Acadia National Park

Acadia National sits on the central coast of Maine. It's a beautiful national park that is a cluster of islands with wonderful vistas of the rocky coastline, granite hills and Cadillac Mountain which rises to over 1500 feet.

Much of the land on Desert Island was owned by the Rockefeller family. They built a system of graveled carriage roads that criss cross the park. They are used by hikers and bike riders, but not automobiles. The 27 mile drive around the park can be done on your own or by riding the free propane buses that have been provided by the L.L. Bean Co. They are a Maine company!

A few vistas we enjoyed while on the drive...

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on Desert Island and in the park. The top is a rocky cap that provides views of Bar Harbor and the harbor itself. There were no cruise ships in when we were there. We climbed all over the rocks.

Bar Harbor isn't the only harbor on the island. We drove to Southwest Harbor, Bass Harbor, Seal Harbor, and Northeast Harbor - without ever leaving the island! And we went through charming little towns that looked so "Maine." Martha Stewart likes the area too...she has a house on the island.

While doing laundry in the local laundromat, I had a wonderful gabfest with a couple of the locals. They told us the place to see is Schoodic - or more correctly, the Schoodic part of Acadia National Park. One of them even made a stop at the local visitors center and returned to give us a brochure on Schoodic. Not being one to ignore local advise, we set out for Schoodic the next day.

Schoodic is on the very tip of a peninsula between Winter Harbor and Birch Harbor about 20 miles from Ellsworth where we were camped. As we drove down, the fog began to get thicker and thicker. There was an errie beauty about this rocky place.

The water was breaking on the rocks and the view of Bar Harbor and Cadillac Mountain across the bay was completely covered in fog. We were told that weddings are often held on the rocks and that when there's a storm, locals flock to Schoodic to watch it happen.

There's a large research and learning center here. We managed to get lost driving through it, but there weren't any people around. Maybe they were all inside researching and learning...

Prospect Harbor was not far from Schoodic. As we drove the area we realized we were among the lobster fisherman. Right where they live and work. It was late in the afternoon and the days work was done. There was just one man finishing up on the pier.

The boats were all tied up in the water...

And the traps were stacked on the pier.

There was no one around to sell me a lobster. This year the prices are down and there's a sadness about all the money these fisherman are losing. There was even talk about a "lobster war." I was able to buy lobster as low as $3.25/lb - about half of what it usually is.

I've learned all about soft shells vs. hard shell, how big, how to cook, what to eat. Mainers don't eat the tomale - the green stuff inside the lobster. It's the liver and it's where "all the bad stuff" is according to them. But I don't eat lobster all year like they do...