We made it, we are in Maine... |
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| We are here to enjoy Bar Harbor, Acadia National
Park, the Maine Coast, but it is also our turn around point to head
back south. We were lucky enough to have some friends decide
they wanted to do a little road trip, well, they flew into Boston,
drove up to meet us, then did a little road trip through NH & VT
before they went to Boston and flew home. It is always
wonderful to be with Dave & Vicki. We so enjoy their company! There is stuff on this page that encompasses August, but don't forget to check out the subpages, Acadia National Park, Maine Coast, MA & CT Wine tasting, The Boston Area, and Cape Cod. You don't want to miss anything :) |
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| We are off to find someplace to enjoy a little happy hour, just a snack and an adult beverage. We decide on Lompoc Cafe. | After enjoying a few treats and a few beers, we are walking around downtown Bar Harbor, there they go! |
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| If you look really closely, there is a lit up moose on top of the pinkish/purplish bldg :) I saw all sorts of mooses, just never a real one! | We worked up an appetite, so we head over to the Cafe This Way for a light dinner. So far, so good, all the food has been wonderful. |
| The following day, after spending time in Acadia Nat'l Park, we go on an excursion around the island to find dinner. Lobster of course! Vicki decides on one of the Lobster Pounds over on the other side of the island. | |
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| On one of our stops to check out the views, we find a fisherman that is fishing for mackerel. They use it for bait for the lobster I think. We chatted with him for awhile. Nice guy. | All sizes of boats anchored out, just waiting for their owners to come and get them and have a great time. |
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| The small bay where the restaurant was had lots of boats too, many of the lobster boats. As you can see, they also stored a lot of lobster traps. | Thurston's Lobster Pound is the place that Vicki picked. It seemed to be pretty popular, there was quite the line. |
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| All of the dining was covered, but the wall's could be rolled up for a nice breeze to come through. There was a mist coming in over the bay. | The prices and sizes at Thurston's. Hard is hard shell lobster, sweeter meat and soft is molted lobster, where the meat is not as sweet but definitely cheaper! |
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| The fun part was picking your own lobster! | Someone's lobster is ready to eat, coming right out of the wood heated boilers. |
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| Dave's is the really big lobster :) | and we also tried the clams and mussels. |
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| Actually, the best fun is trying to eat these guys. Dave getting his lobster bib ready to put on before tackling his monster lobster. | Well, we enjoyed every bite, so much so that we didn't have room for dessert, so we bought it to take home, fresh blueberry pie... |
| The next day was a toss up, we didn't know if it would be stormy or nice. The clouds came in but then, luckily, they left. We had quite a bit of rain while in Maine, but you can't let that stop you! | |
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| Storm clouds over some RV's as they came in over Frenchman's Bay. | Looking out towards Frenchman's Bay and the clouds are clearing up. |
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| Sun peeking out of the clouds over our RV. | Finally, a rainbow to let us know all is well. |
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| Dinner the 2nd night Dave & Vicki were in Bar Harbor was going to be a "manly" meal. | We found a Steak and Brew Pub down the road, so we headed on over. |
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| Really lovely grounds, we had to wait just a few minutes before we got our table, but once again, it was worth it. | The great food was to be found at Jack Russell's Market :) |
| Dave & Vicki took off to enjoy the rest of the road trip, we stayed behind to enjoy some more lobster and some more Maine :) | |
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| Oh No, more lobster, we picked these up across the road and found they almost had the best to be had and the price was nice too. | Don't you just want to attack this lobster and enjoy it for yourself? Yummo! |
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| Wild Maine blueberries, they were everywhere around the RV park. People were picking them every day. | a close up... |
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| Just down the street was an actual winery, well, mostly a farm, but they also made wine. Bar Harbor Cellars at Sweet Pea's Farm. | The gentleman that was pouring for us was full of lots of info on the area and lots of fun to talk to. Their vines are not fully mature yet, so they are purchasing their grapes (I think they were from NY). |
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| Atlantic Brewing Company owned both a brewery and the winery that we went to. | Trying some local beers at lunch... |
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| I had the pulled BBQ pork sandwich and was it yummy. Part of the brewery was also a BBQ joint called Mainely Meet BBQ. | Once done with lunch (we needed something in our tummies before beer tasting :), we headed into the tasting room. There was a huge line-up of beers to try and we enjoyed many of them! |
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| Entrance to Bartlett's Winery, we drove past this sign twice I think, had to call and get better directions. | Statuary in the parking lot. |
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Tasting room at Bartlett's. All of their wine is made from fruit, but it is mostly very dry. If you didn't know it was from apples, blueberries or pears, you might think it was from grapes... I enjoyed several of them. |
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| This is Wilbur at Ruth & Wimpy's. | Another lobster pound, we stopped here on our way home to pick up dinner. |
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| Jim decided on the almost 3 pound lobster | This guy is a monster! He enjoyed every bite. |
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| One of many storms passing over us in the RV park at Bar Harbor. | Our lunch spot, Sips in Southwest Harbor, ME |
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| We enjoyed some mussels in a great broth. I forgot to take a picture before we inhaled them :) | Just down the road, we were on the back side of Thurston's Lobster Pound where we ate with Dave & Vicki. The tide is definitely out. |
| To do something a little different, we decided to take the Cat Ferry over to Nova Scotia, Yarmouth to be exact. | |
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| The nose or the stern of the double hull catamaran that we are going to ride on for a few hours. | Looking down the side, it is a very large ferry. We went on as walk on passengers. |
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| While waiting for the ferry to take off, I found this really nice boat anchored near by. | We also got to see a couple of lobstermen doing their thing. |
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| another light house on the way to Yarmouth. I think this is the Bass light house outside of Bar Harbor. | Yarmouth Light House. |
