Campobello

I have always wanted to head north from Acadia to Lubec and go see Campobello.  When FDR was only a year old, his parents began to take him to their summer home on this Island that is officially in Canada but is now and International Park managed cooperatively by the US and Canada.  FDR's parents had a summer house on this island that is still on the property.  Evidently, FDR had a very close relationship with mom and she was not all that enthusiastic when he told her he had found the girl he was to marry, Eleanor.  After Franklin and Eleanor were married they build their own summer home on the property that has 34 rooms!  Unfortunately, that is closed at this time of year but as I entered the visitor center the ranger was just beginning to play two dvd's, one was about the park and the other about the interior of the house.  The tour by dvd was almost as good as actually going inside the house and gave you a real sense of what life must have been like.  The ground were open for touring and as I stood on the porch and looked out over the massive view of the ocean, I was struck by how cool it was to stand in the same place where FDR and Eleanor once stood!  The dvd talked about the charismatic and tenacious FDR and went into detail about his battle with polio.  It noted that FDR was president for twelve years and that is the longest presidency to date.  Not much was said about Eleanor but I know something about her from other sources and admire her for her independence and courage as a woman of that time.

I had my passport with me and the feeling of leaving the US is always a little daunting, even if it is only to a very small island!   The US Virgin Islands still does not require a passport but I did use it to go to Tortola when I was in the islands last fall.

I found one little restaurant on the island for lunch and basically just explored.  On one tip of the island there is a beautiful lighthouse.  An elderly gentleman caught me as I was getting back into my car and asked me if it was the first time I had ever been to the island.  When I replied yes, he encouraged me to take my camera to two different spots for great photo opportunities, which, as you can see, I did.  He has lived on the island for seventy nine years.  The idea of living in a small rural place, and on an island  for one's entire life always makes me wonder what that is like.  I am not all that traveled but the traveling I have done has altered my perspective in many ways.  I cannot imagine never having the desire to leave on place, ever.  

I traveled what is called the "Bold Coast" up and back to Campobello.   I have to mention that Maine is one big state!!  I still have not made it to Baxter State Park or hiked Katahdin but this will be remedied in 2013!

Though the weather has not been all that great and the winds were upward of 30 mph during my visit to Campobello... the day was a success.  I arrived back in Southwest Harbor about dinner time so it is quite an easy trip to do in a day.

The weekend will bring a guest!  It will be nice to have company here and share my cabin for a bit.

Keeping you posted......

Southwest Harbor

“It used to be said that to be a summer resident at Bar Harbor you needed money but no brains; at Northeast Harbor you wanted brains but no money; but at Southwest Harbor, neither brains nor money! One can guess where that story started, but it is a gross libel on Southwest Harbor, which attracted college presidents and professors after the other resorts had become too expensive for them”

From “The Story of Mount Desert Island by Samuel Eliot Morison

Guess I must be in the right place, then!  Southwest Harbor is known as the "quiet side" and it is my favorite area on the Island.  I usually split my time between Mt Desert Campground, where I stayed during my first several days here and Harborview Motel and Cabins, which is right smack on the water.  The Harborview has been owned and operated  by the same family and it is comfortable and friendly.  A continental breakfast is included.  I have stayed in both the cabins and the motel rooms and one stay I was given the third floor suite at discount!  It is an older motel but they do a pretty good job of keeping it up and for the rates and location; it is an enjoyable place to be.  Easy walk up to the village center where one finds everything necessary.  Sawyer's Market is a wonderful market with lots of gourmet treats, beer, wine and now liquor.  In the summer they have an excellent selection of produce, fresh fish and meats and prepared foods.  At this time there is still a pretty decent selection.  There are also about ten good eateries:  Cafe 2 (wonderful vegetarian selection and outdoor bar for happy hours, Sips, Red Sky, Cafe Dry Dock and Inn,  Quiet Side Cafe (the best blueberry pie and ice cream), Fiddlers and Biels Lobster Pound right within the village. There is also a great bakery.  There are a number of B&B's... though I have never stayed in any of these.   The shuttle buses can take you anywhere on the island from here.  The library is very inviting and I have spent a good deal of time there when the weather is not great... and this time that has been much of the time!!  There are also some cute shops in town, of course and a great bike shop.  I actually had my bike tuned up there this time.

There are a number of good hikes nearby and I have done some good cycling from this location as well.  Echo Lake is about two miles and is one of my favorite swimming beaches complete with bathrooms and changing rooms.  Great place for a swim after and bike or hike or just to spend a beach day with a good book.

