ToadMama.com

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.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the majority of Acadia National Park is on Mount Desert Island (MDI). But there are other parcels nearby, too. Much if not all of the land that makes up the park is actually the result of personal land grants. That’s why bits of it are scattered.

The Schoodic Peninsula is about an hour’s drive north of the island. It’s not really convenient, but in this case that’s a good thing. Because the hordes of leaf-peepers that have been swarming the Bar Harbor area (the main village on MDI) don’t usually go to Schoodic.

It felt like I had the place to myself. There were other people there, but not a lot. And those that were there were traveling in small groups, not mobs. It was quite tranquil.

If you were sitting here with me instead of just enjoying the photo, you would have heard waves gently lapping the shore, seagulls and other birds making noise. That’s it.

Here’s a bit of geology for you. Most of the large boulders in and around Acadia are granite. Much of the granite is somewhat pink. The picture above, taken along the shore on Schoodic, is an example of that granite beside some black, volcanic rock which is the result of magma forcing its way to the surface through the granite. That magma push happened a long time ago, of course.

After taking lots of cool rocky coast shots, like the one above, I headed back to MDI. I stopped and bought a cold cut sub for lunch, which I took with me for the drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

Cadillac, as it is known on MDI, at 1,530 feet is the highest point of elevation on North America’s eastern seaboard. As you’ll see in the next photo, the view was a good one.

The cluster of buildings you see is Bar Harbor. A close-up of the village from the Cadillac summit is in the next picture.

I plopped myself on a giant, pink granite boulder and enjoyed my lunch and the view at the same time. The rocks were rather interesting looking.

When I was done on Cadillac, I headed east on the Park Loop Road. It was getting close to sundown and the light was just right for leaf photos. I stopped quite a few times along the way and got some very nice pictures as a result. I posted my favorite below. You can see the others on my Flickr page.

I did not have any real agenda when I left the motel yesterday. I figured I would just drive into the village of Bar Harbor and explore. Maybe shop a little, too. I thought I’d save exploring Acadia National Park for later.

The only problem is, there’s a visitor’s center and park entrance between the motel and Bar Harbor. I don’t know who I was fooling when I said I’d drive past that. So I stopped and bought my park pass. Then I went into Bar Harbor.

I was going to walk around and shop. Until it dawned on me that I was really hungry. I hadn’t eaten any breakfast, so I stopped for an early lunch.

Wanna know what I ate?

It wasn’t lobster. It was fried fish. Haddock, to be exact. I would have taken a picture, but a fish sandwich, no matter how you spin it, is just not very picturesque. It tasted really good though.

Really, really good actually. Haddock may be my new #2 favorite fish. Which is good, because I think it is cheaper and easier to find than Alaskan halibut.

I did see Atlantic halibut in one of my guidebooks, which I’ll have to try while here, too. I haven’t decided whether I’ll succumb and eat a lobster roll or steamed lobster. I mean, I sort of have to. I am in Maine after all. But it is such a touristy thing to do. It’s kind of like coffee in Seattle, everyone sells them.

Speaking of tourists… I spent far less time in Bar Harbor than expected. It was full of tourists. Not just any tourists either. Most of them were cruise ship tourists. Ugh. I had my fill of those in Alaska. Old folks traveling en masse, wandering aimlessly, acting like their group owns the world.

There were lots of cool stores and galleries, though, so I’ll have to go back. I explored other areas of the island instead. Did I mention that Acadia National Park is mostly on an island? The bulk of the park lies on Mount Desert Island. Oddly, you pronounce the “desert” in the island’s name like dessert (you know, cakes, cookies and stuff). Within the park, there are a number of lakes.

This is one of my favorite shots from Eagle Lake.

I like this one, too.

After taking quite a few shots at the lake, I headed back toward Bar Harbor. Along the way, I had to pull over and take this shot. Images never really do a scene justice. But I tried.

Later in the day, I snapped this shot at Jordan Pond.

Here’s another from Jordan Pond. You can definitely tell Fall is in the air.

This is the Bass Harbor Head light.
Here’s a better shot…

That’s just one of a series of lighthouse pictures that ended my day. To see all the day’s shots, visit my Flickr page.

I hope you are enjoying your virtual journey. Today we’re going to the Schoodic Peninsula. Check back later to learn more.

I was finally able to cull through the many shots from yesterday, re-size the ones I wanted to post to Flickr and actually upload them for your viewing pleasure.

The only problem is, now I’m too tired to narrate. But I doubt anyone reads that crap anyway.

I do have to post my three favorite pics here…

There may not be a lighthouse in this picture, but look at that sky! This was taken in “the Hamptons” in New Hampshire.

This, one of several lighthouses I saw, is the Portland Head Light, just outside of Portland, Maine.

I just like the colors in this one. It was taken near the Goat Island Light, which is just north of Kennebunkport, Maine.

If you want the story behind any of the shots, just ask. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get to post some of the pictures I took today!