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Adventures in the Villa

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August 2017

2017-07-24 Nor by Nor’east Caravan – Maine – Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, and Lobster!

Mt. Desert Island is quite a beautiful place, with rocky shores and quiet harbors.

2017-07-24 Acadia NP 01

Like Newport, RI, Mt. Desert Island was a favorite place for the very wealthy to have summer cottages.  However, rather than being sophisticated and elegant, filled with grand, showy homes, like Newport, MDI was known for its quiet, rustic ways.  Homes, while huge, and filled with servants, were simple, wood houses, with fireplaces and always set back into the wilderness.  Some of the houses from the late 19th century survive, but many were torn down by the 1950s because they were obsolete and too rustic for modern living.  The descendants of the original families who had homes here (Fords, Rockefellers, Astors, Vanderbilts) still have homes here, and many come for the summer season; but the houses are not as visible – they are mostly hidden in the woods…

The heart of social life, for those who participated, was (and is) the town of Bar Harbor. Many elegant hotels line the waterfront. Many of the families, though, stayed away from the town – they preferred to be in the woods, and along the sea, living the simple life – swimming, sailing, and taking long carriage rides along the carriage roads (mostly built by John D. Rockefeller). In fact, most of the land making up Acadia National Park was donated by the Rockefeller family.

We had been warned about the terrible traffic both in Bar Harbor, and in Acadia; we also were warned about road construction in the area.  So, armed with good maps we set off at 7:00 am (along with Larry and Kathy Warrren) to get an early start on the day.  We easily found the “good” road, and we easily found parking in Bar Harbor.  We strolled down empty streets; the only people out this early are folks heading for the whale watching boats. We were soon at our destination – Sunrise Café.  We enjoyed a nice quiet breakfast in this tiny place, then we walked along the Shore Path. The path runs right along the water’s edge, and it extends from the edge of town for about 1 ½ miles. We then could walk back along quiet residential streets. It was a great way to start the day.

2017-07-24 Bar Harbor 11

2017-07-24 Bar Harbor 12

Once back to the car we headed up Cadillac Mountain, the tallest “mountain” along the Atlantic coast – about 1,500 feet elevation. (In California we call these “hills”…)  From here you can see all the islands surrounding the main island of Mt. Desert Island.  The views are stunning!

 

2017-07-24 Acadia NP 05

 

2017-07-24 Acadia NP 04

2017-07-24 Acadia NP 03

 

As the park began getting busy we headed to the quieter side of the island, where many of the original wealthy families had their summer cottages.  We stopped in Seal Harbor, a beautiful place, and amazingly quiet.  The town of Seal Harbor consists of a church, an empty store building, a coffee house, and a bookstore.  And, of course, a real estate office.  There are three or four houses along the water’s edge, and many more in the hills.  All the houses are simple, neat, and unassuming.  There is a tiny Yacht Club perched on the side of the hill overlooking the harbor.

2017-07-24 Bar Harbor 15

2017-07-24 Seal Harbor 01

2017-07-24 Seal Harbor 02

Someone even built a very nice new vacation house right at the harbor’s edge:

2017-07-24 Seal Harbor 03

The next town is Northeast Harbor, a bustling place, filled with many art galleries. The harbor is much larger, and ferries run regularly between the harbor and two of the larger islands just off shore: Great Cranberry Island and Little Cranberry Island.  Many houses dot the streets of the town and the surrounding hills. People who live in Seal Harbor must come here to shop and eat.

2017-07-24 Bar Harbor 13

 

By now we were ready for lunch. We had been tipped off to another fabulous lobster pound, Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound. Only it was much more of a restaurant than a lobster shack. They served wine and offered napkins, eating utensils, and tools for eating the lobster.  Lobsters were great, but it was not as much fun as a real lobster pound…

We decided to call it a day and head back to the Villa. Tonight we had GAM #5, and we are hosting.  As we arrived at the RV Park it started to rain.  And it continued to rain.  Cold rain.  Maine rain.  We decided to have our GAM inside The Villa – all 10 of us.  It was cozy. But it was much nicer than sitting in the pavilion out in the cold.  We had great snacks and there was free flowing wine as we got to know another set of new friends. An enjoyable time was had by all…

 

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2017-07-23 Nor by Nor’east Caravan – Maine – Travel day to Trenton, ME; Wine and Cheese; Hobby Show and Tell

We on the move again.  (Have I said that before?  It is part and parcel of the caravan life…)  Today we move just 36 miles down the road, to Timberland Acres RV Park in Trenton, Maine.   Why move just 36 miles?   Searsport was great, with lots of support and activities put on by the RV park staff – meals, campfires every night, and the yada yada.   But the park was a little rough around the edges, with oddly sloping sites and no sewer connections.  But it was right on the water, and they provided great services.  There are always trade-offs. Timberland Acres had large, beautiful pull-though RV sites, but was pretty bland otherwise – exactly opposite from Searsport.