There are a few campgrounds within about three miles of the village center:  Smuggler's Den (a mix of rv, tents and cabins with a swimming pool) and the Quiet Side campground which is a little more funky with tent sites and small cabins.  There are also a number of folks that rent vacation cabins near by.

Harborview is open all year round as are a couple B&B's but it is very very quiet.  I spent a week here after Christmas a few years back and was one of two people in the motel!  It was beautiful though... snowed several times and I got some terrific pictures which I will include in this blog when I get home.

All in all... Southwest Harbor is my spot on the island... I would recommend it as a base for a visit to Acadia!  You have everything you need and then some right within walking distance.

Bass Harbor is the last of the four harbors I listed and is about nine miles from Southwest Harbor Center.  It is tiny compared to the other three.  It has a restaurant on the water called the Seafood Ketch.  For those of you who I worked with at River Valley... it is owned by Sara Sawyer's uncle or cousin!  But what Bass Harbor is most famous for is Thurston's Lobster Pound.  This is the best lobster you will have anywhere!

So I am enjoying my time in Southwest Harbor and yesterday I took a day trip north because I have always wanted to see Campobello, the summer home the FDR and Elenor!  I am putting together that post for you!

Until then... keeping you posted!

Campground Closing - Off to Harbor View

Today I went on my favorite bike around Eagle Lake, Bubble Pond and on to Jordon Pond and the Jordon Pond House.  I am working on a video to be shared later.

I then went to the Bar Harbor Cellars Winery for a wine tasting and to get wine for for my last night at Mt Desert Campground, I planned to  finally have a lobster dinner with a great Chardonnay from Bar Harbor Cellars.  Jen and Shelly and I found this winery when we were up here together a couple of years ago.  Next door to the winery was a “lobster dinner to go” place where they cooked a lobster outdoors in salt water… between the wine, the dinner and the company it was hard to duplicate the experience and though my dinner was terrific it did not quite do it since the lobster place was closed for the season and the my pals were not here!  I did get lobster at Beals in Southwest Harbor and it was packed to keep warm and did.  It was Beals last day before they closed for the season; so I just made it under the wire!
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=4259614622587

Since I last posted I also visited Sand Beach and Thunder Hole on the park loop road trying to get some video footage.  The surf was up at Sand Beach and I did get a clip but still trying to figure out how to use it either in the blog or on facebook.  Sand Beach is one of two spots you can go swimming in the ocean in the park and there was actually one crazy guy in the water at Sand Beach!  

The other beach is near Northeast Harbor in Seal Harbor.  It is commonly shared information that Martha Stewart once owned a summer place in Seal Harbor…. until  she ran into some “financial problems”  and was forced to sell!

 I went on to try and capture Thunder Hole thinking that the surf would provide good footage but it was a total bust! So I added a quick You Tube video so you get the idea.  ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1u38YSOj00 ) The conditions have to be just right.  It was hard to believe that this was a spot that people got swept away in tropical storms a couple of years back.  Made several stops to take pictures during on the loop road and in Northeast Harbor.

Northeast Harbor is a small village with some good restaurants and some excellent funky shops and galleries.  If I can find it I will post the picture of some garb outside of one of the shops that brought Nancy Roy to mind.  Northeast Harbor is one place that you  can catch a ride to the Cranberry Islands down at the docks and this is another “must do”.  You can take your bike or just meander around the islands on foot.  There is a little restaurant and some crafts shops on the dock at Great Cranberry and a maritime museum.  On Little Cranberry there is a general store at the docks and if you walk about a half mile there is a Community Center with a good snack bar and some interesting displays about the history of the island to take in.  There is house that you come upon where the owner has created a miniature golf course in his front yard that is very creative and clever and he donates the funds he raised to a variety of worthy causes.  Taking in both of these islands or one is a wonderful day trip.   What I really love about spending time on these islands is the sense that you travel back in time in which life was much more simple.  There are very few vehicles and the ones that are there are many times not even registered and barely running.  Golf carts, bikes are used frequently as modes of transportation.  Summer populations dwindle but there are a few hardy folks who live on theses islands year round.

Northeast Harbor also is the location of the Asticou Inn (http://www.asticou.com/bar-harbor-vacation-resort/asticou/about.html ) and the Asticou Gardens.  The Inn is beautiful and pricy!  The gardens are beautiful and well worth a visit for a serene respite in the midst of the sometimes touristy madness that comes with this territory. 

