Acadia National Park

Suzy is coming by this morning with her sister who is visiting from Tampa to check out Gigator. Suzy's about the only one of my friends that thinks this whole concept is really cool. But she's also the only one of my friends that owns 14 kayaks!

She brings sunflowers from her garden and they are exactly what's been missing from our rolling home. They love Tor!

Today we're going to try out our new collapsible bikes in Acadia National Park. Stow the bikes in the car, make a picnic and we're off.

It's a beautiful park that showcases Maine's craggy shoreline and rock cliffs. We drive the Park Loop stopping frequently for Kodak moments and walking hiking trails.









Stone Beach proves to be a extremely interesting stop. Though, most Maine beaches are rock strewn, this is a different variety. Here, where the water meets the land, the beach is a solid mass of stones, mostly granite, smoothed by years of washing water. The sound of walking on them is particularly striking...the best description I can think of is almost like they are hollow and massively deep.




We climb out on a cliff for lunch where this seagull feels we are intruding on his space and are here for the sole purpose of bringing him lunch.


We make our way to Jordan Pond and encounter a wild blueberry patch where everyone is picking a snack. We do the same and they are like candy. We pass on stopping at the lodge for popovers which are apparently their specialty, but buy their mix to make some at home.



We pull out the bikes and ride what are known as the carriage trails, built by John D. Rockefeller who had a home there before the land was a national park. They do have horse and carriage rides on them, but the trails also accomodate bikes beautifully. It's probably been 20 years since I've been on a bike and have only tested driven this new one in the driveway. But we set out and no one got hurt!

If you are visiting upper Maine, I would definitely recommend including Acadia National Park. My only warning would be if you are able to visit in off-season months...late spring or early fall...do so. It was extremely crowded which took away a bit from the majesty of the landscape.

We really need to do a big grocery shopping. But manage to pull together what turns out to be a terrific combo. I made a couple of batches of pesto from the basil in our herb garden before we left. Tossed linguine with the pesto and some smoked salmon, made a ceasar salad and we were set.


After dinner, took a walk out on the beach at low-tide. What was completely under water a short while ago now opens up to what looks like a hundred yards of gravel. As we walk out in the muck, we find the "gravel" is actually empty mussel shells....millions of them.