May 12

Bar Harbor (a/k/a, Bah Hahbah)

[Yup, on the “road” back to the USA!  And lookin’ spiffy in our Holland America bathrobes!]

[Does that look like ‘Merica?]

[It looks New Englandie.]

[Civilization ahead]

[A shot of our tenders – there is no large ship port in Bar Harbor yet (though one is in the works).]

[Bar Harbor ahead . . . ]

[What we left behind.]

[We haved tendered to town and walked up this ramp to dry land.]

[The boat people descend on their waiting charter buses.]

[We were not taking a Holland America shore excursion . . . ]

[We hiked “inland” to find our own tour bus . . . ]

[Taking in the sights and sounds along the way . . . ]

[And here’s our tour bus – “inland” by about two blocks.]

[They were so excited to see us!  The guy, as it turned out, was just a gadabout who liked to hang around and talk to folks.  As I recall, he was a college professor in NYC back in the day, so he was fun and interesting.  Our tour guide/driver was also fun and interesting.  She had a degree in ecological sciences, had been driving this tour for 24 or 25 years, and she had just returned to do so for the new season – she spends winters in California and Texas with her daughters.  Unfortunately, we can’t remember her name.]

[We were early for the tour, so we just wandered around town.  I didn’t notice the moose on the roof until I placed the photo here.]

[Ben and Jerry do have competition in the neighborhood.]

[There’s our anchored boat from which we tendered . . . obviously.]

[The Bar Harbor waterfront . . . as I recall, the construction of large ship pier is being constructed a mile or so to the left on this photo.]

[Reetz has discovered a lobster cone!!]

[Then five from the Super on arrival in Bar Harbor . . . ]

[It’s very early in the tourist season, which made it nice for us.  I think there were just 19 folks on the bus.]

[And we’re off.  Some say Stewman’s is the place to dine in Bar Harbor.]

[Probably fine dining here too.]

[Advertised as: From healthcare for fishermen to food for families and life-changing opportunities for kids.]

[I don’t recall, but I don’t believe that was a live moose.]

[College of the Atlantic (COA), founded in 1969, is a private, liberal-arts college located in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island. It awards bachelors and masters degrees solely in the field of human ecology, an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Focus areas include arts and design, environmental sciences, humanities, international studies, sustainable food systems, and socially responsible business.  (Wikipedia)]

[I believe that is Duck Brook Bridge (arched granite), but I could be wrong.]

[Duck Brook?]

[The ultimate destination of this bus ride . . . ]

[We’re climbing . . . ]

[Granite is prevalent in this part of the country . . . and accordingly used to build stuff.]

[Still rising above the Veendam.]

[Looks bigger than the town!]

[Eagle Lake is the largest fresh water lake in the park, at 425 acres, slightly larger than our own Lake Cowdry.]

[Your standard scenic vista shots . . . ]

[And there are islands everywhere . . . ]

[The island on the far right of this photo will be further addressed soon . . . ]

[And these are the Porcupine Islands in Frenchman Bay, i.e., where the town is located, and our ship sits amongst them.]

[A closer upper look at our boat and the Porcupines.]

[Yes, we’re now at the top of Cadillac Mountain.  At 1,530 feet, it is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and from fall to spring the first place to view a sunrise in the United States.]

[Cadillac Mountain is so high I’m told that on a cloudless night you can see the moon with unaided eyes!]

[Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Acadia National Park!  One of several interesting tidbits from our driver, most of which I’ve now forgotten, is that Acadia originally came from the Italian arcadia, meaning a place of rural peace, but somewhere along the way the ‘r’ got dropped.]

[Now getting back to an earlier photo – the island on the far right . . . ]

[Is Swans Island.  The ever traveling Reetz once vacationed there with a friend.  She promised to take us one day – we never got around to it.]

[I’m looking for the moon.]

[The ship and the porcupines are still there.]

[And a couple from the Super from up here . . . ]

[And now we’re coming down the mountain . . . ]

[Past the beaver dams . . . ]

[There must be something down there, but I don’t see it?]

[Just hop on the bus, Gus!  We’re now traveling along the coast . . . ]

[To . . . The Thunder Hole!]

[But it was too calm – no thundering today.]

[Four from the Super.  I did not go out where she took these from.  As Detective Harry Callahan once famously said, “A  man’s got to know his limitations.”]

[And why it thunders, when it thunders . . . ]

[Busing again . . . ]

[Another arched granite bridge.]

[A 4-masted schooner?]

[This was (and still is to a large degree) a home to the very wealthy.  The Rockefellers were particularly philathropical in the area.]

[The 45 miles of carriage roads were a gift from the Rockefellers.]

[Notice the natural contours in the background . . . ]

[Yes, they are familiarly known as what they appear represent . . . ]

[The Biddies got a chuckle over it.]

[Incidentally, that was Jordan Pond also in the background, a 187 acre body of water, and this stop is at the Jordan Pond House, not far from town]

[That “hanging” rock is a famous scene for photo ops of people pretending to push it over the edge!  Oy!]

[One more arched bridge . . . ]

[The requisite golf club . . . ]

[And we’re back in town – ’twas a lovely rain-free day.]

[There goes one of our tenders.]

[Goodbye, Bar Harbor!]

[As scenic as expected.]

[Our last night on the ship together – we would be in Boston on the morrow.  I got Kath.]

[And she got me.]

[Reetz checking on stuff.]

[A lovely last meal was had by all.]

[And a frog was waiting for us back in our room.]

My grandfather once told her if you couldn’t read with cold feet, there wouldn’t be a literate soul in the state of Maine.  ~  Marilynne Robinson

Up Next:  Beantown?