I also went to the annual Oktoberfest in Southwest Harbor.  Smugglers Den Campground hosts the occasion and honestly there was nothing particularly German about this festival with the exceptions of a few German beers.   It was a $30 entrance fee which gave you ten beer tickets and a glass that was a little larger than a shot glass for tasting and included food.  Once inside I noticed that food was not free; there was additional charges and it was kind of a strange mix of carny type food.   The beers, however were amazing.  There were about twenty or so Maine brewers represented in the beer tent.  To be honest the amount of beer tickets that they gave you were ample enough but I soon found myself figuring out how to avoid giving a ticket!  As I tasted my first beer, I was actually distracted by the conversation I was having with the brewer and forgot to put my ticket in which went unnoticed.  The realization that people were not really paying close attention and the observation that some folks were just a little too tipsy for the amount of beer allocated made me wonder if you could get away with palming your ticket.  You will note in the pictures that there were two types of containers:  a black one and a clear glass jar.  It was easy to scope out the beers using the black ones and just dunk you hand as if you were dropping the ticket!  I could not resist and found the technique easy to pull off!  Now, this is a bad as I get!  And I did leave with an unused ticket in my pocket after I was told by the Allagash brewers to be sure to come back around 6 and even if I had no more tickets they would “hook me up”  with Allagash Black that was really tasty!

A fun day and then back to the campground with a movie for the evening.  It was a windy and rainy night.   The fronts continue to move in and out this week with the common thread being CHILLY!  Where is that Indian summer that I was expecting??

Columbus Day weekend is when things begin to seriously shut down here.   I expected a mass exodus but what I found when I went into Bar Harbor was mobs from two huge cruise ships in the harbor and at least twenty bus loads of fall leaf peepers! 

I have moved into my favorite Harbor... Southwest Harbor and a small cabin a Harbor View Resort.  It is warm and dry and very comfortable without alot of effort! Today I am just relaxing... tomorrow more rain predicted... ugh... may-be just more relaxing... not the worst thing!!

Keeping you posted!

Welcome to Ba Ha Ba!

Bar Harbor is the central location for sure but with that comes tourists, tourists, tourists!  The Visitor Center for the park is located about ten minutes from Bar Harbor and I highly recommend going there when you first get here.  Of course, it took me years!  It is so very easy to get disoriented on this island. The island is really shaped like a big lobster claw and when you get that it does help.  However, in the middle of the network of regular roads is the "park loop".  There are several entrances around the island and this only helps to confuse you!  So, getting your bearings at the visitor center to begin with might help.. or may-be not! 

Bar Harbor overflows with restaurants and shops from funky to touristy.  You can part with your money here easily.  There are also art galleries,  The Abbe Museum and The Reel.  My favorite spots: the Bar Harbor Inn terrace for lunch looking over the harbor,  Testa's for lunch and again you can see the harbor and Rupununi's for Jazz Brunch or a snack of Guiness and lobster bisque.  I found out today that Rupununi is a river in the Amazon where the owner spent some time.  I also found out today that there is a marathon here next weekend and there was a triathlon up until last year that was a run, kayak and bike. A new find a couple of years back, when Jen, Shelley and I were here was 2 Cats.  They have a spectacular breakfast and you can also just go for coffee and enjoy free wifi... very much a coffee house atmosphere.

You will also want to go out on the Mary Todd... the sunset cruise is nice and you can bring your own beverages and snacks.  When full sails are up it is really pretty spectacular and you can even help put them up!  Bean Doran and I had quite a ride a couple years back when the winds were stiff (we were not which may have made it more scary) and they actually had to put the sails down.  The first time I went on it... I was solo and dropped my favorite leather sheath of my jackknife overboard.  I kept my self from going after it.. though I must admit retrieval was my first inclination... weird how your mind works in that situation.  

There are also opportunities for whale watching, scenic and nature cruises and guided kayak trips to the Cranberry Islands.  One of my first trips I did a day kayak out to the Cranberry Islands... we had a picnic lunch and on the way back put up spinnakers and let the wind take our kayaks home.  I met some very nice folks and had a great day.  

So your visit to the park needs to include some Bar Harbor time... even though I have come up here often - if you were here for months; you could never do everything that is available and this is what keeps you coming back!

Bar Harbor is the first Harbor on the island that I bring to you via this blog.   There are three others to share:  Northeast Harbor, Bass Harbor and Southwest Harbor.  

More to come...

I will keep you posted!

First Days in Acadia

Acadia National Park
Acadia....  dates back to a place in greece known as "idyllic place" or refuge.

Between 1901-1915 Acadia National Park was establish with the help of John D. Rockefeller, Jr, Charles W. Eliot and George B. Dora.  Rockefeller donates 11000 acres for park.

The Rockefellers... were indeed busy "fellers"!  Is it any wonder that I think of this place as my "Virgin Islands North"!  Hiking, biking, swimming, sailing, kayaking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, camping, photography, painting, good wine, great restaurants, accommodations of all shapes and sizes and price ranges,  art galleries, funky little shops, museums, music, harbors, lakes, beaches, mountains with vies of the ocean!

