A Visit to the Bar...Bar Harbor

July 23-25
This was our second trip to Bar Harbor. We were here five years ago having taken the Fast Cat Ferry from Nova Scotia to Bar Harbor. We spent the night at the Bluenose Inn and dined at the Chart House. This trip afforded us the luxury of a little more time to relive our memories.

We stayed at Narrows Too Campground right outside of Bar Harbor. Our site...#700...was within sight of the water where we could watch the ever changing tidal landscape.

LUNCH AT THE CHART HOUSE

Bar Harbor is always a fun place to visit as are most of the coastal towns of Maine. The villages teem with little shops, art galleries, seaside restaurants, sidewalk cafes, boat tours, whale watches, sunset cruises, lighthouses, and roadside lobster pounds. There’s always something to pique one’s interest and empty one’s billfold. During our trip we have certainly bought our share of sweatshirts, tee shirts, magnets, postcards, and little gift items for friends and family. That’s just part of the trip! Restaurants usually take most of our $$$…just can’t pass up that “CHOWDAH”!!

SCENES OF BAR HARBOR

DINNER AT STEWMAN'S

ROADSIDE LOBSTERS AND PIPERS

One thing Bar Harbor has that other areas don’t is Acadia National Park. If shopping is not your thing then there are miles of hiking trails and bike trails to get you back to the “outdoor“ side of yourself. The most popular attraction of the park is Cadillac Mountain.

The drive up the curvy loop road will give you a taste of what will be found at the top…scenic and panoramic vistas of the islands, bays, and ocean below. The elevation of the mountain is over 1,500 ft…the tallest mountain on the Atlantic coast north of Brazil. If you arrive at dawn, then you are the first in the United States to see the sunrise from this vantage. Sunsets are equally as dazzling. Most visitors spend hours just clambering over the bald granite dome. Sometimes, sightings of whales can be seen from the top of the mountain...be sure to bring binoculars!

ACADIA...CADILLAC MOUNTAIN

Pearl Sends an SOS!!

July 21-22
July 21 was a travel day. We left the Maritimes and headed back to the States. Our destination for a two night stay was Houlton, Maine. There isn’t anything exciting going on in Houlton, but we weren’t scheduled at our next destination until July 23 so we were killing a day and it just happened to be in Houlton. Why here…border crossing back into the States.

Everyone told us that U.S. Customs were tough and that there was a great possibility we would be searched. We had all our declarations of purchases itemized and receipts ready. We had only bought a few sweatshirts, some rain gear, and a bottle of scotch so we really weren’t worried about that…we just didn’t want our coach torn apart in a search. I did have a plant that I probably wasn’t suppose to enter the States with, but it was stored in a basement bin.

Upon arriving at customs, passports were given to the inspector and questions were asked. He then asked to come inside. Guess we were lucky because all he did was look in the bedroom, never opened a bin, or did any type of a real thorough search. However, he did ask if there was any citrus fruit on board. I had one lime and it was confiscated! I asked him how I was suppose to make my Gin and Tonic tonight!! His reply, “We do sell them here in the states”… HA! The basement bins were never checked so the plant made it! Guess we just look honest and got through very easily.

Now the real reason I am writing this little entry, is to tell you about “my close” encounter on a rainy morning in Houlton, Maine. Maybe God was getting me back for not declaring that plant; sometimes our honesty gets checked even for little things we do or don’t do? To make a long story short, I got locked in our teeny tiny bathroom for over an hour and it took three men to get me out!

We had been having trouble with the knob sticking the day before. Frank took it apart and reset it…there in itself may have caused the problem…Frank the Engineer!! I went in the next morning, shut the door, and got stuck…the mechanism totally froze up…we don’t even use the lock. Why lock the door? There are only the two of us on board!

If you have ever been in an RV’s bathroom, then you know how small they are. Being shut in one for over an hour is not pleasant and can get rather claustrophobic. Frank began work on jimmying the lock, but no luck. Couldn’t take the door off the hinges because of the way it is hinged. At least I had a place to sit down and wait! Frank passed me a book under the door so I could read…the book’s title, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! How appropriate! Finally, not getting anywhere with the knob, Frank went next door to get some help.

We had met this lovely couple from Utah the night before…Dixie and Jerry. They were getting ready to go into Canada and we had shared our wealth of information with them over a beer. Jerry comes and looks the situation over and he starts trying to jimmy the door…they both try all sorts of things with that knob and lock. Frank then goes to get the manager of the campground…Now there was gonna be Larry, Curly, and Moe trying to get me out!

While Frank was gone, Jerry became the hero. He just broke that lock all to pieces. Shrapnel was flying everywhere! A few minutes later… “tah dah“, I am free! WHEW!!

By that time Frank had returned with the manager; there were three men standing around examining the broken lock and me! Luckily, I had my pj’s on…my dignity had not been totally destroyed!
We now have a new doorknob on the bathroom door…one with no lock!! What if that knob had frozen up when Customs was inspecting? Why, we could still be in Canada!!

Exploring Prince Edward Island

July 15-20
After leaving the cottage, we moved Pearl to Twin Shores Campground in the Darnley area. We were still in the region of the Island referred to as the Green Gables Shore. As we explored, we were able to take in some of the Island's other areas and parts of the Coastal Drives.

OUR VIEW OF THE LOBSTER BOATS

CAMPGROUND VIEW FROM ACROSS DARNLEY BAY

RED SAND BEACHES AT THE CAMPGROUND

SIGHTS ALONG THE WAY

CHARLOTTETOWN TO SUMMERSIDE

BEAUTIFUL FIELDS

The Points East Coastal Drive took us to Wood Islands Ferry where we picnicked on Lobster Rolls while waiting for the ferry to come in. It was a gorgeous sunny day with no wind coming in from the sea.
The coastal drives always lead to lighthouses. Wood Islands and Cape Bear were two we found. An interesting fact about Cape Bear was that it was the first to hear the Titanic’s distress signal as it sank off the coast of Newfoundland April 15,1912.

WOOD ISLANDS LIGHTHOUSE...1876

CAPE BEAR LIGHTHOUSE...1881

MONTAGUE HARBOR...A LOVELY PLACE TO BE

Last year we found the best ice cream ever in Michigan…MOOMERS! Well, this year we found the best ice cream in Canada…COWS! Of course we just had to make a comparison by having a few cones. COWS even has a tour of its creamery in Charlottetown. Frank is always looking for great ice cream!!

JOHN AND ROSI...LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!

We had a wonderful time while on Prince Edward Island and look forward to returning in five years when Frank has his 50th college reunion in Nova Scotia. We left the Island on July 21 heading for Houlton, Maine...back to the States!