Maritime - Week Nine

Sunday, July 31, 2005 - Day 57

St. Andrews, NB

This is what we saw outside our kitchen window this morning.  Well, at least "I" saw it.  Unfortunately, Donna was still asleep!  Oh well, what can I say. 

I took a series of pictures from about 5:30 to 6:15, then I went back to bed myself..  Hey, we're on vacation!  Remember?

After breakfast, we went to the office and paid for another night, then about 10:30 we went to the Kingsbrae Garden, considered one of the top 10 gardens in Canada.  The estate and property which form the garden were donated to the non-profit organization that now operates it.  The 27 acre site was created over 2 years, and opened to visitors in 1998.  It features a cedar maze, two ponds, streams, a Dutch Windmill, A Knot Garden (see pic) and a wide array of birds, butterflies and insects.  There are over 2500 different varieties of trees, shrubs, and plants.

After visiting the garden, we drove over to St. George, and then down to Back Bay to catch the ferry to Deer Island.  The two ferries run every 30 minutes, for the 20 minute ride through several narrow channels between several island to reach Deer Island.  At the very southern tip of the island, there is a channel, less than a mile wide, between Deer Island and Eastport, Maine.

After visiting the point, we drove back north on the other side of the island, and had lunch at the 45th Parallel Restaurant, a really neat little place.  They had a few lobsters in the tank, but one them was a real rare Red Lobster, weighing over 7.5 pounds, believed to be over 25 years old. 

Monday, August 1, 2005 - Day 58

Acadia National Park

BACK IN THE USA !!

It was raining this morning when we got up (the first time), and still raining when we got up the second time!  So we hung around, checking the internet, had a little breakfast.  We finally got a little break in the rain, so we quickly got hooked up, and ready to roll.  Guess if its gonna rain, then a travel day is a good day for rain, not interfering with sight seeing.

We were only about 30 minutes from St. Stephens, where we crossed into the USA.  Before we even turned on the street leading to the border, traffic was already backed up.  A group of young folks were walking along the stopped cars offering what looked like Chocolate Brownies or Cake, not sure which, but we declined. It took about 45 minutes to drive the 3/4 mile or so, and get to the Customs stop.  Quickly passed through, and then on US 1 headed for Acadia National Park. 

US 1 is one of the oldest US highways, and it sure shows it.  Parts of it were worse than any road in the Maritime or even Alaska, for that matter.

The road from Ellsworth to the campground where we are staying, about 9 miles from Acadia Park and Bar Harbor, was bumper to bumper traffic for most of the way.  I was about to decide there were too many people here for us, but when we checked in, the lady said there had apparently been a wreck between here and Bar Harbor, just outside the Park.

We drove into Bar Harbor tonight, gazed in and into a few shops, and had a really great dinner at "Rupununi's - An American Bar and Grill".  We had dinner on the patio, and we both had excellent steaks. 

Right now its almost 11pm, and the rain just started up again, and it's really coming down hard.  We just lost the TV signal, and may lose the Internet Signal soon.  We'll see.  I just checked the radar on Weather.com, and its only a small cell, with the worst part north and east of us.  The TV just came back on, and we never lost Satellite Signal more that a few seconds.

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - Day 59

Acadia National Park, Maine

We drove back to downtown Bar Harbor this morning, to check out some 'kiddies' clocks we saw last night just as the store was closing.  Really cute little characters in action with a clock.  We just had to have one for grand-daughter Courtney.  We then had a 'Breakfast Wrap' at 'Michelle's Brown Bag' cafe.

Then we headed to the Park Visitor's Center, got our Passport Book stamped, and headed out on the Loop Road, a drive around the main part of the 45,000 acre park.  There were numerous pull-out opportunities, and we took advantage of many. 

One of our stops was at 'Sand Beach', one of the few beaches along the coast.  Most of the coast is high, rocky bluffs, with no beach whatsoever.  We saw several Lobster boats working near the shore, checking their traps.

