out walk to a rocky shore.  This is only minutes from Seawall where the waves were pretty impressive yesterday.  It's amazing how much calmer the water was today.

Pano...Wonderland Beach

My Man...Magellan

Another possible Christmas Card photo

It took us about 15 minutes to walk in and 20 minutes to walk out on the loop trail.  The temp in the car read 67*...lovely ;o)

We drove down the road just a few minutes to the Ship Harbor Trail, another easy 1.3 mile walk.  The trail forms a figure eight, one side going along the water and the other side through the woods.  One of the nice things about this trail is the restroom at the beginning!  

We absolutely fell in love with this place.  It rivals Two Lights State Park; it's beautiful but more quiet and serene and you're closer to the water.  We sat for 35 minutes just watching the tide come in and listening to the small waves against the rocks.  

Our first view of Ship Harbor

I found a couple of heart rocks but I only took photos then left them for someone else to find and enjoy.

Stairs from the "heart" beach

You don't often see water this color around Maine.  It was a beautiful turquoise.

The channel leading to the harbor

Looking into the harbor

Harbor entrance to the right, ocean to the left

Leaving the channel and heading into open waters

Reminds us of Two Lights

Beautiful day for sailing

Pano photo of Ship Harbor by Bill

It took us 30 minutes to walk all the way in, including time spent at the "heart" beach and maybe 25 minutes to walk out.  We could definitely see the fall colors in the woods.  The temp had reach 75*...woohoo!

We ate lunch at Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound, which we had driven past three days in a row and vowed to try.  I had a haddock sandwich and Bill had a clam roll and french fries.  Everything was delicious!  Although it was out first time there, it won't be our last.

There is no inside seating but there were plenty of tables available and the weather was perfect.  We took a look at the small cemetery located in the field next door before heading home.

It needs a little attention

We stumbled across a small coffee shop (Saint Dreux's Coffee) in Southwest Harbor and stopped for iced coffees.  It was the end of their day and we got the last of the iced coffees but they were actually quite good.  

Once we got back to the cottage, we took our coffees, our books and our Keepin' It Local cookies and sat in the sun, by the water.  I got tired of the wind and came in about 5:00, Bill stayed till the shade overtook his spot.  We drove to the Hadley Point beach for the sunset.  We always enjoy watching the sunset, even when it's less than spectacular, like tonight.

We had a super great day, found new favorites and didn't kill ourselves.  We found we can enjoy the area without needing to hike or bike every day.    That being said...tomorrow's our last day and we are going to burn some calories ;o)

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)