Who Did We Go to See?

Maine Trip, Day 5 and 6, Saturday and Sunday

Our loosely based itinerary for this trip included leaving the weekend days free so we could spend time with my sister, Mary Ellen, and her husband, Paul, when they weren't working. Because that was really the reason for the trip--to visit family. After playing tourist the rest of the week, we enjoyed our time just hanging out with Mary Ellen and Paul. Here is how we spent our weekend.

Saturday: It was raining all day, so that meant mostly indoor, rainy day activities.

While Ward and Paul were off at a spin class, Mary Ellen and I sat around in our warm robes drinking coffee and chatting as only sisters can do.

We had a good lunch out and then headed back home to get out of the rain.

Paul worked in his shop while Mary Ellen and I spent several hours working on my mother's estate.

and Ward took a nap and worked a puzzle.

A relaxing day for all. :)
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Sunday: The rain cleared, so we spent the day out and about.

Ward and Paul went for a hike to Bald Mountain. The joke of our visit was that Ward was so relaxed, he could sleep anywhere.

While they were hiking, Mary Ellen and I went to visit my nephew and his wife where I met my grandnephew. He is five months old and a happy, smiley baby. I was really looking forward to this part of the trip and our visit did not disappoint.

And what would a trip to Maine be without a visit to L. L. Bean? When it was time for the baby to take a nap, Mary Ellen and I headed here. The area around the store has built up to be an outlet mecca, but we only went to this store. Did I mention that I'm not much of a shopper?

It was a good weekend and nice break before we were off playing tourist for one more day on Monday.

Friends and Beaches

Maine Vacation, Day 4, Friday

This was the day we had arranged ahead of time to meet with our long time friends who now live outside of Boston. We met at Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts which was about halfway between where we were staying and their home.

We had lunch in a restaurant built on the edge of the beach or actually in the water during high tide. We were there close to high tide,  so we got a little excited as the waves struck the windows and sometimes shook the building.

After lunch we spent some time on the beach. Ward and Ray took a walk along a jetty.

They cut their walk short after a couple of these big waves.

They joined Dee and I on a walk down the beach where we found this lobster trap. Apparently if a trap breaks away, it's fair game for anyone. We left this one for somebody else.

We spent a couple of more hours on the beach talking and taking in the sights of birds, fishing boats and seals. Then it was time to part ways. They headed south and we headed north.

On the way home, we stopped to look around in Kennebunkport, ME.  We learned there were actually two towns here: Kennebunk, and Kennebunkport. However, for all practical purposes, they are the same thing. At least if you are a tourist. (Note: I will refer to everything here as being in Kennebunk because it is easier to type.)  Kennebunk is a picturesque New England town. Below are a couple of examples of this.

This is the S. Congregational Church that was built in 1884. It has a wooden clock face which is unusual.

The Wedding Cake House in Kennebunk was built in 1825 by George Bourne. Lore has it that the house was built by Bourne, a sea captain, for his wife because he went to sea before they had their wedding cake. That's not true, but it makes a good story. My pictures didn't turn out well because of afternoon shadows. This picture is from TripAdvisor.com.

We visited the beach at Kennebunk. This beach was also cold and windy like the last one. Or as Ward would say, it was refreshing. We don't always agree on the weather.

We walked up and down the beach, but mostly we watched several dogs playing. However, we didn't get any pictures, we were having too much fun with the dog show.

As the sun was setting, we left for my sister's house where we found a fresh seafood dinner waiting. Have I mentioned that my brother-in-law is a great cook?

Oh, The Winds Were Blowing

Maine Vacation, Day 3

We woke up to the same weather we went to bed with--cold rain. That meant we had to change our plans a bit. The motel had a list of rainy day activities which included Thunder Hole and we decided to make that our first destination. Thunder Hole is a place along the shore in Acadia National Park where the rocks are in a bowl shape so that when the waves crash there, they make a loud thundering noise.

When we got to Thunder Rock, the wind was blowing the rain almost horizontally. With the wind and rain noise, I'm not sure if we heard the thundering or not. However, the waves were loud.

After Thunder Rock, we decided to drive the rest of the loop around the park. At this stop I got dry clothes out of my suitcase and changed out of my wet clothes. Despite our rain gear, parts of us were soaked from our Thunder Rock visit because of the driving rain. (Not sure why it was listed as a rainy day activity.)

After my dry clothes, I was able to enjoy the drive better. 

Of all of the beautiful trees, I think sugar maple is my favorite.

This is a carriage bridge. Acadia National Park has a series of roads and bridges constructed by John D. Rockefeller from 1913 to 1940 for hikers, bikers, and carriages to enjoy the area. 

We continued on the drive back to my sister's house. We took the long way home and explored some of the points and islands of the area. We saw a lot of big houses, but I didn't take pictures of any of them. We were out of the tourist areas and it seemed intrusive to do so. It rained the whole way home, but it was an enjoyable ride in our nice, warm, dry car.

Timing is Everything

Maine Vacation, Day 2 continued

After our tour of the fort, we still had a ways to go before we reached our destination of Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is located on Mount Desert Island along with Acadia National Park and it's crown jewel, Cadillac Mountain. Upon recommendation from a couple that we had met at the observatory and fort, we set our sights on Cadillac Mountain in hopes of seeing it before dark and more importantly before it rained.

When we got there, the wind was picking up and the fog was just starting to roll in. Despite this, we still had good views. As always, the pictures don't do them justice, but hopefully you can get the idea of how pretty it was with the pictures below.

