July 24, 2017 - July 27, 2017
Sorry for taking a break from blogging; but chores, boat projects, and errands have consumed my days.
On July 24 we left the cats at the “spa pet resort” for the week and headed to Freeport, Maine. The trip took three hours longer than we expected because of traffic slow downs and a serious traffic accident (we weren’t involved, but it caused a huge back up). When we arrived in Freeport around 8:30 all we wanted to do was eat dinner and get to sleep!
The next morning we hit the outlets and made some excellent purchases. Shopping does not hold the thrill it used to for me, but everyone who visits Maine has to stop at the L.L.Bean flagship store. It is quite an experience.
After lunch of lobster salad for me and lobster stew for Bob we drove to the Robbins Motel in Bar Harbor. It is obvious that this motel has not been updated in awhile, but it was clean and comfortable. We drove into the town of Bar Harbor to find a place to eat. It was a surprise to us to see how touristy and packed with people it was. We couldn't find a parking place so we drove a bit out of town to The Chart Room restaurant overlooking the ocean inlet. We had a great dinner…mussels steamed in wine and garlic for an appetizer and blackened salmon for our main course. Yum!
The next morning (July 26) we visited the Acadia National Park. It is on Mt. Desert Island (as is Bar Harbor) and has stunning views of forest, rocks, ocean, lakes, and mountains. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect….sunny skies and 75 degree temperature. The highlights were the views from atop Cadillac Mountain and the walking trails that led to the rocky shoreline scenery
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| The view from a walking trail revealed this sandy beach. |
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| The beauty of the mountain is reflected in the lake water. |
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| I was impressed with the abundance of wildflowers whose bright colors contrasted the stark beauty of the rocks and forest. |
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The .5 mile path to view scenery from Cadillac Mountain
was steep, but well worth the effort.
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| The beauty of the park is captured in this photo. |
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| Bob is in a contemplative mood resting on Cadillac Mountain. The natural beauty of the park lends itself to peace and mindfulness. |
We had lunch in Bar Harbor at Paddy’s Irish Pub. We both had large salads that were delicious. Mine was topped with steak and Bob’s with lobster. Afterwards we visited some shops on the main street and then drove to a small town called South West Harbor. It was mainly a fishing village with a town wharf and some quaint shops and restaurants.
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| The restaurant on the town wharf in South West Harbor serves seafood directly from fisherman. |
On Thursday morning we left early for Lubec, Maine. We had scheduled a whale watching excursion and a room for the night at the Inn at the Wharf. The Inn is a converted sardine factory and we didn’t know what to expect, but our room was lovely. We had a private balcony that overlooked the wharf and harbor with wonderful views of the inlet and islands. Because the weather was cold and foggy we opted to change our whale watching to Friday afternoon and stay in Lubec an extra day. We used the afternoon to visit the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse which occupies the eastern most point of land in the US.
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| The light house’s red stripes stood out even on this foggy afternoon. |
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| There has been a light on this point guiding boats safely away from the rocky shore for more than 100 years. This building has been there since the 1930's. |
We will be in Maine for four more days, exploring more of the down east region.
Thank you for reading my blog.
