9/23/2011

We got up to a sunny morning and drove around on the island we are on and stopped at a couple of antique stores. It started to cloud up after we had lunch so we drove into Burlington and went to Magic Hat Brewing. We had tasters of eight of their beers on tap and got a couple of t-shirts. We then drove to Switchback Brewing. They didn’t have tours today but we got one anyway. Yesterday we met a lady who works there when we were at Zero Gravity Brewpub. She told us to come today and she would show us around. We sampled two of their beers and Jim got a t-shirt.

On the way to the breweries we passed two more bridges. The Shelburne covered bridge was built in 1845 and is a two lane bridge. The Spade Farm covered bridge was built in 1824 and is the second oldest covered bridge in Vermont. We went to two more breweries that we had to drive about 45 minutes to reach. We drove through some really pretty countryside. We went to Otter Creek/Wolaver Brewing in Middlebury and to Bob Cat Café and Brewing in Bristol. It was getting late and rather than cook dinner we stopped at the VFW Hall in Winooski -- they were having a hamburger and hot dog cookout. We ate there and then returned to the Casita. It started to sprinkle a little and is supposed to be rainy for the next several days.

9/24/2011

We left Vermont this morning. We drove back across the state and New Hampshire again to get to Maine. When we left it was very foggy and we had a few showers along the way. We drove back through the Groton State Forest Road because the road we wanted to drive was closed today for repairs. It was a little farther for us to drive but the trees along the road were really showing color. The only problem was it was a curvy, hilly road with no shoulders and no pull offs. The pictures we took were through the windshield while driving. We found a camp site a few miles north of Bethel, Maine. We unhooked and drove to Sunday River Brewing a couple of miles away and had beer. They had a really great pumpkin beer which I had them mix with IPA. We talked to a man at the bar who lives in the area and he suggested a little drive that was scenic so we took it before returning to the Casita.

9/25/2011

Jim made pancakes for breakfast this morning. He put some blueberries in the batter and then we had Vermont maple syrup on top of them and bacon. He can cook good pancakes. Before leaving we drove down the road a few miles to the Sunday River covered bridge, built in 1872. There are only eight covered bridges in Maine.
After hooking up we drove to Rangeley, Maine. On the way we drove through Grafton Notch State Park and stopped at a couple of falls. We also stopped at a really pretty lake near Errol, New Hampshire with some sailboats on the water. After coming back into Maine we stopped at another one of their covered bridges. This one was Bennett-Bean covered bridge and was built in 1898. There was a really great campground at it and Jim wanted to stay but the office was closed and we didn’t know how much the site would cost. Just before the second covered bridge we stopped on the side of the road to take a picture at a beautiful stand of trees that were turning colors.

We continued on to Rangeley State Park and got a site there. At night I cooked the small pumpkin I had bought from a farmers market about a week ago and had some ham. The pumpkin was good. I think I will get another one and next time cook it the way mother used to.

9/26/2011

We drove all day going to the coast of Maine. We stopped to take a picture at Small Falls. We got a campsite at a Passport America campground in S. Robinston, Maine. This little town is about 25 miles south of Calais, Maine.

9/27/2011

We had breakfast and showers and then drove to St. Croix Island International Historic Site about five miles from camp. It commemorates the attempted French settlement in Canada which led to the founding of New France. Lieutenant General Pierre Dugua set sail from France to North American in 1604 and after exploration he sailed into the Bay of Fundy and up the St. Croix River in early summer. He found an island to provide control of the river. His men started construction of fortifications and the ships returned to France leaving 79 men to spend the winter. By the time the ships arrived the next June 35 men were dead. Further exploration found a better place for settlement across the Bay of Fundy and St. Croix was abandoned. You can’t visit the island but there is an interpretive trail with statues that leads to the edge of the bay and you can see the island in the middle of the river.

We returned to the Casita and made lunch to take with us. We took pictures of low tide on the St. Croix River. This river has bore tides like the Cook Inlet in Alaska. We crossed the 45^th parallel and took a picture. We drove to Eastport, the easternmost city in the U.S. This city used to rival New York as a port. On the shore is a large statue of a fisherman. This statue was made by the Fox network for the TV show “Murder in Small Town X”. It is now dedicated to Angel Juarbe. He won the $250.000.00 prize for the TV show and soon after died as one of the first N.Y. fireman responding to the World Trade Center attacks. We continued on down the coast to Pembroke and went to Garnet Point on Cobscook Bay.