Much of the park is right adjacent to private property, as well as several small towns located at various coves.  We visited one such little harbor town, and had a great lunch of a Lobster Roll and a Crab Melt, which we split.

We saw lots of cyclists on the road, some alone, some in groups.  At the restaurant / gift shop at Jordan Pond, a lot of the cyclist were taking a break, or were putting the bikes on a trailer to return to Bar Harbor.  One guy that we saw several times, but then didn't see him after Jordan Pond.  Well, as we pulled into the campground, there he was, pulling in right ahead of us.  That dude had quite a ride today!  The campground is 10 miles from the start of the loop road.

After returning to the coach, about 5pm, we hung around awhile, then drove back to the docks in Bar Harbor and watched a small cruise ship (boat) come in.  The boat was only 186 feet long, with a passenger capacity of 100, and a crew of 17.  They were cruising the Maine coast, and will depart tomorrow afternoon. 

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - Day 60

Acadia National Park, Maine

This morning we decided to go back into the park, and drive the road to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest mountain in the Park at 500 + feet.  I told Donna that we had antennas in Texas taller than that!  Good, but fairly steep, road all the way to the top.  A large parking lot near the crest which was almost full.  Course as more folks came up, some were leaving.  We saw about 6 or 7 'artists' painting or drawing the scene from this vantage point.

We even passed quite a few bicyclist again today, one group of strong, young folks were even pushing theirs bikes.  They were nearing the top, but were still pushing when we headed back down.  One guy in their group was riding, but he was going no faster than the ones walking!!

On the way back down, we stopped at a little pull-out with trees on the road side, out of the wind (cold) and out of the sun (hot), and had a little picnic lunch on the tailgate of the truck. We saw a few of the bicyclist headed back down the mountain, one of which was running about 40 miles an hour into a 15mph curve.  We guess he made it, cause we didn't see him wiped out anywhere.

We then drove back into Bar Harbor (Bah Haabaa to the locals), and visited a couple of shops and an Ice Cream place.  As we were about to leave, we drove back down to the dock, where the cruise ship was preparing to leave.  We watched them back out, turn around, and leave.

Back to the coach for a long nap.  Its nearly sundown now, and we are considering what to do about dinner.  The picnic was about 8 hours ago, now.  Ole Kpoppa is getting hungry,  Or, as grandson Austin would say.. "I getting hungy, nonna".

Well, we had dinner in the coach, a really good thin crust, pepperoni pizza that Donna bought last night.  She keeps extra pepperoni to add to the store bought pizzas making them extra good.

I have lots of pictures from the last couple of days, and will get them on here asap!  Check back!

Thursday, August 4, 2005 - Day 61

Boston / Cape Cod, Mass

We spent most of the day driving from Acadia Park, down I-95 to a little town between Boston and Cape Cod.  We checked in about 4:30 or so, got set up, and snacked on a few Hot Wings.  We got about the only site they had left that would work for the satellite.  We will probably just hang around the campsite tonight, although we might do a little close-by exploring.

The address of the campground is Plymouth, but I think we are about 15 miles from the town of  Plymouth, and about 55 miles to downtown Boston.  I think we are within a few miles of Cape Cod.

Friday, August 5, 2005 - Day 62

New Bedford and Cape Cod

Today was a pretty long day, traveling to two different areas in different directions from our campground.  First we drove over to New Bedford, a town that at one time was the whaling capital of the world, with over 80% of all whale oil harvested coming through that port.  We went to the Visitor's Center for the National Historic Site and then went to the whaling museum and watched a 20 minute film about whaling and New Bedford.  We drove around the old historic home area, and it was really interesting to see all those old home with a little plaque on the wall stating the name of the original owner and the date it was built.  I believe the narrator at the movie presentation said there were over 75 of these homes still in existence.  The whaling industry died out with the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania, and the depletion of the whale population.

