Let me start off by saying my one MAJOR gripe about National Parks....no it's not all of the tourists....it's their NO DOG rule on trails! Why they do this, I do no understand. Due to this, our trip here will be no hiking and limited site-seeing. Ok, end my short rant.
The weekend was in question due to Tropical Storm Andrea coming up the coastline. It was raining heavily all Friday and most of Saturday morning, this was ok, we ended up making blueberry pancakes (as a matter of fact, Maine is known as the Blueberry capital of the world) to enjoy before we hit the road around 12:00.
We headed southeast on Route 1 to Route 3 towards Bar Harbor (or as the locals pronounce it 'Ba Haba'). Stopping beforehand in Acadia National Park Info Center to gather some campground info, watch a film, purchase our annual National Park pass (since we will be all over US we figured we'd visit a few more ;-) ) and Pete's sister-in-law ended up talking me into purchasing a Passport for the parks so we could get our "geek stamps" at all the stops together!
Pete and his brother longed to be "Junior Rangers" for the day.
Next stop was to Bar Harbor to get lunch, which turned into a blood mary at a corner restaurant while waiting for another restaurant, that was recommended to us by the guy who owned "The Man Store", to open. A few hours later after window shopping downtown, a great dinner, and bottle of Sauvignon Blanc we ended up at Blackwoods Campground for the night. We pretty much had our pick, I think the rain had detoured most of the campers for the night.
The poor dogs all leashed up because the rangers were patrolling.
The next morning we awoke early and went back into Bar Harbor and had a great breakfast at Café this Way. We then proceeded to drive up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, which is 1,530 ft.
On the way up, we stopped to take in the view. It had been a little rainy that morning so shots were hazy.
Their album cover shot.
Before the summit, we stopped to do a sun dance...
...And it worked!
Then we reached the top of Cadillac Mountain.
Bar Harbor from the top.
We walked the little loop around to take in all of the views. I ended up seeing a bald eagle soaring right on the coastline. It was magnificent to watch, unfortunately I could not get a shot of it.
We had just enough time to drive park loop road before heading home for the day.
Stopped at Sieur de Monts and took a few photos in the wild gardens. I think some of the things needed a bit more time before being in bloom.
A few shots of the coast.
While the dogs waited in the truck.
Saw another bald eagle on the way off of the island.
Then stopped for some lobster before heading back to the rental house.
Plan for next weekend, Baxter State Park. I am itching to get a hike in, let's hope for better weather.
