A Day in the Park

We toured Acadia National Park today.  Acadia is the first national park created from land donated entirely by private citizens, and the only national park in the Northeast.  It is one of the most visited parks in the US, with more than 2 million travelers each year!  It all started when weathly people gathered in the late 1800’s in the Bar Harbor on Mt. Desert Island to spend summers here—the Astors, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Carnegies and Morgans. A public land trust was created by these individuals to preserve Maine’s natural beauty.  President Woodrow Wilson established the area as a national park.  Later, John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated 11,000 acres, and designed and built 45 miles of roads which they call the “Rockefeller Roads”, using granite for the bridges. These roads, called carriage roads are throughout the park, but autos are prohibited from travelling on them.  So, walkers, bikers and horses can roam through the park without fear of being run over.  (The bears in the park call the bikers “meals on wheels”!! ha ha!)   Interestingly, grandson David Rockefeller turned 100 this year on June 12 and in honor of his 100th birthday is donating 1000 acres on Mount Desert Island to the public trust. 


We went to a part of the park called Cadillac Mountain which is the highest point on the Atlantic coast (1530 ft.)  This is the place where the sunrise can be first be seen to North America!  We considered getting up at 4:30 to see it, (but not for long).  The views from the mountain were awesome… you can see the islands in the distance (there are more than 3000 islands around the area). The top of the mountain is granite, remnants of the lava flow that created the area. 
We saw students with writing tablets and artists with canvases enjoying the environment.

Jim climbed atop the rocks to see Thunder Hole, a narrow granite channel where the waves whip up. 

We learned that many celebrities and stars have homes in this area—John Travolta, Tom Selleck and Martha Stewart.  We saw the old home of Edsel Ford, but we didn’t get invitations to any of their homes. (darn!)

We visited Jordan Pond, a clear lake on the western side.  Rising in the distance are a pair of rounded mountains called The Bubbles.

The breast view from the park!

We returned to the campground, and I had a “blog class” for a few that were trying to get a blog started.  Payment for the class was wine…trying to deplete the supply before crossing the border!   ...we were successful!

Places, People and More Lobstah!

What’s a trip to Maine without a trip to LLBean?  The flagship store which is open 24 hours a day,  is in Freeport, about an hour away, so a few of us settled on visiting the outlet store that is much closer.  It didn’t disappoint…we all found some goodies to buy!
Bar Harbor is nestled between the mountains of Acadia National Park and the Atlantic Ocean, on Mount Desert Island, the third largest island on the eastern seaboard.  It is only 28 miles across from west to east.  The town was settled in 1763 as a fishing village.
Mount Desert Island is also home to the MDI Laboratory, and the Jackson Laboratory, leading research institutes focusing on genetics and regenerative medicine, and development  of therapies to improve human health. The lobster captain yesterday filled us in on the labs. They employ about 1800 people, and have earned 9 Nobel prizes!  What an interesting place to have a research institute like this…they focus on understanding how animals are able to grow new body parts after injury or disease. (i.e. a lobster can lose a claw and it regenerates itself).  He told a story about seeing a mouse in the lab that had grown an extra ear!  Unfortunately, tours are not offered until later in the summer.

Duane and Marlene-Tailgunners
Jennie and Jon-Wagonmasters

We did get to finally meet the entire group going on the caravan. There are a total of 46 people (23 motorhomes).  The motorhomes are all shapes and sizes, ranging from 2 small Roadmasters (kind of like a big van) to a huge Essex (a high end diesel pusher).   
Our Wagon Masters, Jon and Jennie, along with Tailgunners, Duane and Marlene gave a trip overview and everyone introduced themselves.We have an interesting group—several are full timers, many have been on multiple trips, and for some, this is their first organized trip.  We do not have a beautician in the group, so we’re all going to have to find an alternative for haircuts.  Someone mentioned we’d have to find a place for a pedicure too!  Most are retired, but a few are still working.  One guy mentioned he has a family business that his son and son-in-law are taking over.  His wife said the kids called today and said they have moved his desk out and that he should consider himself retired!!  Two couples are travelling together from Maryland, and the men are first cousins.   It will be fun to get to know all of them better over the next 48 days.
We closed out the evening with a Lobster Bake!   There was plenty of lobster and clams to go around, served up by our “leaders”. 





Jim was trying to get to know his friendly lobster a bit better before digging in.  It was very tasty, and we topped it off with blueberry pie for dessert.


I’m sure we’ll all sleep well tonight --we’ll be up for an early tour tomorrow.

Lobstah…ain’t nothin’ bettah

We learned everything you wanted to know about Lobster today on the LuLu Lobster Boat tour.  Captain John took us out into Frenchman Bay and educated us about everything related to lobsters, including how to pronounce it around here—Lobstah!  It was interesting to hear that each boat has unique color-coded bobbers for their traps that match the color posted on their boat.   If a fisherman is caught pulling up traps of another color, there are severe fines.  Captain John demonstrated how lobster traps work (they have a kitchen and a parlor) how they are baited (with herring…yuck!).  He pulled up one of his traps (we made sure it was the right color bobber—pink and green) and had caught a couple of live lobsters and three crabs that he used to tell us about the crustaceans. 

Did you know that lobsters smell with their leg hairs?   It takes 6-7 years for them to get to an edible size.  Lobsters molt about once a year, so that they can grow.  And, females have larger tails than males.  (For some reason I feel like I already knew that! )

We also got to enjoy seal watching, as the seals lounged on the rock ledges near the lighthouse in the bay.  Baby seals were born just a few weeks ago and there were lots of babies following their mommies around!

We also saw a regal eagle, sitting proudly on the rocks.

Since we had so much Lobster knowledge, we figured it was appropriate to learn how to eat lobster.  Lobster Pounds are places where live lobsters are cooked outdoors in wood-fired lobster pots. 

Several from our group(#3, #6, #8, #9, #10, #12 and #19—we still haven’t learned everybody’s names) walked to the Lunt’s Lobster Pound across the street.  We thought maybe they had misspelled our name, but found they have been in business since the 1930’s, through three generations, and are the oldest Lobster Pound in the area.  (The owner’s daughter was our waitress.)

It was yummy!!

Eat Drink and be Messy!

The Trip Starts Here

We had a short 4 hour drive this morning to our next campground, Narrows Too, on Bar Harbor Blvd. in Trenton, Maine.   It was another pretty day for driving—bright, sunny and more beautiful scenery.  We travelled through a lot of small towns and enjoyed seeing the flags posted along the road for Flag Day today!  
We planned in advance and found a mass time at 7am at St. Mary of the Sacred Heart in Hanover.  Perfect for us!  BUT, Saturday night getting ready for the next morning, we pulled up directions and found that it was Hanover, MD, not Hanover, ME.  Oops!   When we checked on other masses in the area, there were none---there are just small churches, that operate with visiting priests, and have Saturday evening masses which we missed.  We were too late for the Sunday masses in Bar Harbor, so next time we will be a little more careful in planning ahead.
We reported in to the campground which is a beautiful spot, right on Eastern Bay, which opens into the Atlantic.  This picture is from the edge of the campground, looking out toward Eastern Bay and Frenchman Bay.   The tide is out in this picture.  Just a few hours later, the tide was in, and the water came up to the edge of the campground.
This is where the trip starts—the entire group will be meeting here for the beginning of the Maritimes Caravan. 
When we arrived, they posted an identity logo on the Motorhome.  We are #12.  This sticker is on the bus and the car, to identify us as part of the group.  It also helps others identify who is in which bus.  We have a reference card with names and numbers for everyone in the group.  There are 24 couples in the group, from 13 different states,  and Canada.  The largest contingent is from Indiana (3 couples, and we know the others!)  We will find out more details about the group and meet everyone when we have the official kickoff meeting on Tuesday.  Until then, we have time to check out the Bar Harbor area.


#12


P.S. Happy Birthday to Jim’s brother who had a BIG birthday today!

A Day of Crossings!

Today we left Montreal and headed southeast.  We crossed the border, crossed the state line for Vermont, crossed into New Hampshire and then crossed into Maine, and passed many Moose Crossings along the way! 
The border crossing was less eventful than the one going into Canada, but it was the first time an immigration guard has boarded the bus.  He walked all through the Lundcruiser, and checked the bathrooms.  We figured he was looking for the escaped prisoners from upstate New York.   The prison they escaped from was just 60 miles south of where we stayed in Montreal!  We had our eyes wide open the whole trip, a little nervous because we no longer had pepper spray to avoid an attack by prisoners!  The guard didn’t ask about lemons.  Just asked if we had purchased any alcohol in Canada.  He thought Spot was cute and inquired about Indianapolis.
It was a beautiful drive on a beautiful day, down a squiggily road that had lots of “whee bumps” and a steep 10 degree hill at one point! (That’s as steep as some of the roads in Alaska!)
The scenery was spectacular…tall pines and spruces, hills, beautiful lakes, and rapids.  We saw a couple of state parks and lots of hunting and fishing lodges--it looks like an area really enjoyed by outdoor sportsmen—including bicyclists that ride down the middle of the highway!

