This is to be our last day of touring. :(((
Our morning started out splendiforiously! We had a sumptuous breakfast at the Capt. A.V. Nickels house B&B. We had been discussing the fact that most bed and breakfasts serve wonderful - but carbohydrate laden - breakfasts. We were expecting that here as well, but that was not to be the case! We were served Italian poached eggs, which amounted to eggs poached with prosciutto in some sort of a peppered cream sauce. And it was served with a side of wonderfully thick bacon! David's heart soared knowing that he had such a protein filled start to the day. :)))
The Capt. Nickels Inn is on the ocean and has a huge lawn leading from the house to the water. We enjoyed a nice stroll down to the beach to get the morning started.
It is interesting to note that the little town of Searsport, Maine, had more sea captains hailing from there than any other port in the United States. The town, with a population of just 2500, had over 500 sea captains. Capt. Nickels himself captained over 8 different ships during his career. He built this particular house in 1874 as a wedding present for his wife.
So then it was off to Bar Harbor. The drive from Searsport to Bar Harbor is beautiful. We especially liked the setting of Bucksport, Maine. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of it, as the best view was when you were crossing a bridge with nowhere to stop. We did get a picture of the bridge however! It was quite unique itself!
We had rain off and on the most of the way to Bar Harbor, and when we got there it was still quite cloudy. The area surrounding Bar Harbor is absolutely gorgeous. We highly recommend it for its scenic beauty. When you have spent a week exploring the New England sea coast it is hard to pick one thing as being the most picturesque. But, Bar Harbor was right up there on top in terms of scenery.
The town was originally named Eden (aptly!) in 1796, after Sir Richard Eden who was an English explorer. It was renamed Bar Harbor in 1918 because of the abundance of sand bars that are visible at low tide. This was an enclave of the super rich of the period. The Astors, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, and J.P. Morgan himself all had a presence there. It was the Rockefellers who donated the land that became Acadia National Park, which borders the town. Today, even John Travolta has a home there.
This is a busy tourist destination. There are people everywhere! In fact, on the day we were there, there were three large cruise ships in port. Actually, at Bar Harbor they don't come in to port. It isn't deep enough for the really big cruise ships. They anchor in the bay and the passengers are ferried into town.
There are shops of every description lining the streets. Ice cream and fudge of course are in abundance! Along with virtually every other sweet treat known to man (note to our friends and family- we'll be in starvation mode upon return from this trip).
We decided to lunch at the patio restaurant belonging to one of thelarger hotels that overlooks the harbor. We had such a nice time sitting there people watching and trying to understand the German tourists that were seated around us (they had all come off of one of the cruise ships). We enjoyed a particularly nice Maine Blueberry Sangria (pictured below), and David had to try the New England clam chowder, of course.
After exploring the town for a while, it was time to take a tour of Acadia National Park. The park consists of 47,000 acres (73 square miles scattered among various islands, shorelines, lakes and mountains). One of the distinctive features of the park is that it is often the first place in the continental United States to see the sunrise. This is atop Cadillac Mountain, on Mt.Desert Island, the largest island in the park. Cadillac Mountain was named for Antoine de Cadillac (the same guy who founded Detroit, Michigan and explored Louisiana). Cadillac was given this island as a grant from Louis XIV in 1688.
The view from Cadillac Mountain is just breathtaking! As mentioned, there were three cruise ships in port that day, and their gleaming white paint was glistening in the water as they appeared and disappeared through the clouds that were partially obscuring the harbor.
Alas, the time had come for us to leave this beautiful isle and head for the hotel where we would spend the final night of our trip - a Hampton Inn in Augusta, Maine.
It's time to close the blog until our next trip. We aren't sure yet when or where that may be, but we hope you will come along with us. We also hope that we've made this enjoyable for you all. As for us, we'll be hanging out in the Hood over the remainder of the fall and winter. Best wishes to everyone for a fabulous end to 2013. See you all next year!
With all of our love,
David and Karen
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