Goodbye, Lubec, Hello, Bar Harbor and Acadia!

Days 70-74 of Trip, Monday-Friday, August 18-22, 2014

We have finally dragged ourselves away from Lubec. We felt that if we stayed any longer, we might as well buy a little cottage and live there for the rest of the summer. Actually, we really did consider that, and we even looked at a few cottages. But in the end we reminded ourselves that this year was intended to be our big adventure, to see some places we'd never seen. So we figured we'd better move along and see them!

The last few days in Lubec we did some of our favorite activities over again, and we just enjoyed some relaxing time as well. The campground where we stayed had a wonderful view of Johnson Bay, just inside the Bay of Fundy, and we just couldn't get enough of it!

I didn't want to snap the beans inside, even though the wind was whistling by...the view was just too beautiful!

While we were camped there, on two different days we met two really delightful and unique single women, each of whom were traveling alone. I think that takes a really special spirit of adventure.

LeAnn hailed from Valdosta, Georgia originally (and we discovered that she knew someone who I also knew 45 years ago when I was a student  at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia!)

More recently, she and her physician husband took contract physician positions all over the world...Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, etc. When he died suddenly a few years ago, she decided that the adventure must go on. So she bought herself a small self-contained motor home, and she has criss-crossed the U.S. several times in the past few years.

The next day we met Pish when we asked her about the little Casita RV she was pulling with a truck almost identical to ours. She graciously gave us the full tour of her little home on wheels. This is the only home she has, and everything she owns is stowed in the truck or the trailer.

Pish is an avid dancer...she travels around and finds places to do contra dancing and English dancing. She's recently from Austin, Texas, but is greatly enjoying the freedom and adventure of life on the road with her three small dogs for company. I really admired both these women for their courage and free-spiritedness!

 

We attended our last concert of the SummerKeys series in Lubec. This one featured an amazing flautist accompanied by a wonderful pianist in the first half. After intermission we were treated to a duet of a Celtic harpist and a woman who played viola da gamba. I'd never seen one before. It had such a rich, mellow tone. The concert was beautiful! (Much better than this photo of it. When I was editing my pictures, I accidentally deleted the really good one, which left me with this clinker!) But I wanted you to see some of the viola da gamba. This one has 7 strings, is tuned somewhat like a guitar, held kind of like a cello, and bowed with an underhand grip. Very interesting instrument!

THE LAST LUBEC LOBSTER.

On our last night in Lubec, we had to close things out with one more lobster! Curt made arrangements with Michelle, who owns Becky's Seafood Stand (it's named after Michelle's dog Becky!) to have a fresh lobster from that day's catch. We ate it at the picnic table, overlooking the bay, with some of Michelle's incomparable onion rings (she slices the onion right there when you order...none of this frozen, pre-battered stuff for her!)

Here's the big guy on his way to the pot...

And here he is ready to be enjoyed!

This was a fun scene. As we left Becky's Seafood stand, we saw the waiting line for food to be prepared. I'd say they look fairly relaxed, wouldn't you?

Yesterday was "moving day." Once we got the camper all packed up, we headed to the local IGA grocery store for a block of ice for the cooler. (Lubec is the only place on this trip we've been able to find block ice. We're sure going to miss that!) and wonder of wonders, to Curt's absolute delight, his favorite lunch place, Down East Dogs, was open. At 10:00 in the morning! So...breakfast was served! I came along to take the photo, and once I saw Curt's hot dog smothered with sautéed onions and Texas chili,  I couldn't resist. I have to admit, it was delicious!

Jim and Eileen have become good friends (how could they not, when Curt frequented their stand almost every day that they were open??). As a going away gift, Eileen brought out a pop can "spinner" that Jim made. That thing can really twirl in the slightest breeze!

Today was our first full day in the Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park area of Maine. We're in a lovely campsite and have already met some interesting people. We'll be here for a week, so we're looking forward to making friends and enjoying their company. 

Since the traffic and parking can be pretty challenging in this area, there is a whole line of free shuttles to take people into Bar Harbor, into Acadia National Park, and even to,some of the farther-reaching areas like Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor. Curt is thrilled at not having to drive. He can sit and enjoy the scenery just as much as I can now! The shuttles run every half hour, so it's very convenient.

Today we headed into Bar Harbor. This is very different than the little fishing villages we've been visiting. A totally different economic situation here, which made for some lovely picturesque views:

Cute circle of girls enjoying one of the last summer days before school starts:

One wonderful thing about being here is that we're "connected" again. Our cell phones now work (hurrah!), after almost two months of not being able to use them! I was having trouble getting my cellular data to work on my iPad, so last night I found a wi-fi spot and googled to see if there was an Apple store in Bar Harbor. We were surprised and delighted to find one listed! So that was one of the first stops we planned to make today. While I got distracted by this sign (how can you lose with a combination like that?)...

...Curt went to the next block to find the Apple store. He looked and looked, and couldn't find anything that remotely resembled the sleek, sophisticated look of the Apple stores we've been in. Then he spotted the small hand-lettered sign on the side of the old wooden building at 64 Cottage Street: Apple Convenience Mart. We had a great laugh at that!

We did get help, however. We walked into Radio Shack across the street and explained our dilemma. Kendall, the nice young man behind the counter, was able to get things working again for me.

When I told him I was going to put him on the blog, he said, "Take a picture of my car outside. I'm trying to get lots of "likes" on Facebook." So, Kendall, here's to you. Thank you for your help today!

Back onto the shuttle, and into Acadia National Park. We saw some lovely scenery and sweeping ocean views. 

We enjoyed Thunder Hole, where the water rushes into a hole in the rocks and shoots out with an explosive, thunder-like sound:

As the wave is going in:

And now booming out:

And then our unexpected treat of the day: Curt's sister, Patty, told us that we really needed to go to Jordan Pond in Acadia and experience afternoon tea and popovers on the lawn overlooking the pond (which we thought was more like a large lake than a pond). We found that a shuttle would take us right there, so we hopped on.

What a fun experience! Here's a shot at Jordan Pond from above:

And the view from our table...

And the view AT our table...Yum! This outing definitely needs to be repeated!

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? We're in new territory now, so there must be new adventures around the bend. Meanwhile, we're back in cell phone range again, so feel free to call or email if you get a hankering to touch base!