Acadia National Park

Our plants were so happy to be outside soaking up the sunshine!

On Thursday, after we got settled in, Debby and I took the bikes to the picnic area across the street from the campground. We took our beach chairs and although there was no sand on the shoreline, the tide was out so we set up on some relatively flat rocks not far from the water. It was a glorious day and we had the "beach" all to ourselves. This was when we really fell in love with the place and decided right then and there that we had to stay at least a week - not only for the beauty of the spot but also because we needed to just stay put for a while. After a couple of hours the sun went behind the clouds and it was time to head home. Sini and Bob were just arriving as we biked into the campground and it was just like old times in Slab City - only with trees.

On Friday, we set out for a short hike in the hills a few miles north of the campground. I had checked out the trails on the map I got at Bar Harbor and found a loop that took us up two “mountains,” each about 680 feet tall. We started on a trail that climbed gradually through the woods up to the summit of Mt. Sauveur. The terrain and vegetation were very similar to Lake Tahoe and there were even views of some beautiful lakes to complete the picture. From the top, we took the East Face Trail, which as the name implies, took us along the top of some very steep terrain with spectacular views of the ocean and the mansions on the other side of the bay, then dropped down steeply all the way back to sea level at Somes Sound. The hike up Acadia Mt. was quite steep and required some rock climbing along the way, which made it all the more fun. About halfway up, we stopped to enjoy a few sips of Pinot Grigio and  a snack and at the top we found a nice sunny spot with a view and had our lunch. All in all it was a great hike and we came home exhausted and happy.

Saturday was a rainy day and a perfect opportunity to go to the Bar Harbor post office to pick up our mail and stop by the Atlantic Brewery on the way home. Turns out the brewery has a special on Saturday—all you can eat BBQ including pulled pork, chicken, sausage, ribs, and all the sides. While that sounded great, Debby and I opted to split a sampler plate, and that turned out to be the perfect amount. Before eating, we went to the tasting room and tried just about every beer they make. I had high hopes for the Scottish Ale, but it really wasn’t anything special, not like the Moab Scottish Ale or Kilt Lifter, but I brought a couple of bottles home anyway. They had a honey ale, which they described as a mix between a meade and barley wine. At 12% it was a sipping beer and Debby can attest to its potency after trying a small glass with lunch. They also had pickled fiddleheads, which looked like nothing I’d ever seen before—something like a cross between a mushroom and a snail. Turns out they are ferns that are harvested before they unfurl. Didn’t try any, but the girl at the counter said they tasted like pickled cauliflower or Brussels sprouts. After we got home, we went for a hike around the campground with Sini and Bob and also went across the street to check out the picnic area again. The highlight of the hike was coming across a small graveyard in the campground with a few headstones dating back to the early 1800’s.