A Day in the Park

This morning we slept in (8:00am) and took our time getting ready. It rained a little and once that stopped it was foggy and damp. Once we were ready we headed into Bar Harbor and found a little place to eat breakfast - Cottage Street Bakery and Deli. More blueberry pancakes and some eggs and coffee and we were good to go. Oh, we also had them prepare us some box lunches (sandwich, chips, fruit, pickle and a cookie) so that way once we were in the park we didn't have to leave to get something to eat. So we made our way to the entrance of Acadia National Park. I have wanted to visit this park for a long time and I was getting excited.

We first stopped at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center. We listened a very young park ranger talk about the different areas in the park as he pointed to them on their 3D relief map. We looked around, got a map, paid our entry fee and I purchased a patch and some postcards. Then it was time to enjoy the park. It was still pretty foggy but nothing unbearable. We decide to drive the Park Loop Road and stop any where that looked interesting. Our first stop was at a pullout that described the Fire of 1947. After reading about that we continued our drive. We next passed Champlain Mountain and the Precipice Trail (which was closed because the Peregrine Falcons are nesting on the cliffs above the trail) - not that I was going to hike that trail. We thought about stopping because Rangers were giving talks and answering questions about the Falcons but the area was too crowded and there were no parking spots, so we continued on. The next place we stopped at was Sand Beach, the parking area was pretty full but we were able to get a spot. I think the fog kept some people away. We walked along the beach but weren't able to see much and we decided a hike would be good. So we walked to the end of the beach and headed up the Great Head Trail. It was a nice hike and every now and then the fog would lessen and we could see a little way out. One thing about the hike was that there were tons of wild blueberries all along the trail and we snacked on them while we walked. We completed the 1.5 mile loop and returned to Sand Beach. We made our way back to the car and continued on our drive. Next stop - Thunder Hole. We parked and walked across the street to the viewing area. We stayed for about 20 minutes but the water wasn't all that rough and we never got a good example of why this area is called Thunder Hole. No problem, still plenty to see in the park. We drove by Otter Cliffs and a couple of coves and continued all the park loop road until we reached to road to the summit of Cadillac Mountain.
Before getting to the summit we turned into the Blue Hill Overlook. This area wasn't very crowded and it had a great view of Jordan Pond. So we parked and walked out onto the rock. We decided to walk away from the parking area and away from people stopping just to see the view. This gave us some peace and quiet so we could have our picnic lunch. Oh, and the fog was completely gone by this time and we had some fantastic views. We had a leisurely lunch, enjoyed the views and talked about how much we liked the park. After an hour of just relaxing we decided to drive the short distance up to the summit. This place was crowded especially since the fog was gone now and the views were back. We walked around the Summit Trail and took in the views but after a while we were tired of the crowds. So we made our way to the South Ridge Trail and left most of the people behind. We only went about half way down and the came back up to the car. By this time it was hot and very humid. We returned to the car with our shirts pretty wet. And I don't know if anyone noticed, but this is a letterboxing blog about a letterboxing trip and I haven't mentioned letterboxing today. Well, here it is - while on Cadillac Mountain we found three letterboxes. They were all pretty easy finds. I did look for another one but I wasn't sure about the clues and I think we never really made it to the right are. That was okay we were just enjoying the park today and letterboxing was really at the back of our minds. As we drove down Cadillac Mountain we decided to head back into Bar Harbor. It was late afternoon, we were tired, our clothes were wet and we were hungry - how's that for whining.

So we went back to the hotel, rested for a little bit and the showered and headed to Main St. in Bar Harbor for some dinner. There were also a few letterboxes in town that we thought we could look for if we were in the area. As we were walking from the hotel to Main St. we passed a business that we knew had a letterbox nearby. So we stopped, found the box and stamped in. A little disappointing - store bought stamp. Anyway, we continued on. We next found a park with a fountain and that was part of a clue for another box. We followed the clues from the fountain and eventually found the box. While stamping in Thomas noticed a quiet little restaurant and thought we should stop and have dinner. We had been looking at menus to other restaurants as we looked for boxes. Most of them were packed and noisy - we wanted something a little more relaxing. So after stamping in and rehiding the box we went into the restaurant. They sat us near a window and that window looked out right to where the box we just found was hidden. I told Thomas 'I hope no one saw us.' but didn't give it a second thought. We ordered our food and were just talking when I noticed a woman kind of skulking around the area of the box. At first I thought 'Oh, no! Someone did see us!'. But upon closer inspection I realized I knew that woman. So I walked out of the restaurant and approached the woman and said "Excuse me mam, but are you looking for something.", she kind of flinched and as she was about to answer me she looked up and realized it was me. So deniserows got busted looking for a letterbox. Without actually finding the box she joined Thomas and I for dinner. We talked about the event in Brunswick, letterboxing in Kodiak, AK and vacations. It was an enjoyable time. As we left she snatched up the box and was on her way. Thomas and I headed back to the hotel - our busy day had finally caught up to us and we wanted to rest because we still had another day in the park.