John Rockefeller, son of John Rockefeller was very much involved in this park... as was his son, Laurence in the establishment of the Virgin Islands National Park.  I am privy now, to the fact that the establishment of the Virgin Islands National Park was not seen as benevolence in entirety by the natives of St John and perhaps if I dug deeper I would find controversy in the establishment of Acadia.  Never-the-less - we thank them for their efforts in saving these beautiful places for our enjoyment.  In a culture that keeps us racing... it may be one of the only things that can bring us back to sanity... nature's gifts are truly therapeutic!

This place is a Wonder Land and this week you can call me, Alice!  I have had a nice few days settling in and now have set up a very cozy little campsite at Mount Desert Campground (http://www.mountdesertcampground.com).  This is my very favorite campground with beautiful ocean front and wooded campsites.  No RV's over 20' which pretty much encourages tenters and quiet. I, of course, included electricity on my site this time for a little lamp and a heater!  Ahhh such luxuries but necessary with the brisk fall temps.

It has taken me a few days to adjust to just going slower.  I am coming down from a great summer but I did fill it with some hefty endeavors and so now... I rest.  I saved my bike tune up for the local bike shop in Southwest Harbor and just got it back today.  So I can now hit the Carriage Roads.  Rockefeller is also responsible for the development of the Carriage Road network in this park.  This is one of the attractions that people come for and leave remembering forever.  These are cobble stone road ways of rolling, moderately hilly,  terrain through the woods, slipping by ponds and streams, skirting mountains with magnificent views of the ocean.  NO motorized vehicles allowed.  How nice.  A biking, hiking , cross country skiing, treat!  I guess my two favorites bikes on the carriage roads are "Round the Mountain" which I assumed would be easy but turned out not only to go AROUND but go UP as well.  It was a long arduous ride but very rewarding!  My all time favorite is to leave from Eagle Lake parking area, skirt the side of Eagle Lake and then Jordon Pond  (http://www.thejordanpondhouse.com) to end up at the Jordon House for tea or lemonade and popovers!  Another way to enjoy the carriage roads is to go by horse and buggy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiBY2V6tHqU&feature=related), which I did with my sister, Sally, since she could not really hike or bike them.  We got a wonderful bit of history while we were on our tour.  And the thing that most impressed me was the magnitude of the carriage road project with very little machinery and the fact that these roads require little if any maintenance because of the way they were engineered!  It made me wonder about that concept we cherish so "Progress"!

The weather has been a little rainy and so I have spent time in the Southwest Harbor Public Library, where I am writing this post.  Rainy day activities can allow you to stretch in directions that you rarely do when the sun is shining!  I am putting together this first blog piece to begin touring you around the island!  I put together a slide show and was unable to insert it in the blog... still working on some creative things.  However, this time, even though internet is still slow here, it is not as slow as it was in St John and so I am trying to take my own pictures this time!  

I went looking for some key dates about this place and I selected the ones that follow:

1604

Samuel de Champlain rediscovers Acadia and names it Mt Desert Island. The French and English begin 150 years of rivalry for possession of North America.  

1688

Canada’s governor to the Acadia region gives a land grant including Acadia to Antoine la Mothe, Seur de Cadillac.  La Mothe visits Mt Desrt but the island is not permanently inhabited for another 75 years.

1870

Almost all of the island’s first growth timber is exhausted.  We love to deplete things.. don't we?

1880’s

The influx of “rusticators” (those banished to the country) signals a change from farming and fishing to a service industry.

1916

President Wilson proclaims Sieur de Monts National Monument, which becomes Lafayette National Park in 1919 and Acadia National Park in 1929.

1920’-1940’s

The culture of the affluent in summer cottages reaches it’s hayday.

1947

Forest fire destroys 17000 acres and all but a few Bar Harbor summer cottages  A theory about this fire is that it actually made this environment recreate itself with the wide diversity that it now has!  

1950’s

The entire areas flourishes as a tourist resort.  And still does!

Hope you enjoyed this little introduction to Acadia.  

I will keep you posted!

The Adventures Continue!

This summer I enjoyed an entrepreneurial experiment selling Smoothies at a local Farmer's Market.    I perfected a great green smoothie during the spring months which I named "Vermont Green Qi".  It caught on during the summer and was particularly popular with the students. Last week on my last day I sold 8.5 half gallons of Vermont Green Qi, selling five 64 oz jugs, a couple to repeat customers.  

