Yes, we'll still here. Going into week three now. We've enjoyed our visit in spite of rain rain rain. We're told that the weather we've experienced is unusual for this time of year. It hasn't really kept us from doing and going as we've wanted too. We've just had to occasionally revise our plans. But, that is the advantage of this life. Flexibility.
We moved from Booth Bay Harbor to Ellsworth. We stayed at the Hospitality Woods Campground on Rt 1. This park was OK for us older folks but didn't have many amenities to offer kids. The park was very quiet all week.
The night we arrived in Ellsworth, we drove over to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm
We purchased our park pass. We got the annual pass ($80.00). This one will allow us free entrance to all national parks in the US for a year.
We drove through Bar Harbor and stopped at a "shack" for dinner. Gary and I both ordered a hot dog with chili. If you never heard about Gary's chili experience in New Mexico you won't appreciate the humor of what happened next. As Gary keeps saying "we're not in Kansas anymore !". The hot dogs came, we opened them up..there were BEANS!! in the chili. When we went to New Mexico a couple of years ago, Gary ordered a hamburger with chili. The hamburger came covered with chopped up green chili's. Not exactly what he was expecting. He scraped them off (he doesn't like to eat green vegetables) and ate.
Later we went to the NM state fair. Ordered a hot dog with chili. Were assured it was "chili" chili and not green chili's. When it came it had BEANS in it. Better but definitely not NC hot dog chili. So for a very brief moment we thought we were back in New Mexico. OK..the weather isn't quite the same. 95* vs 65*....bit of a difference. Anyway, we enjoyed it (or at least I did).
We also enjoyed some Maine blueberry bread pudding. I'd never had blueberry bread pudding before. Pretty tasty. After dinner we drove up to the top of Cadillac mountain in the park. We watched the sun go down through the clouds. The fog rolled in through the mountains. Beautiful!!!
The town of Bar Harbor is located on Mount Desert Island. The villages of Hulls Cove, Salisbury Cove, and Town Hill are all part of the municipality of Bar Harbor, as is a large portion of Acadia National Park. The area is known for rocky shores, lobster and downeast hospitality. The downtown area is full of shops and restaurants. We walked along the wharf and watched a boat come in from fishing. There were many different types of boats moored in the harbor. One was a hugh wooden 4 mast boat that is used for tours of the harbor and other special events. You could even get married on it if you’d like. It had beautiful cinnamon colored sails. We saw it sailing several times up and down the coast.
On Wednesday Gary went to Bangor (about 30 miles away) to have the truck tires rotated and the oil changed. He tried to use Sears since we’d bought our tires at the store in Durham, but when he arrived he learned they couldn’t work on the truck for 5-6 hours. Luckily there was a Goodyear store close by and they were able to take him on it. I worked and it rained off and on all day.
Thursday, the weather had cleared and we went around Acadia National Park. On the way we stopped at the Maine Lula and tried a lobster roll. This is a hot dog roll that was filled with cold lobster, lettuce and mayonnaise. It was served with cole slaw and fries. Pretty bland tasting. Maybe the big lobster tastes better.
At the park, we climbed on rocks at the shore and enjoyed the sunshine. Ellie really seemed to enjoy this. We met another couple with a male Doberman. He wasn’t quite as friendly as Ellie but did allow us to pat him. And just to show what a small world it is, Gary ran into a guy he used to work with at UNC. Lynwood Futrell and his wife have family in Maine and were up for a visit.
Acadia National Park covers most of Mount Desert Island. There is a bus that takes you around the park for free. They’ll even transport your bike for you if you’re using one. There are hiking trails, carriage roads and auto roads. The island has a number of ponds and lakes on it. Water is everywhere.
On Friday the weather held sunny and cool. We were finally able to go out on a Puffin and Whale watch boat. This was the first day the boat had been out that week due to rain and fog. (Lots of fog). The captain warned us the ocean swells were going to be 4-5 feet and that if we tended toward getting sea sick we could get off the boat and either reschedule or get our money back. Several people did this and as it turned out about half of the boat should have. It was a rough ride. Lots of people got sick. The crew was great helping everyone. It was sad to see. Gary and I were grateful we didn’t get sick at all. In fact I found the ride very exhilarating. We went out into the ocean about 20 miles. We looked and looked for whales. We saw Harbor Porpoise and Seals. There were also several different types of birds. Sea Gulls, Terns and others I don’t remember the names of. We finally found 1 whale. A Minke. It was about 20’ long and surfaced several times near the boat. We never did see it’s tail. Only the dorsal fin as it breached the water to breath. It surfaced 5-6 times over about a half hour. The captain kept moving the boat around so we could see as best as possible. With the rough seas, people getting sick all around us and only 1 whale, we both were a little disappointed with the entire trip. We also went down to visit an island with a lighthouse where Researchers are keeping records of the Puffins and Terns on the island. This part of the trip was good. We saw lots of birds and even saw some Puffins floating in the water. If you’re interested on learning more about Puffins and Whales visit this web site. http://www.barharborwhales.com/educational.php
On Saturday we went up the coast a bit to a separate part of the Park. It was called the Schoodic Pennisula. We saw more beautiful shore line. More birds. Hike through the woods a bit. Pretty cool!!
Sunday again found us traveling around Acadia National Park. More trails, water and birds.
Monday was a rest and stay around the RV day.
Tuesday morning dawned bright and early at 5:00am. Gary got me up at 5: 30am and we set out to catch the ferry for Nova Scotia. We had to be at the dock by 7:00am. After getting our tickets and going through security we boarded the CAT. The CAT is a ferry that travels over 650 miles from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth Nova Scotia. http://www.catferry.com/the-ship/
We had booked a tour and planed to see a bit of Yarmouth before returning on the same ferry in the afternoon. Shortly after we started out, the captain announced 1 of the engines was having a problem and we had to stop. We didn’t have to wait long before we continued on 3 engines. Traveling on 3 engines meant we went slower and therefore felt the ocean swell more. Just like on the Whale watch ship, lots of folks got sick. For the first time for me, I got sick too. 3 hours of nausea..yuk!! I was very glad to reach the harbor in Yarmouth. Once on land I immediately felt much better. Unfortunately we were late and it took FOREVER to get through customs in Canada. Our tour was supposed to last 2 ½ hours. We crammed everything in about 1 ½ hours instead. Yarmouth is a fishing village that is responsible for the bulk of the lobster harvest for Canada. We went to St Ambrose Cathedral church. It had very beautiful stained glass windows throughout. Then we went to a Lobster yard. The Stanley brothers have over 50,000 pounds of lobster stored waiting to be sent to market. Last we visited the Yarmouth lighthouse. Then rush, rush, rush back to catch the boat that was waiting for us. I took some Dramamine on the way back and didn’t get sick again. I did take a nap for about an hour, but that was much better than the nausea I had coming over. Expensive trip to a very small fishing village. Maybe we’ll go back to Nova Scotia some day with more time and our own vehicle.
Wednesday was a work and laundry day. Our last day in Ellsworth. On Thursday we headed up to the North Maine Woods to see a Moose.
No comments:
Post a Comment