Cadillac Mountain is a glaciated, granite monolith with lots of good rocks to climb on.

Cadillac Mountain

Cadillac Mountain

I'm checking out the cruise ship below as the fog rolls in. Soon after this, we decided it was time to go. Good timing because that was about the time that three tour buses rolled up.

Next we visited nearby Jordan Pond at a lower elevation. Luckily, it wasn't too foggy there yet.

Jordan Pond was formed by glaciers.

The Jordan Pond House, a restaurant at the pond, is famous for its tea and popovers. The wait was too long for us to have some, so instead, we watched this squirrel enjoy some spilled jam.
He was trying to remain protected by a chair he was under,
but had to stretch all of the way out to get his treat.

Our next destination was Bar Harbor. One way or another, we were determined to make it there before nightfall. And we did. Bar Harbor has housed the rich during the summer off and on over the years. Now it has become a popular tourist destination not only because of the nearby outdoor activities, but because of its shops and scenic B and B's, many of which were former homes of the rich.

The center of downtown Bar Harbor is full of shops. I'm not much of a shopper,
so we just strolled by most of them and didn't buy anything.

Instead of perusing the shops, we spent most of our time on the shore path along the ocean.

We saw a schooner.

And a cruise ship.
The same one we saw from the top of Cadillac Mountain. 

Many of the old houses and buildings from the past have been made into bed and breakfasts and hotels. This is the Bar Harbor Inn along the shore path that was started as a reading room in 1887

After our walk along the shore path, the wind had really kicked up and it had started to mist. We decided to find our hotel before the real rains came a tumbling down. Road work made getting to our motel much harder than it should have been but we made it--just as it started to rain hard.

Our room had a lobster towel waiting for us.  The room wasn't fancy, but nice. This motel was the sister motel of a more expensive hotel. We have seen this before. The staff is trained to work in both places and sometimes the cheaper places get some of the extra touches that the fancier place gets. 

It was cold and rainy outside and it was a nice to be warm and comfortable after a fun day. It was all good until I figured out that I had accidentally deleted all of the pictures on the camera. I may have mentioned that one or two times before. But all's well that ends well.

And there was light

Maine Vacation, Day 2

When we last spoke, I was lamenting over the fact that I had accidentally deleted all of the pictures on my camera from the beginning of our Maine vacation. Well after a lot of teeth gnashing, googling, and a late night trip to a Walmart in the next town, most of them were recovered. Yea! So I can now tell you about our trip to Maine with some pictures.

Wednesday morning we headed north with the destination of Bar Harbor about three hours away. We had no time table, so we stopped wherever and whenever we wanted. We stopped to watch a flock of wild turkeys. We stopped to buy snacks. We stopped to admire leaves. And we stopped at a "must see" tourist trap, I mean attraction, Perry's Nut House.

Perry's Nut House has been around forever (1927) and is one of those places that people stop by mostly for nostalgic reasons. That and the homemade fudge. One of my friends remembers stopping here every year as a kid on the way to visit her grandmother and said we had to stop. The store was full of candy and trinkets. Every interesting bumper sticker you've ever seen could be found here. Every toy that your kid just had to have, but fell apart as soon as you got out the door could be found here. However, it was definitely worth the stop for the chocolate covered peanuts we got.

It was hard, but we made it out of here with only a small bag of chocolate covered peanuts.

After our fun browsing at Perry's nut house, we continued north to the Penobscot Bridge and Observatory. This bridge spans the Penobscot River and has a 420' observatory in one of the bridge pylons. It has an amazing view of the area, that is, if you are not afraid of heights, which I am. And Ward isn't. So we both went to the top of the tower and I clung to the inner wall waiting for the next elevator down while Ward was enjoying the 360 degree view of the area. When I got to the bottom, I walked around examining rocks and plants while bracing myself against the wind from a front that was moving in. Ward came down later all excited about the views and engineering of the bridge. I guess you might say, a good time was had by all. Sort of.

The bridge is a cable suspension bridge and the elevator for the observatory
is located in the base of the near pylon.

This is one of the pictures Ward took from the tower. He is looking straight down on the bridge.
To help you gain perspective, the white dots at the end of the bridge are cars.

Next to the bridge is Fort Knox historic site. The fort was named was named after Major General Henry Knox the same general that Fort Knox, of gold fame in Kentucky, was named after. The fort was built in the mid 1800's was made mostly from granite. Granite does not easily break down and this is the most intact fort I have visited.

They were getting ready for a fright night at the fort and were decorating for it.
These pumpkins were not frightening, but some of the other things we saw were.

The walls were in as good of shape as they were when the fort was built. The granite was cut from a nearby area and was transported down the river to the fort.

Across the river from the fort was the picturesque town of Bucksport. The town of Bucksport was burned down at one point by the British when they had control of the river during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  Because of this, a  fort was planned for the area in 1825 but it was 1853 before it was totally completed. While there were troops stationed there during the Civil War and Spanish-American War, the area has not been threatened again since the fort was built.

Note: 
We got home yesterday from the trip. It was a great trip and we had a good time. I hope to continue posting about our trip as we took it. 

However, reentry home has been hard. One of my cats is sick, but recovering, Another one is looking bad. I hope that we can turn him around.  I have a funeral to attend for my cousin in another state and both Ward and I have to work this weekend. Other than that, there's the normal stuff of paying bills and laundry. But such is life.

In the meantime, I have been trying to catch up on your blogs. I am reading, but not commenting much yet. But I will. Soon. Until then you probably know me well enough that you can imagine what I would say.