We then backtracked on the expressway to cross the Cape Cod Canal to go to the Cape Cod Island, and the Cape Cod National Seashore.  We traveled on the main road down the middle of the island for about 30 miles or so, and went to the Visitor's Center for the National Park.  We gathered up some information, and I talked to one of the rangers, who gave me some suggestions since we only had a few hours to visit the seashore.  We had no intention of 'laying on the beach' for a few days, but did visit a couple of the beaches, just to see what they were like. 

We had a 'salad' lunch at the 'Sea Dog' restaurant and bar, which was really good.  I asked for bread with the salad, the waitress said sure, no problem.  Just as I finished the salad, she brought the bread out, explaining they had to bake if fresh.  And fresh it was, and yeast rolls on top of that!!  Man, were they good.

We took a little longer route returning, and went through some of the other well known towns, Mashpee, Hyannis, Sandwich, and several others.  We spotted a huge mall that seemed fairly new, with a full parking lot.  There were also many other new strip centers, most appearing to be less than 3 to 5 years old. 

Then back to the little town of Buzzard Bay, close to the campground, where we had to visit Betty's Dairy Bar, a little old (1955) hamburger / ice cream place we had spotted last night (with about 25 people in line).  No big line tonight because a big thunderstorm had just passed through, but we got some ice cream to satisfy our curiosity, and we were NOT disappointed.  It sort of reminded us of the place in Fredericksburg, Va., that Butch and Nancy Wimmer took us to a couple of years ago.

Saturday, August 6, 2005 - Day 63

Boston, Ma.

We drove into Boston this morning, about a 60 miles drive.  our destination was the Freedom Trail and a visit to the USS Constitution, a re-make of the original ship that was built in the late 1700, and used by the US Navy through several wars.  There is no signage from the freeway directing one to the National Park facilities, so we just took an exit, wandered around a bit, spotted a street named Bunker Hill St. so we figured we were close.  We asked directions to the ship, and it turned out we hade been within a couple of blocks a couple of times, but there never was a sign.

Anyway, we found it, parked and walked over for the the 39 minutes tour.  Unfortunately, I only got limited pictures, because my battery was almost dead, and my spare was in the truck.  It was a very interesting tour.  The guide was a sailor, about 18, and had been in the navy about 11 months and assigned to the USS Constitution for 9 months.

We then drove back up Bunker Hill to view the Bunker Hill Monument, which we had missed by a couple of blocks when we were 'lost'.  Quite impressive monument, and some very nice displays in the Visitor's Center.  Just as we arrived there was a demonstration of musket firing, which we only caught the very last shot. 

After driving to Bunker Hill, we drove back over to the Boston Commons, a big park with lots of folks enjoying their Saturday afternoon.  We parked in an underground garage, underneath the actual park.  We took a walk along some of the streets following the 'red line' in the sidewalk, to view some of the interesting points in Boston.  We visited the Visitor's Center for the National Park, and then headed over to the "Faneuil Hall", a large meeting place built in 1742. 

In the 'Assembly Area' outside the Hall, an area designated for Free Speech, we ran across some street performers demonstrating their dancing and acrobatic abilities.  They performed for tips only, and during and after their performance, they 'passed the (several) buckets', collecting money from the crowd.  By the time they were finished collecting, they had a 5-GALLON bucket full of money. 

The Hall was meant for 'town meetings', but in the 1700's the discussions generally turned to British Taxation policies, and the Hall became the focus of revolutionary activity in Boston, with the discussions sometime spilling over into incidents of violence on the streets.  Though the rhetoric expressed here was limited to Boston, reports were carried throughout the colonies and led them together towards unity and independence.  This earned Faneuil Hall its name as America's "Cradle of Liberty".

From the Hall we strolled through an area of old buildings that were now 'high end retail' stores as well as restaurants and an open courtyard.  Literally 1000's of people there, with several street performers.