Down East and the Maritimes: Bar Harbor Cruise

I've been remiss in posting pictures of our three-week trip to the northeast. I've an excuse or two but lets say it was mostly exhaustion and let it go at that.

After watching the sun rise from Cadillac Mountain, Terry and I went down into Bar Harbor to have breakfast and then get ready for our nature cruise which we had booked the day before.

While we waited for our boarding time, Terry made a friend on the pier.

You could opt for a cruise on this schooner.

Two of the motor cruisers,  The smaller one on the left goes way out looking for whales.

Our ride awaits.

One of many beautiful coastal homes.

I wouldn't mind living here!

Bald Eagle watches us go by.

Cormorants and Gulls abound.

Rocky shores of Acadia.

Thunder Hole from the water.

There were plenty of seals out on the rocks.

Plenty of them.

One of many lighthouses on the Maine coast that have been automated. Must have been a grand--if harsh--life for an introvert.

Another Bald Eagle watched us from the shore.

And not to far away, this Peregrine Falcon sat in the tree top.

After seeing the Peregrine, we cruised on back to the dock and debarked.

The next day we departed the Bar Harbor area and headed north into Canada's New Brunswick Provence and the Bay of Fundy National Park.

Down East and the Maritimes: Day Five (Part 1)

We started our day at the early time of 3:00 AM. Our campground is about 40 minutes from the Cadillac Mt. turn within Acadia National Park so we figured to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the summit for the 4:59 sunrise. Well, as should have been expected, there was no traffic at 3:15 in the morning and we zoomed right along arriving at the summit at about 3:45. We weren't first, but we were in the first dozen cars in the lot. That would continue to change as the minutes ticked away.

We found ourselves a comfortable rock with some plant growth directly in front of us--thus giving no one a chance to block our view--and settled down in a chill breeze to wait.

Color began to appear in the sky quite early as a low bank of clouds began to reflect pink, purple and orange from the approaching Sun.

Lightening sky to the northeast at 0425

Minute by minute the color became more intense.

Color to the northeast at 0428.

And the crowd began to swell. The parking lot filled and folks parked on the road and/or in the middle of the parking lot blocking everything.

The sun was scheduled to appear over the horizon at 0459 and it seemed it was going to wait to the last second. But meanwhile it would tease.

Still no Sun at 0457

And then...MAGIC!

The first sliver peeped above the horizon right on schedule. (Some people did not. They were late to the party.)

First sliver of sun at 0458 and a smidge.

Down East and the Maritimes: Day Four

We puttered around downtown Bar Harbor for a couple of hours on an overcast and drizzly day on Sunday.

Sailing vessels at Bar Harbor

Lobster boats at Bar Harbor

Monday was a different story! We got there bright and early so we could hog glob find one of the few free, all-day-if-you-want parking spots on West Street. (That's the street that runs right along the harbor front.) Although we got there around 7:45 AM we were still over a quarter mile from the trolley depot. We were early enough to go get a cuppa and sit on one of the benches overlooking the harbor before making our way to the depot.

Four-master at Bar Harbor--in the sun!

Our tour departed at 10 AM sharp and we had a marvelously entertaining and informative tour of Mt. Desert Island that included stops at the top of Cadillac Mountain, the Wild Gardens of Acadia and Thunder Hole. We only stopped for 15 minutes at each, but it was enough to give you a taste.

Dorr and Cadillac Mountains from the Loop Road

The Atlantic from atop Cadillac Mountain

Bar Island and the Porcupine islands from the Loop Road

Thunder Hole

While Terry and I have been to two of those places many, many years ago, this was our first stop at the Gardens where we were enthralled. EVERY. SINGLE. THING. is labeled and identified for you.(We went back in the afternoon to take a more leisurely look around.)


Tomorrow we will be going up to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see the first rays of the sun strike the US. That sunrise takes place at 4:59 AM but to find parking at the top we were told we should plan on being there no later than 4:15 with 4:00 being even better.

Down East and the Maritimes: Day Three

Sunday: Day 3

We took the long, slow path from Biddeford, ME to Trenton, ME today. It was raining so we decided to delay our arrival at the Timberland Acres Campground as long as possible. Besides, we wanted to see some small villages/towns along US Route 1 that we would have missed if we had hopped the interstate. It was worth it as we passed through several very picturesque little towns founded in the late 1700s and early 1800s with their very Victorian homes and downtowns. Some very impressive painted ladies!

We still got to the campground around 1:30 PM which afforded us time to look at the handouts provided by the campground staff over a quick sandwich and then head down to Bar Harbor. Once there, we purchased some warm outerwear, booked a trolley tour of Acadia National Park with Oli's Trolley for Monday morning and a nature cruise with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. for Tuesday afternoon. It's a two hour cruise so I'm pretty sure we'll be okay.

We stopped and had a drink and an appetizer at Paddy's near the town dock. It's a beauty of an Irish pub and we sat in the bar where everyone else was glued to the TVs watching Portugal vs France in soccer.

On the way back to the campground we picked up a boiled lobster at one of the many lobster pounds along route 3. The lobster was to supplement the left over french fries, fried shrimp and fried clams from last night's dinner.

We also stopped at the campground office and got one of our propane tanks refilled as it had run empty during the cold of Saturday night. It did it's job of taking the chill out of the trailer and, with the windows closed and an extra blanket, that was all we needed. Thankfully, the trailer comes with two 20 pound tanks--the same size as those used on your gas grill. I was able to switch over to the second tank this morning so we could have coffee and tea. That's the first tank I've had to refill--and that's after the long cross country trip to the west coast last year. I really need to get out on the road more often.

(BTW, the stupid low tire pressure light was on for the first ten miles of today's trip and then--poof!--it disappeared.)