I also created fresh fruit smoothies and featured two each week trying to be creative without going to far out there.  A few weeks ago, I used local strawberries and made one called "Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie"... it was great!  I also had a non-dairy option which I am starting to do each week now.  The non-dairy option used bananas and strawberries which is a classic smoothie that you often see sold.   This summer included:  The Olympian Smoothie ( red, white and blue theme, with strawberries, blueberries and VT made vanilla greek yogurt or banana), The Peaches n Creamsicle Smoothie (fresh peaches, oranges and VT made vanilla frozen yogurt) and the Very Berry non-dairy 
(fresh local blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries)... just to name a few.

The business proved successful on a small scale.  I chose to launch this way during the summer and will now plan and perfect for next year. I am still in a decision making mode about just having this be a seasonal venture or try and find an outlet during the winter months. We'll see.  But for a start this summer,  I chose to be at just one market, mid-week with an exceptional location on the Dartmouth Green in Hanover, NH. and with an exceptional manager, Sally Wilson, who was the owner and sole proprietor of the Norwich Inn in my home town of Norwich, VT for many years.  Sally has been and inspiration and a wonderful manager and coach all summer.  

As the fall approaches, I am lucky to have some time off.  During my years at the Community College I looked forward to being able to enjoy fall in New England and do some camping and traveling and the time has come.

On September 26th.. I worked my last farmer's market day for Suzi's Smoothies for the first season.  On September 27th... I headed for the coast of Maine to Acadia National Park.  I am hoping to share some highlights of this wonderful area with you while I am here.

Tune in when you see my post on facebook and join me while I am here in Acadia!  It is always fun to have you with me when I travel!

Keeping you posted!

Celebration for Viers

This post comes to you from Vermont.  The last two weeks, I was unable to have an internet connection.  This gives an account of my last few days at Viers.  There will be just a couple more posts coming in the next week or so to conclude my blog.  I hope you enjoy them.  Wow! Technology is so much easier here!

The last Saturday night at Viers was the eve before the Viers 45th anniversary celebration.  On the day after Thanksgiving, John (a returning volunteer), arrived by sailboat, which he lives on and moors in Great Lameshur Bay.  Tuesday more folks began to arrive.  Firt, Randy Brown (administrator) and Steve (former Board member), Randy Fish and Zoe. The came Tricia (Randy's wife and Secretary of the Board), Jerry (returning volunteer) Alan and Jennifer (Board members).  Finally Andy (Board member) arrived.  The new arrivals would all be staying at VIERS through the weekend.
Thursday night, Randy Brown took all of us in to Cruz Bay to have dinner at Morgan's Mango.  We had a wonderful dinner and a great time. Some of us ended the night with BBC's which is a frozen drink made up of Baily's, Bananas and Creme de Coconut blended with ice. 
Friday was a sprucing up day for camp with good meals and getting to know each other and swimming in the blue waters of Lameshure.  Dinner in the dining hall together was followed by just one BBC for dessert (it really is a dessert drink!)  The day included an amazing spontaneous workshop by Jerry (Jerbear) on how to build a soda pop backpacking stove.  It is truly a unique little stove, very light and efficient.  It uses denatured alcohol for fuel and it is easily made from aluminum cans.
Saturday there was a day long Board of Dirctors meeting in the classroom.  Jamie and Fish took care of snacks and lunch for the meeting so I was able to take some free time and enjoy the good weather.  John and I headed off  to go for paddle and picnic to the White Cliffs.  We swam and snorkeled and had PB&J, oranges and mini candy bars (thanks to my care package from Chris Z!).  We then went back to the dock and out to John's sailboat for a cold beer and  soaked up a sunny afternoon.  We ended the day with another snorkel around Lamesure and then headed back to camp.  We showered and had dinner, compliments of Fish and Zoe, which included pork tenderloin with Zoe's mango chutney from mango's harvested at Viers.  Everyone was in good spirits.  Randy Brown went over assignments for the following day.  Steve and I were to be the welcoming committee.  Other assignments included tours, serving lunch, clean up and speeches and picture taking.
The day was lovely, despite the fact that we had a few down pours.  The people that attended were significant individuals who work tirelessly to preserve and protect St John.  It was exciting to meet each one who came to the celebration.  I found it to be a wonderful way to end my first experience as a volunteer at Viers.
The next several days were full of good bye's as camp transformed into a place of solitude once again.  Soon we were down to Jamie, Fish, Zoe, John, Jerry and I.  I prepared to leave the "hermitage" and Viers and head to Maho Bay Camps for the last ten days as more of a vacation.  On Tuesday, Fish and Zoe packed me up and drove me the other side of the island.  We made a date for them to come over for dinner, which they did the following week. 

Keeping you posted....