It was fun to add three new states to the Lundcruiser list--Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  Mid-afternoon, we arrived at the Stony Brook Recreation Campground in Hanover, Maine.  The campground host was excited to tell us about the “do not miss” Moose Festival going on in nearby Bethel, Maine.  Of course, we had to check it out.  Bethel is a neat little city, and the town was decked out with moose décor for the annual Moose Festival. There was music and food (specialty was whoopie pies), moose displays, sporting goods displays, lots of local crafts and things to buy and eat and drink.     The unique items were the Moose Chili and the earrings made from Moose Droppings.  I passed on both, because Moose Chili isn’t listed in my weight watcher points book, and I didn’t know which outfit the earrings would match.  Instead, we settled on sampling a locally brewed beer—the Sunday River Ale.

Spot went to the Festival too..he’s been cooped up for too many days and was ready to get out.  He met up with a bear on display at the Festival, and they kind of look alike! 


We learned a lot of Maine Moose Facts:  the moose is the largest antlered animal in North America and the largest member of the deer family in the world.  An average bull moose (male) weighs about 1,000 lbs. and  an an average cow (female) weights about 700-800 lbs.  Some areas of Maine have more moose per square mile than anywhere else in North America.  Maine has about 27,000 square miles of moose habitat.  The average lifespan of a Maine moose is 12-14 years.

When we returned to the campground, we met a pot-bellied pig named Miss Daisy.  She is staying in a camper right across from us.  She is 85+ lbs., a little shy, but nice and friendly.  They bring a ramp so that she can get in and out of the camper—I’d say that is true devotion to your pet!


And, speaking of pets, special thoughts go out to a friend who had to say goodbye to Pepper, her longtime furry friend, today.


Tomorrow we head to Bar Harbor where we will meet up with the caravan for the big trip to the Maritimes.  We are looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

Feeling young in an old city!

We walked over 5 miles exploring Old Montreal, and taking in the history and “old” feel of the area. We visited the main branch of the oldest banking institution in North America—the Bank of Montreal established in 1817.  The bank issued the country’s first currency and continued to do so until the central bank took over. The bank lobby looks like a grand hotel!


There was also a small museum with banking memorabilia, a ledger book and old passbooks from savings accounts.   (Isn’t it surprising what retired accountants can get excited about?)

We visited the Notre Dame de bon Secours, Montreal’s first stone chapel which was built in 1771. It became known as “The Sailor’s Church”, because sailors prayed at the chapel before and after their journeys, and they began a tradition of bringing votive ship replicas to hang in the chapel.  There is a huge statue of Mary on the dome greeting sailors entering the seaway.
We got to go down to the crypt of the chapel, where the founder Marquerite Bourgeoys is buried.  She was canonized a saint in 1982.
From the tower of the church we were able to capture some great scenes:
These condos were built as the athlete village for the 1976 Olympic games.  The architect hoped the style and idea would catch on with other Olympic sites, but they did not.  Millionaires live in these condos today, which are right on the St. Lawrence seaway.




The biosphere is an architectural landmark of Expo 67

We also found out that Montreal is an island!  It is surrounded by rivers, and connected to land by a number of bridges that span across.  There are also two other islands adjacent to Montreal, St. Helen's Island and Notre Dame Island right next to it, in the .middle of the St Lawrence river,  The Grand Prix track is located on Notre Dame Island and the F1 race was here last weekend.  We missed it by just a day!

A view of St. Lawrence River

We also visited Champ de Mars, a park where there are remnants from the old walls that surrounded the city up until the early 19th century. 

We loved seeing the old buildings and houses, and beautiful flowers surrounding the exterior of the establishments.  With so many buildings 150+ years old, it makes us feel young!
We have been so impressed with the city.  The streets are clean, and the people are very nice.  On the subway, a young girl offered me her seat...(gosh, maybe I'm not feeling so young after all!)  Twice when we've been trying to find our way, someone has stopped to help, even if there was limited ability to speak English.   It's been a great visit to Montreal!