We stopped along the way at Home Depot, where I bought some nuts:

2017-07-23 Airstream Home Depot 02

We pulled into our site and hooked up and set up.  The Caravan was pretty much alone in this section of the park:

2017-07-23 Timberland Acres 06

2017-07-23 Timberland Acres 05

 

We took some walks, and at 6:00 pm we had a cheese and wine party – basically happy hours, with all the food and wine provided by the caravan.  After hours of wine and cheese, out leader, Trevor, asked people to tell the group about their hobbies.  Somewhere along the line this turned into yarn-telling.  And hilarity ensued.  You might be surprised, but I had a few yarns to add to the mix…

2017-07-23 Timberland Acres 03

2017-07-23 Timberland Acres 02

2017-07-23 Timberland Acres 01

Late into the evening (about 8:30 pm) we retreated to the Villa and retired.  An enjoyable time was had by all.

Again, this being moving day we have few pictures. However, I do have darling grandchildren, so I post pictures of some of them (and their friends):

2017-07-23 Roisin and Ian

 

2017-07-23 Ian

 

 

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2017-07-22 Nor by Nor’east Caravan – Maine – Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory, Fort Knox, Bucksport, Camden and More…

We had a full day on our agenda today.  We started by driving 12-13 miles to the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.  This is a beautiful bridge across, what else, the Penobscot Narrows.

2017-07-22 Penobscot Narrows Bridge 06

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge is a 2,120 feet long cable-stayed bridge (I explained this term a few days ago, in Boston…) that carries the highway over the Penobscot River.  It replaced the Waldo–Hancock Bridge, built in 1931.

The old bridge was state of the art when it was built in the 1930s, but it was discovered be be suffering from corrosion and was in danger of failing in 2000.

The Penobscot Bridge is also home to the Penobscot Narrows Observatory, the first bridge observation tower in the United States and the tallest public bridge observatory in the world. The tower reaches 420 feet (128 m) into the air and allows visitors to view the bridge, the nearby Fort Knox State Historic Site, the Penobscot River, and Bay.  To get an idea of how this thing is:

Bunker Hill Monument:   221′

Statue of Liberty:               305′

Penobscot Observatory:   447′

Washington Monument:  555′

This thing is tall!

2017-07-22 Penobscot Narrows Bridge 03

2017-07-22 Penobscot Narrows Bridge 01

 

2017-07-22 Penobscot Narrows Bridge 05

We admired the bridge from below, then took the high-speed elevator to the observatory at the top on the tower.

The views were spectacular!

2017-07-22 Penobscot Narrows Observatory 07

The approach and abutments from the old bridge can be seen below:

2017-07-22 Penobscot Narrows Observatory 04

The new approach to the new bridge requited 158,000 cu. yds. of granite to be carved out of this hillside:

2017-07-22 Penobscot Narrows Observatory 11 158000

 

After the bridge observatory we went to see Fort Knox.  No, this isn’t the one with all the gold – that one is in Kentucky.  This one is a perfect example of locking the barn after all the horses have been stolen.  After being attacked during the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary war, and the War of 1812, Congress authorized the building of this fort.  It was a state-of-the-Art fort, built between 1844 and 1869, but it was never actually finished, and it never saw any action in any war.

2017-07-22 Fort Knox 03

 

2017-07-22 Fort Knox 02

2017-07-22 Fort Knox 21

 

It was a fun tour, though. The cannon bays, the soldiers’ quarters, and the general design were all very interesting.

There is a replica of a period-accurate cannon that they fire every hour on weekends.  Once you hear this cannon fire , you can just imagine what it must be like to hear 30, 40, 60 cannons firing  continuously. Just this one is deafening! Every time we hear its BANG! I instinctively looked around for a scoreboard…!

2017-07-22 Fort Knox 23

2017-07-22 Fort Knox 24

 

Next on today’s agenda was a drive over the bridge to the town of Bucksport.  It had a nice harbors, but most businesses looked woebegone and wretched.  When we arrived we ran into the tail end of their anniversary parade.  We parked out of the way, and walked the main street. Post-parade they had a festival along the waterfront.  But what could not be ignored is this town is going “paperless”.  In late 2014 the local paper mill closed, and today it is being dismantled.  Unfortunately, this town has no reason for being. I hope something in the local economy springs up to support the town, but it is pretty sad today.  A water-front house, a 13 room colonial, 7 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 3,200 square feet, is asking $168,000 – about $50 per s.f.   Another New England town is about to bite the dust.

2017-07-22 Bucksport 01

You get a nice view of the bridge and fort across the harbor:

2017-07-22 Bucksport 02 - Bridge and Fort

 

Finally, we are off to Camden, Maine. It is a cute little town with a cute little harbor and it is home port for many Windjammer antique sailing ship cruises.  The harbor area is dripping in charm.  There is no real industry here other than tourism.  We walked around the town, enjoying the sights and the views, and even some of the shops.  We had lunch on the waterfront, and all was great.

2017-07-22 Camden 18

2017-07-22 Camden 12

2017-07-22 Camden 16

 

We returned to the Villa, stopping for groceries along the way.  We went for a walk on the beach; Lynda found this baby eel in the tide pools:

2017-07-22 Searsport Eel

 

Happy hours ensued, and an enjoyable time was had by all…

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