Thursday, September 19
Today we arrived at Acadia National Park which is on Mt. Desert Island .
After a brief stop at the Visitor’s Center we began the 27
mile loop road through the park. Almost
immediately the rugged coastline came into view with views of Bar Harbor across
Frenchman’s Bay. The day is clear and
bright, so the water is blue as can be, with rugged rocks and splashing surf
and spray. Gorgeous!
We probably stopped five or six times in as many miles to
clamber on the rocks and oohh and aaahhh. Sandy Beach was just that and was
almost the only area not hilly or rocky.
The entire island is very mountainous and we ended the loop with a trip
up the highest peak, Cadillac Mountain which is mostly pink granite and offered
more fantastic views. We agreed to go back there for sunrise tomorrow.
We went to Bar Harbour which is adjacent to the park and is
a pretty but touristy town. It has grand
hotels, a Village Green and park, harbor and many shops and restaurants. We had decided to go to a lobster pound in
Bernard, a tiny town still on the Mt Desert Island but a bit of a drive away,
so bade farewell to Bar Harbour.
Thurston’s, the name of the pound, was a great spot surrounded by boats,
lobster traps, buoys and more. There is
a large metal cooker on the porch where the lobsters meet their (boiling) fate.
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| Bar Harbor |
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| Bernard harbor |
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| Lunch! |
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| Thurston's Lobster Pound |
We shared a soft-shelled lobster and a lobster roll, with
some tasty sides. Yum. I practically needed a bath afterwards! The town had some great old houses as well,
built in the 1800’s.
Someone had mentioned a lighthouse down this way and after a few false starts (read Beth can’t
read the map!) found it just in time for a gorgeous sunset. There were quite a few people with the same
idea but we shared.
After sunset we headed on the circuitous route (ahem!) back
to the campsite. Saw several deer along
the way but thankfully they stayed off the road. Pulled into the campsite and, exhausted, hit
the hay in preparation for an early morning.
Friday
Rose at 5:00AM to get to Cadillac Mountain by 5:45, as the
best colors are supposedly a half hour or so before the 6:15 sunrise. We didn’t think many folks would make the
effort but boy were we surprised! Greg
figured there were close to 200 people up there, and probably 190 cameras. Very quiet however, except for the shutters
clicking! Beautiful color on this clear
morning!
We stayed in the parking area for a while and had breakfast,
cereal with bananas, while plotting our course for the day. We drove north on route 1, heavily wooded
hills with occasional views of the coastal waters and inland lakes, to reach
the eastern-most city in the US, little Lubec, Maine. From there we crossed the
Franklin Roosevelt International Bridge to Campobello Island, which is part of New Brunswick. Much of the Island is dedicated to the former
“cottage” (18 bedrooms!) of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Lots of historical information about both
Eleanor and FDR , as well as kudos to Canada for allowing the establishment of
the park. Drove north to beautiful Head
Harbor Lightstation at the tip of the Island, stopped at a park called Friar’s
Head for a picnic lunch, then back through customs to Maine.
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| Lubec, Maine |
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| FDR "Cottage" on Campobello Island |
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| buoys in someone's yard |
In another hour or so we reached the border crossing at
Calais and again passed through Customs.
Helpful folks at the Welcome Center gave us some great maps and
literature on New Brunswick. We decided
to head for St. John (learned this is St. John, the town in NewFoundland is St
John’s) with a stop in St. George to see what was billed as “St. George Gorge
and Falls”. After seemingly driving in
circles where the map didn’t match the territory, we asked directions and found
the less-than-spectacular falls. Oh
well.
It was getting late as we approached St. John, so we looked
for a boondock spot. Got permission to
stay at a Walmart but it was in a very busy noisy area, so we went back down
the road to a Canadian Tire store. Had
heard that they allowed boondocking and the manager said she’d never been asked
before, but sure, go ahead! They closed
at 9:00 and by 10:00 their parking lot was empty but for one Roadtrek. Quiet, well-lit, good stopover.
Saturday
A woman at the Welcome Center had been enthusiastic about a
lighthouse and area called Cape Enrage, which was closing for the season as of
today, so we decided to go there and then come back to St. John.
The scenery along the way was mostly wooded, with a large
portion of the trip through Fundy National Park. We came through the small town of Alma,
where several nice looking boats we sitting in mud (on the hard) looking quite stranded as
the tide was out. Hours later we would
come back through Alma and the boats were bobbing away contentedly.
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| Boats "on the hard" at low tide, Alma |
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| Same boats afloat, high tide, Alma |
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| Fried Clams at the popular Take-Out in Alma |
One of the lobster fishermen we talked to in Bar Harbor said
he fished in the Summer and did welding in Ohio in the Winter. It looked to us like many fisherman lived
along the road to Cape Enrage. As many homes had stacks of lobster traps and/or
buoys. The last few miles to the lighthouse were very steep and windy.
Looking up and down the coast, it was obvious why a
lighthouse was needed!
We are on the Bay of Fundy now , with extreme tides, which
was obvious here as the fossil beach we walked on around noon was completely under water a few hours
later. Interesting fossils, cliffs,
folks rapelling, and the ighthouse.
We
skipped the restaurant and gift shop.
Back to St. John, we arrived at the Reversing Falls/Chutes
in time to see the phenomena where St. John River meets Bay of Fundy. The tide rises with such force that it
actually causes the substantial river to reverse course for a time! Cool!
Next stop was the City Market. It is in a huge building downtown whose roof
is shaped like the inverted keep of a ship (or something like that!). It is the oldest market in, depending who you
talked to, Canada or North America. Nice, colorful, seafood, fruits and veggies,
a lot of dulse – a seaweed which some other travelers we met said is definitely
“an acquired taste”. A great friendly
man (Turkish I think) and his wife fed us generous samples of his bread with
tahini, humus, babaganou, and then baklava
dripping with honey. All great. We sprang for the baklava, along with some
fresh wild blueberries at another booth.
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| City Market, St John |
After the market we headed for the coast again and the town
of St. Martin (they do like their Saints here!) Arrived in town and stopped to ask a young couple
directions to the Caves. They were
spending a few days in town so had all kinds of information for us, including a
map! We crossed a covered bridge and
came to the Caves….along the coast tides rule all and we were fortunate that we
could wander around this area.
Next
decided to go to Brown’s Beach, an off-the-beaten-path kind of place which the
couple had recommended. Another
lighthouse too (Greg rolls his eyes).
This turned out to be a great spot, as we decided to boondock there and
had a great night. Very cold and windy when we walked to the point
past the lighthouse. Lots of seabirds, most of which we couldn’t identify.
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| Lighthouse at St. Martin's cove |
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| Next morning the light was fantastic. |
Chili and baklava for dinner J. Blueberries for tomorrow’s breakfast!
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