There are 68 lighthouses on the Maine coast and we went to the first one today. West Quoddy lighthouse is the easternmost point in the U.S. It is a beautiful lighthouse that is painted red and white.

After leaving the Quoddy lighthouse we drove across the Roosevelt International Bridge onto Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. We went to Roosevelt Campobello International Park. This is the island where President Roosevelt’s parent spent the summers. He spent his summers there and after he married Eleanor his parents bought a house for them as a wedding present. We toured the house. The island has two lighthouse and we drove to both of them. East Quoddy lighthouse is only accessible during low tide. You have to climb three sets of iron stairs and cross rocks and a bridge. When we got there the sun and tide were perfect for pictures. Before leaving Campobello Island there is a picnic area with the Mulholland lighthouse near the Roosevelt Bridge so we stopped there also. We drove into the town of Lubec, Maine and then returned to the Casita. It was low tide so we stopped to take a picture where we were this morning at high tide

9/28/2011

We drove all morning until we got to Mount Desert Island which has Acadia National Park on it. The city of Bar Harbor is also here. We got us a campsite in the Blackwoods campground inside Acadia National Park and then went to the visitor center to get some information on hiking. We decided to do half of the loop drive this afternoon and then returned to Bar Harbor. One of the side legs on the loop road was up Cadillac Mountain which is 1530 feet tall. From here you could see Frenchman Bay. When we got to the top a cloud was passing and it was really foggy. We went back down about ¼ mile and the view was clear.
There were 2 gatehouses in the park that are at the beginning of the carriage road. The carriage roads are for walking and biking only. They have a horse drawn carriage that will take you down them also. They were built around 1932. When we got to Bar Harbor we went to a brewpub and shared a beer. Then we went into the center of town and stopped at a tasting room for Bar Harbor Brewing. They had four beers on tap to try but they also let us taste four more in bottles that were stronger. We talked beer with the server and he was a young homebrewer, he was the one who let us taste the beers that were “under the bar.” These are beers in their Manly Men series and are limited release. They were all very good. We will be going to the brewery for a tour tomorrow and will purchase some to take home.

We came back to the Casita and Jim grilled a steak for us. The next door campsite people came to talk to us. They have a Scamp and are from Massachusetts. He told us of a really good place for lobster rolls in Bar Harbor, so we will try one tomorrow.

9/29/2011

Before we left the Casita this morning we downloaded pictures and wrote up the blog. We drove part of the loop road yesterday so we decided to drive the other half today. We stopped at all of the pull offs and looked at the scenery. We took a short hike off a side loop road to the craggy edge of the bay. In the middle of the water on a small island you could see Egg Rock lighthouse. You could also hear the bells of buoys clanging as the waves tossed them from side to side. On the same road we hiked again to Sand Beach. This would be a great place to swim when the weather was warmer. We stopped at Thunder Hole but it was high tide so the water wasn’t forced up through the hole. We will try to see it a couple of hours before high tide tomorrow.

Atlantic Brewing has tours today so we went there. Afterward, we went to the library in Bar Harbor to update the blog. When we came out of the library it had rained. We walked around town a little while and then we tried to go have lobster rolls at the Down East Deli but it had closed at 4 pm. We went to a restaurant and had whole lobsters instead. We called Allen for the mail before returning back to the Casita.

9/30/2011

It rained during the night a couple of times but when we got up it was partly sunny. We went to hike the Bubble Rock trail. This is a 1 ½ mile hike up to the top of a cliff that is 762 feet high. We went up from the parking lot with a few other people and after getting to the top and taking a few pictures we decided to take the loop trail back to the truck. We should have known not to go that way since we were the only ones hiking it. Most of the trail down on that side was via a steep bolder field that you had to use your hands to hold on and find your footing below to get down. The only markers for the trail were small blue stripes on the rocks. One particular spot was very narrow. It was an interesting descent and I was glad when we got down. The trail came out at a pretty lake.

The sun was out more so we decided to drive across to the other side of the park. We stopped at Echo Lake -- this lake has a nice swimming beach. Then on through Southwest Harbor to Bass Harbor Head lighthouse. We hiked another trail along Ship Harbor and to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. This trail was 1 ½ miles long also. We went back to Bar Harbor and had lobster rolls at the diner that was closed yesterday. They are a take-out only place so we sat on a bench on Main Street and ate them.

The Queen Mary II cruise ship was in harbor. We walked along the shore path and sat to watch the boats for a while. Then we went in and out of some shops but didn’t find anything we needed to buy. After looking in the shops we sat at an outside sports bar and had a beer before returning to the Casita.

