Day 9 – Canada Trip
Sunday started bright and early with James driving across the street to do some laundry (we only brought enough clothing for a little over a week) and me getting ready and getting things packed. James came back to get me once he switched the clothes over to the dryer and we had enough time that we went ahead and had the continental breakfast at the hotel before going back for the clothes. After folding the clean clothes back into the suitcase, we made our way east to Acadia National Park.
We started at the visitor’s center and with our mistake in Gettysburg still fresh in our minds, we went ahead and got the Acadia National Park Audio Tour CD of the driving tour of the park and the extra booklet! We started the tour around 10am and didn’t finish the 15 stops plus an extra side trip to see the lighthouse until around 5:30pm! Each stop had an overlook or a short trail that allowed us to really experience the many different environments and views the park had to offer.
Frenchman Bay Overlook. Leaving the visitor’s center, our first stop along the tour was Frenchman Bay Overlook. This was our first real look at what the park had to offer and we were amazed by the beauty and expansiveness of what we could see.
Duck Brook Bridge. The audio tour skipped Duck Brook Bridge, but the motorist guide booklet included it, so we decided to check it out. Yet, we completely missed it even though we literally drove over it!! When we realized we missed it, we turned around and went back to where it was. From this direction, it was more obvious where the bridge was and we pulled over to take some pictures. The Duck Brook Bridge is the largest continuous concrete arch bridge east of the Mississippi.
Sieur de Monts Spring. The Sieur de Monts Spring, Nature Center, and garden walk were all contained in one small area. On the way to the spring there were a few bridges and an *Emery* trail we got a laugh out of wondering if it would eventually lead to our house! The spring itself was encased in plexiglass in so we weren’t able to really enjoy it, but the nature center and garden walk were both pretty nice.
Beaver Dam Pond. Opposite of the bridge, Beaver Dam Pond was on the audio tour, but not the booklet, yet one glimpse of the this scenic pond surrounded by mountains and we quickly decided to stop. The pond has one very visible dam and two beaver dens along the other side of the pond.
As we were driving along the auto tour, we saw a number of tourists and a couple of rangers along side of Precipice cliff looking up with some super high powered binoculars. We pulled over and found out they were watching a pair of falcons who they *thought* were nesting in the cliffs. With your naked eye, it was impossible to see the birds, but looking through the binoculars you could definitely see the male falcon. The rangers said the male had flown out of an overhang and the female had flown in, so they were pretty sure that’s the location of the nest.
We stopped at one of the next overlooks and from here we got picturesque views of a couple of classic summer cottages on the ocean.
Sand Beach. While everything we had seen so far was wonderful, the Sand Beach allowed us to actually get out and really enjoy the park. We stayed at the beach for a while enjoying the salty sea wind and the multitudes of landscapes surrounding the beach.
Thunder Hole. We thought we were following the audio tour on our hike down to *Thunder Hole*, yet after getting back in the car and heading down the road a little further, we realized we were just at a really cool trail leading down to cliffs overlooking the ocean and the sand beach.
The real Thunder Hole had an actual chasm that was constantly being beaten on by the ocean and at high tide (and occasionally during low tide) it sounds like thunder when the water hits the back of the chasm walls.
Otter Cliffs. Standing on 110 foot high cliffs looking out onto the Ocean, Otter Cliffs is one of the highest headlands along the Atlantic coast north of Rio de Janeiro.
Otter Cove Causeway Bridge. The Otter Cove Causeway Bridge curve along the natural sand bar and give a perfect view of the cove. The bridge is different from other bridges along the loop because it was created mostly of solid rock fill.
Jordan Pond House/Carriage Paths. We actually skipped the Jordan Pond House and carriage paths the first way through because there was absolutely no parking, but after doing Cadillac Mountain, we came back and spent a little time looking around at the house and the carriage paths. There are 45 miles of carriage roads that were donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to help preserve the park from the evil of *automobiles*, but today they are used by carriages, horseback riders, bicycles, and hikers.
Bubble Pond. Similar to Jordan Pond House, we did Bubble Pond after Cadillac because the parking lot had been full, and were really glad we decided to come back. It was situated by more of the carriage paths and another one of the beautiful arch bridges and offered a peaceful place to catch our breath and take in the natural beauty around us.
Cadillac Mountain Road. On our way to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, there were a number of scenic overlooks that we took advantage of and even the drive itself offered amazing views!
Cadillac Mountain Summit. Climbing and weaving our way to the summit. At 1,530 feet, the Cadillac Mountain summit is the highest point of land along the Atlantic coast. The panoramic view was unparalleled and the only blemish was the fog that kept us from being able to fully see the amazing expanse of ocean, bays, cliffs, and the surrounding mountains and hills. We took the scenic hike around the summit to take advantage of all the different angles and views available from this height.
We’d only had a small breakfast and a few snacks along the tour, so by the time we got done with Cadillac Mountain and circled back to see the carriage trails, Jordan’s Pond House, and Bubble Pond, (around 3pm) we were extremely hungry! We planned on heading to the other side of the island in order to see one of the lighthouses and we wanted to catch the end of the audio tour that concluded on Sargent Drive, so we decided to try finding a restaurant in Northeast Harbor. After weaving our way around the town, we found the Colonel’s Bakery and Restaurant. After the crowds from the busier side of Acadia (even though we heard it is significantly worse starting next weekend), it was a welcome relief to find the restaurant relatively empty. I got the fresh shrimp appetizer, but otherwise James and I went pretty basic with cheese burgers and fries. The food was good and hearty, but I went ahead and got one of their homemade chocolate cookies which really hit the spot!
Sargent Drive. We continued our way to the lighthouse via Sargent Drive, which is a scenic drive along the bay.
Lighthouse. James and I were both expecting something a little bigger when we saw the lighthouse, but still endeavored to make the best out of it by hiking to both sides to try and get the best shot possible… even with the fog trying to thwart us! On the far side, we wandered off the trail (imagine that!) and ended up getting a pretty good view of the lighthouse and to the other side, a rainbow was even peaking through the fog.
Mount Desert Island Historical Society. On our way to the lighthouse I noticed a picturesque bridge and garden area by the Mount Desert Island Historical Society museum. On the way back from the lighthouse, we went ahead and stopped to get a better look and ended up with some amazing pictures!
After leaving Acadia, we stopped back in Ellsworth at Wal-Mart for some much needed supplies (i.e., cherry Pepsi for James) and an external 500 GB hard drive for all our pictures. Up until Acadia we had over 65 GB’s of pictures, and in Acadia alone we took another 20+ GB of pictures! James had been downloading all of our pictures onto his laptop in order to keep the memory cards free, but with this many pictures, it was starting to overload his laptop, so we figured it would be best to get an external hard drive to keep them on instead!
We loaded up the car with our supplies and headed back towards New Hampshire. It was too late to make it all the way there that night, so we stopped in Skowhegan, ME for the evening.
States Today: Maine
States Total: Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine