Bar Harbor to Freeport, Maine

Thursday dawned wet and gray in Bar Harbor. But that was okay. I’d been blessed with fabulous weather ’til then. And I’d already made the decision to pull out early. There was a lighthouse I’d missed on the way up and another point along the coast that I knew I just had to see.

Bar Harbor was far too overrun by tourists anyway. As nice as the town is, I couldn’t wait to escape the slow-moving, sidewalk blocking cruise ship passengers.

Unfortunately, I had to do a bit of shopping downtown before I left. It was awful. But I survived.

While there, I couldn’t pass-up this photo op. I usually make Hubby capture these classic moments. But he wasn’t there. So I asked some old guy who agreed despite giving me a look that said, “Uh, you want to get your picture taken with that thing? How weird.”

My trip just wouldn’t be complete without a lovely image like that to share.

In the picture above, you can see a couple packs of the cruisers I keep whining about.

My first stop was a town named Stonington on the island of Deer Isle, which is south of Acadia. The drive was stunning. Not only are the trees colorful, even the plants in the fields are putting on a show.

To get from the mainland to Deer Isle, you have to cross Eggemoggin Reach using this narrow suspension bridge, which was built in 1939 using a design very similar to that ill-fated bridge in Washington state that blew apart in a windstorm. (Chances are you’ve seen the classic video of that bridge waving wildly as a man runs for his life.) It was a little creepy. But Deer Isle was worth it.

I finally ate a lobster roll while in Stonington. It was gross. It is basically cold chunks of lobster in mayo with little seasoning and not much taste. Hubby described lobster well by comparing it to tough shrimp. An awful lot of people love lobster, but I am not one of them. I knew that before I tried the sandwich, but I had to do it.

My next stop was the Pemaquid Point lighthouse, several hours down the mainland coast from Deer Isle. Again, the drive was spectacular. And weird.

The weird part was this other crazy bridge I had to cross. The Penobscot Narrows Suspension Bridge is one of only two bridges of its type in the country. It may not look crazy in the above picture, but look at the image below and you’ll see what I mean. There was only one support with a traffic lane suspended on each side.

I survived the crossing. After a brief stop in Camden, Maine (yet another very picturesque Maine coastal town)…

I made it to Pemaquid Point with just minutes of daylight to spare. That’s why you can see the moon in what I think is a pretty cool shot of the lighthouse.

Friday, I’ll be driving home. Wonder what interesting stuff I’ll encounter along the way…

Oh yeah, you can see the rest of Thursday’s pictures on my Flickr page.