Before we left this morning I put a note on the other Casita we saw while walking and when we returned they had put a note on our door. We walked over to their campsite and talked a while with them. They are from Washington state. There is also a 1983 U-Haul in the campground from Quebec. We talked to them also.

10/1/2011

It rained off and on during the night. After breakfast we went to the library in Bar Harbor and updated the blog again. We stopped back by the Bar Harbor Brewing tasting room and had some more samples. We gave the young fella in the picture a Bombshell Blonde beer from Southern Brewing in Conroe that we had in the cooler.

We had one small section of the loop road that we had not driven so we did it. It was still raining so we went into Bar Harbor to Leary’s Irish Pub and Fantail Pub. Then we went back to the Casita. When we got back there was an Escape on a row over from us and we talked to the owner. Jim tried to get a campfire going last night but the wood wouldn’t light. We stopped on the way to back to camp and bought a Tiki fire starter and we sat outside around the fire. It was sprinkling off and on but we just used the umbrellas. Two girls pulled into a site beside us around 8 pm and they tried to get their fire started. They came over to me and asked how to start a fire. I gave them some of our burning wood and they took it to their camp and started their fire.

10/2/2011

It is still raining off and on this morning. We hooked up and drove to Belfast, Maine and got a site at Moorings Oceanfront RV Resort. This RV park is right on the bay. Jim watched the Texans game and I went to wash our laundry. We wanted to visit a couple of breweries in the area but they are not open on Sunday. We drove into Belfast to look around and I spotted a VFW. We stopped to have a beer and look through our Maine book and look at the map. Afterward we drove down to the wharf and the Marshall Wharf Brewery guys were brewing. We talked to them. We came back to the Casita and had leftovers and I sautéed fresh chard that we bought from the farmer’s market this morning as we left Bar Harbor.

10/3/2011

We headed out this morning toward Augusta and stopped at a brewpub in Hallowell called the Liberal Cup. They had beers with very interesting names. State Budget Red will be on tap in a week or so. Jim had an Ex Wife Extra Bitter.
We got to the Blueberry Pond Campground in Pownai, just outside Brunswick, Maine. When we pulled in, the Casita from Washington state that was at Acadia National Park was there. They got here last night while we were at Belfast. We unhooked and started to drive to Freeport and we met the Washington people as they were returning to their Casita. We stopped to talk to them on the road.

We continued on to Freeport and went to L.L. Bean. This is the headquarters and the biggest store they have. The complex consists of several different buildings, one for home, one for hunting & fishing, one for water sports and one for clothes, shoes, and camping. Jim bought a canvas shirt and a new pair of hiking boots. The heel of his hiking boots had come loose and flops around.

We had a beer at Gritty McDuff’s and then drove through Brunswick to Topsham and had a beer at Sea Dog Brewing. This brewpub was really neat. It was in an old mill on the banks of the Androscoggin river and the dam. Because of the recent rains in the area the water was spilling over the dam and the river was very full and very fast. We had a couple of beers and shared some potato skins. We returned to the Casita and I fixed dinner and we watched an old western with Dean Martin.

10/4/2011

Today is the day Jim proposed to me on the Eiffel Tower in Paris 10 years ago! Jim researched the area and found out that Bowdoin College in Brunswick has a really good art museum. We drove there and looked through it. They had an exhibit of Edward Hopper paintings of the Maine coast. Also on campus was a building that had an Inuit indian exhibit. We went into the chapel on campus and it was beautiful. It was built in 1844. There were very gorgeous murals painted on the walls inside. This college is prestigious and expensive. Former students include Admiral Peary who went to the North Pole, President Franklin Pierce, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorn, and Senator George Mitchell.

We left the campus and went to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. This museum was a former ship building yard. They built wooden ships. They last one was built in 1919. The largest wooden ship ever made in the U.S., the six masted schooner Wyoming, was built here in 1909. They still make wooken boats here and sell them to the public. Next door to the Maritime Museum is Bath Iron Works which builds ships for the U.S. Navy.

After leaving here we went to a lighthouse not far away. It was the Doubling Point Lighthouse built in 1898 on the Kennebec River. Then we drove down the peninsula to the end of the road and turned around. At the end we could see across the river to Fort Baldwin that was built out of granite in 1861 to protect to river during the Civil War. We returned to the Casita and I fixed dinner and we updated the blog.
It rained all day.