Mount Desert Island - Day 3

On our last day in the Bar Harbor area, we forgo the complimentary breakfast at our motel and instead stopped at Jordan's for some blueberry pancakes. It's a cute, funky, friendly place enjoyed by both regulars and tourists alike.

Our first stop was to photograph this iconic bridge along rt. 102 in Somesville. The rain was pretty steady, so I didn't expect much but then something serendipitous happened. A group of children on a fieldtrip of some kind crossed the street and proceeded across the bridge.

You can't plan for anything like that, but I scrambled to get a couple of quick images. :-) (As always, you may click on this on any other image for a larger view.)

The shower eventually subsided, and we headed on to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. Along the way we visited Quilt N Fabric in Southwest Harbor. It was a lovely little shop with an equally lovely owner and, of course, I did my part to help the local economy.

There is a path at the end of the parking lot which leads to a wooden flight of stairs. This is the image from the base of the stairs. More agile photographers than I were venturing out onto the rocks for a better vantage point, but my inner voice said "Don't even think about it ... ," and so I was content with this one.

After driving around for a while it was time for lunch at Thurston's Lobster Pound in Bernard, and yes, that it is a really, really long lobster roll that I am holding. :-)

This was the relaxing view from the deck as we watched lobster men and women unloading their traps.

Here are a few more quintessential Maine photos from the day.

Sunset Bar Harbor. . .

I hope you have enjoyed my photos from my Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park getaway. I apologize if some of the photos took a bit longer than usual to load, but they were not clear when I tried a lower resolution as I normally do.

A comments about commenting: I apologize to those of you who left comments and did not receive a response from me. Evidently, a glitch has developed with Blogspot which they are aware of and are trying to fix. In the past, I always received an email notification when a comment was sent but that appears to have stopped a couple of weeks ago. I would not have even realized that there was a problem until I read about it on a number of other blogs that use Blogspot. In any event, I was able to go back and read and post your comments and please know that I always enjoy reading them.

Just one other thing . . . There are two other quilt shops in the area worth checking out.  Fabricate right in Bar Harbor has fabric and scrap booking supplies and much more. Check out the link to see what they offer. We also stopped at Sewing by  the Sea in Trenton on our way home.  Strangely enough, I managed to find a few things to add to my stash at each shop. :-)

Have a wonderful week.

Acadia National Park 2018

June is the perfect time to visit Acadia National Park: the lupine are in bloom and the summer crowds have not yet arrived. (Bar Harbor has over one million visitors during the months of July and August. I can't begin to imagine what the traffic situation would be during that time.) 

We started our day with a stop at the visitor center to see a short introductory movie about the establishment of this magnificent national treasure. We then took our time following the twenty-seven mile loop drive. 

These top two photos were taken shortly after Sandy Beach which you are able to see in the distance. 

Tip: Stop at each pull-in area and if there are any short trails, by all means check them out. These images were taken from the bottom of a very short trail which provided an awesome view. (With my foot issue, I was not able to do any hiking, but it didn't stop me from checking out the short trails. )

We were there early and with the tide being out, a stop at Thunder Hole was disappointing. Not only was it not thundering, it wasn't even whimpering.  We consoled ourselves by stopping at the Jordan Pond Restaurant and having chowder and one of their famous popovers. Since it had begun to rain, we forgo following the trail down and around the pond.

This stone building was the original Jordan Pond Gate Lodge, but it is now used to provide  sleeping accommodations for park workers. Also imposing were the many stone bridges on the carriage roads throughout the park.

Then it was up, up, up along the curvy road to the top of Cadillac  Mountain.

 

Tip:  When you visit Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, bring all types of outerwear.  I brought a light jacket, a heavier jacket, a sweatshirt, and a rain jacket, and I was glad that I had all of them with me. The weather can be very changeable. We were only at the summit of Cadillac mountain for about twenty minutes, and let me tell you it was very cold and very windy. Look how quickly the scene changed.

 

One final funny note regarding jackets . . . our first night in Bar Harbor we were wearing fairly light jackets as the temperature was around 45 -50. You should have seen some people bundled up in heavy jackets,  knit hats, knit scarves and mittens! They must have come from far warmer states. :-)

As always, you may click on any image for a larger view, and I encourage you to do so.

Next post: Lupines!!!

Bar Harbor 2018

Last Wednesday, my friend Marilyn and I headed to Bar Harbor, Maine, for a getaway. Since I live just south of Boston that meant a five and a half hour drive which didn't include any break stops and slow moving Boston traffic. We had left about 9:30 in hopes of missing the worst of the rush hour, but when it comes to driving through Boston, there is never a good time.  After about two hours, I stopped for some 'jet fuel.' That's my name for a Starbucks Iced Mocca Latte; I shouldn't have sugary drinks, but I wanted to be sure to be alert, wide eyed, and bushy tailed as I drove,  and so, fueled by my latte, we made it to the Bar Harbor Motel by late afternoon.

I would highly recommend this motel. It was very clean, the staff was friendly, and a lovely continental breakfast was included.

Marilyn grew up three houses down from me, so we have known each other since childhood. We travel well together; she lets me stop and take as many photos as I would like and visit any quilt shops in the area, I let her visit gift shops and let me just say, there were many, many gift shops in Bar Harbor.

We had an early dinner at Testa's Restaurant, and I was thrilled that the vegetable of the day was fiddleheads as I had never tasted them. (If you have never heard of them, let me explain. They grow wild and are only available for a few short weeks. These were sauteed with little bits of ham and boy were they delicious.) [ Guess what I just learned??? It's sauted when there is an object . . . 'He sauted the onions, but if there is no object, it is spelled sauteed. . . ] {If I was cook, I probably would have known this ;-) Both words should have an accent mark. Don't you just love dictionaries!!!

We turned in early as we knew we would be touring Acadia National Park the following day and that will be the focus of my next post.

I almost forgot. . . Emma wanted me to be sure to wish all of our blog readers a very happy Flag Day. This is how she looked after a trip to the groomer on Tuesday, and yes, once again she has red, glued on, jewels on her ear tips. :-)

Emma also had a fun time at her home away from home visiting her canine cousins Harvey and Bailey while I was away.