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| Disembarking from the Cat Ferry in Yarmouth, these are the people that brought their cars. | We are actually here, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. |
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| We first wanted some lunch, so we asked someone local where to get good seafood. Rudder's Seafood is what they recommended. | Here is the drink list, I had a Rudders Red beer with my lunch. |
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| Fountain in one of the parks in Yarmouth, it was a very peaceful park. | Heading back to the Cat to get back to Bar Harbor. I wouldn't recommend this as a day trip... too much money for too short a time. |
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Sunset in the RV Park in Bar Harbor, ME |
| The last day in Bar Harbor, we head back to town to walk around once again and to find some lunch | |
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| Sailing amongst the small islands around Bar Harbor. | View of the harbor from our windowless seats in the restaurant. People are getting ready to go out on one of the tour boats. |
| Now it's time to turn around and start
our trip south, but VERY SLOWLY... Our next stop is Portland, Maine; well, actually Scarborough where the RV park is... |
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| We are staying at Wild Duck Campground on Dunstan Landing Road, but I thought it was interesting to see that Rufus & William King were born somewhere around here. Not that I knew who they were, but they are pretty famous for the area. | Our little home all cozy with the other RV's in the park. |
| Wednesday was the best day of the week, actually going to be sunny ALL DAY, which would be a first... We spent the day exploring the area around Portland itself. | |
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| One view of the Portland Head Lighthouse. To the right is the Halfway Rock Light. | Another view, I really like this one with the rocks. |
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| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow liked to walk to the light house. Supposedly he sat on this rock and wrote his poem "The Lighthouse". | There is a copy of the poem in the small museum in the lighthouse. |
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| Ok, one more view... they are so picturesque, don't you think? | A sail boat and Halfway Rock Light... |
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| This is part of the emplacements where guns where mounted when the park was part of a battery for WWII. | A wild rose along the coast. |
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| A lobster boat with a lot of seagulls; there is a freighter way out on the horizon. | Jim on the phone while I look around Two Lights State Park. |
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| Cape Elizabeth Light as seen from the restaurant where we had lunch. | The next lobster destination, Two Lights Lobster Shack. |
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| Waiting for our number to be called, I am enjoying the view. | You don't want to know how much this simple lunch cost, but I am going to tell you! HA! $40.64, yes, you read that right :P This was our most expensive lobster, but it still tasted awfully good and there was LOTS of lobster in the roll. |
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| The front of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House... | A little about the house. |
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| We then wandered around, found this old cobbled street, there was suppose to be some great eats along here. | We were trying to find out way into a wine bar, but ended up in a cafe that had an outrageous chocolate torte and not so bad wine. It was worth the wrong turn :) |
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| Duckfat Restaurant, we had to give it a try, even for just a snack. I read an article in Food & Wine magazine and had to try it. | French fries deep fried in duck fat! Yowzer! and a nice cold local beer to go with them. |
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| A local hangout, J's Oyster House. We decided to have dinner here. | Enjoying our dinner by the water... |
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| Ducks and a cormorant in the pond at the RV park. | A close-up of the cormorant, waiting for a fish or frog to go by... |
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| Part of the salt water marsh next to the RV park. When the tide is in, there is lots of water to enjoy a canoe or kayak ride; when the tide is out, there is almost no water but just a lot of mud. | Queen Anne's lace... |
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| 1700 pounds of pure milk chocolate make up Lenny the Moose. This is in a chocolate shop (Len Libby) just down the road from our RV park. I am glad I didn't go to this shop until the day before we left, I might have spent too much time there otherwise... | The bears are made out of dark chocolate. We bought a couple of truffles and they were very good. I couldn't find any live moose, but this chocolate one was fun :) |
| Boston Area (mostly) It's Sunday, August 17th and we have left Portland, ME and are now in Mansfield, MA (32 miles SW of Boston). We will be here for 2 weeks doing lots of interesting stuff. We will be checking out Historic Boston, Quincy, Cambridge, Cape Cod, Nantucket, wine tasting in Connecticut, drive around Rhode Island (Jim lived there once, in Newport, while in the Navy) and anything else we can find to do :) |
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| Sorry about the fuzz from the glare of the windshield. I had Jim drive all the way (not too far luckily) to Mystic, CT just so that we could say we have been there :) | Part of the Mystic Seaport... |
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| The famous Mystic Pizza, made infamous from the movie "Mystic Pizza" starring Julia Roberts. Matt Damon made his feature film debut in this movie. | There was a really long line coming out of this ice cream parlor, we didn't stop because we didn't want to take all that time! |
| Newport, Rhode Island | |
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| Leaving Connecticut over the bridge to Newport, RI. | Lots of boats along the waterway here in Newport... |
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| a grey brick road in Newport... | Church steeple behind a park. |
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| Fancy boats at one of the marinas. | More fancy boats... after all, this is Newport... |
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| A few of the Navy officers in training... | Enjoying a glass of Rose with our appetizers before dinner. |
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| The lowering sunlight on America Cup Avenue in Newport, RI. | Sunset from the parking lot of the gas station we stopped at to get gas for the trip back to the RV :) |
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More Boston... |
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| The famous Swan Boats of the Boston Commons. | We bought tickets on the Boston Trolley, |
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| Fenway Park getting a face lift. | Another view of the park. |
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| Sailboat race in the Boston Harbor | We needed some lunch, I love Irish Pubs, so I found this one at the Marketplace. |
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| Upstairs at Ned Devine's where we enjoyed our lunch. | JFK would eat & visit in this restaurant at the Omni Parker House Hotel on Tremont in Boston. |
