Maine Coast

We found the coast of Maine so interesting that we extended the amount of time we had loosely planned to spend there, now we are on our way back south on 95 towards our base at Marshfield. Our time in Maine was wonderful. For the past 48 hours we have been exploring areas along US1 south of the Bar Harbor area.

First we spent part of our final day in Bar Harbor visiting the Oceanarium and Lobster Hatchery. This fascinating place is one of only two functioning lobster hatcheries in the state. Founded and supported by lobster fishermen, they last year released over 31,000 baby lobsters back into the waters off Mount Desert Isle. We took the tour and heard a wonderful talk. We next took the opportunity to walk across the harbor to Bar Island and to hike to the small summit that commands an excellent view of Bar Harbor. This can only be done during low tide as the path is underwater during high tide.




One of Kathy’s good friends, Janine Blanchard and her boyfriend, Heath Higgins live in nearby Bernard, which is a small hamlet on Mount Desert Island and we drove over there to spend Wednesday night with them. A former Key West resident, Janine is now a pig farmer, currently raising 6 pigs, 3 turkeys, 2 goats and a flock of chickens. Heath owns the building where friends were having the grand opening of their new restaurant, The Moorings; located right on Southwest Harbor and we were treated to a wonderful meal overlooking the water. If you find yourself in the area, be sure to look up the Moorings.

Janine & Heath


Thursday morning we were on our way early, this time to Blue Hill, where we visited the Marine Education Research Institute. (MERI) This local non-profit, has a visitor center along the main street in Blue Hill and is full of great educational displays and a touch tank of tidal pond creatures. We were also in Blue Hill to visit friends and family. Kathy’s aunt, Marcia Fenn lives in Blue Hill and she provided us with a wonderful meal featuring local crab meat salad. We also stopped by the beautiful home and gardens of Tom & Kitty Clements. Tom was off hiking across Iceland with his son, but we had a great visit with Kitty, who gave us some of the tasty fresh strawberry jam she was in the process of preparing.

Kathy & Marcia
Michael & Kitty

We continued to follow the coast along US 1, turning off at Route 32 to head to Pemaquid Point. I visited Pemaquid Point some 30 years ago on a family vacation and I must say it has hardly changed at all. Route 32, twists and turns along some of the most scenic spots we have encountered on our trip and the Pemaquid Point lighthouse is spectacular and well worth the trip

We finished our day with a visit and overnight stay at Old Orchard Beach. Far different than anyplace else we visited in Maine, Old Orchard Beach is a sort of funky, tacky, touristy beach community much like Myrtle Beach or Coney Island. There is a large Pier, nightclubs full of big hair and loud music and a waterfront amusement park full of rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl and the Himalaya, It’s not the sort of place we’d prefer to spend a lot of time at, but it is a slice of Americana that is fun to experience.

Down East

Winter Harbor, Maine

First Light. People in this part of Maine are the first in the entire USA o experience sunrise and the sun comes up this time of year around 4:45 AM or so, with today marking the first day of summer it will be the longest day of the year. It is a good time to maximize outdoor activities.



We are staying at the home of John & Annie Blumenstiel, friends of Kathy’s Aunt Kathy & Uncle Al who have lent us the use of their beautiful summer home overlooking the water on the Schoodic Peninsula across the harbor from Bar Harbor. So we are fortunate to have an entire house to call home during our stay here. There is so much to see and do here; it is truly a special place. Our first full day here was Monday, we drove the loop road of the Schoodic Section of Acadia National Park. This rocky outcropping juts out into the North Atlantic at Schoodic Point and we explored that area before driving around to Bar Harbor into the Mount Desert Island section of the park.





We decided to unload the bikes and ride along some of the beautiful carriage roads that crisscross the park. Built in the 1920’s by John David Rockefeller, the roads traverse some of the most beautiful paths through the woods, lakes and bald mountains that make up the park. We rode the paths around Eagle Lake and to the Bubble Pond before the fog started to roll in. The Maine fog is something to behold, it rolls in from the Sea and over the Mountains in thick waves, enveloping everything. It is mysteriously beautiful. After the bike ride, we headed into town to look around the many touristy shops along Main Street. In some ways it feels like a much quainter version of Key West.

The tourist season is just starting to kick in here, it runs from now through October and places are just now opening for the season. The Ferry we had hoped to use from Winter Harbor to Bar Harbor does not start till Friday, and we will be gone by then. We visited the Bar harbor Whale Museum as well, before driving back to Winter Harbor for a wonderful dinner in the only open restaurant in town, The Fisherman Inn.




Yesterday, we were back at it, this time taking a much more aggressive and long route through the park on our bikes. I have to admit it was at times difficult as the roads wind through the mountains and some of those uphills were tough. We came across a bunch of wildlife, including deer, frogs, squirrels, chipmunks and turtles, including one large snapping turtle that was just meandering down the path. We also saw a bunch of beaver lodges on the many lakes and ponds we cycled around. We were on the bikes for more than 5 hours, stopping for lunch at the Jordan Pond House in the center of the park for some popovers. I’m not sure what today has in store, if the weather stays as perfect as it was yesterday, we may go on a whale watching expedition.

Pleasant Lake-Elkins, New Hampshire

June 18, 2006

Mac, Jimmy, Tina & McHale Cahill





We find ourselves back in New Hampshire, this time at a Lake Cottage on the shore of beautiful Lake Pleasant in Elkins. The beautiful lodgings are courtesy of Tina & Jimmy Cahill whose family owns 8 such cabins along the lake front. Tina was a high school classmate of Kathy’s at Proctor Academy which is located in nearby Andover. Tina works at the ABC preschool in the New London Hospital and Jimmy is a New London firefighter. They have two awesome kids Mac & McHale. We arrived on Thursday, leaving the traffic and hubbub of the Boston for the tranquility and beauty of the Lake Sunapee Region of New Hampshire. We stayed for 3 nights and could easily have stayed longer.





Our cabin is literally on the shore of the lake and we have spent our time hanging out with Tina & her family and exploring the natural beauty of the area. We went hiking and road our bikes around the large lake. During one of our hiking expeditions, we had a near calamity as we hiked through the Esther Currier Wildlife Management area. The area is a series of trails around a marshy lake. We hiked to a couple of different wildlife viewing blinds in hopes of seeing the beavers, sadly they were not out and as we walked over boards laid out to cross a bog, one of the boards gave way and I took a tumble into the deep muck and bog. It wouldn’t have been so bad except I was holding my digital Canon Rebel which was completely submerged. It would have been a great photo of me covered in muck, but the camera was not working. Thankfully after drying out for a day, it seems to be working ok, but it was a scare.




The tranquility of this place is amazing, the gentle waves lapping outside the window with a chorus of frogs or the call of loons being the only noise you hear. The people have been so nice to us. Our car seems out of place for sure around here, but it elicits smiles from people as we drive around. Toll takers and gas station employees seem especially taken by it. Everyone always asks if we painted it ourselves, we did not. Key West artist Rick Worth painted it. As of today we will have traveled through 14 states and just over 4000 miles.