Sunday, July 10, 2016

We are in Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada.  It’s been cold and rainy since we left Acadia National Park in Maine.

We followed the coast north for quite awhile and were rewarded with views like this.

This particular overlook had some interesting benches highlighted with lobster claws extending above waves.

It was also landscaped with beautiful flowers.

    

We spent the last two nights near Oak Bay, outside of St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

The largest employer in town is Ganong Brothers, makers of fine chocolate.  They have a nice museum, which we toured, and a nice shop.  Steve said the chocolate was very good.  All of it had milk in it, so I didn’t get to taste any.  But they did give me samples of their jellybeans.

We managed not to take any pictures of the museum, but I did take a picture of one of the photos on display.  It’s a picture of the street in front of the factory around 1900.  The muddy streets are a reminder of how tough travel was in those days.  And I can’t imagine trying to cross the street in the floor length dress on the lady on the left in the picture.

This is the view of Oak Bay, a short walk from our campsite.

I realized that I haven’t written about Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

So, here’s Connecticut:

We stopped at Mark Twain’s home in Hartford, Connecticut.  He’s been a favorite author of mine since junior high.  He even made college English more enjoyable.  We had to take 3 English courses, one being freshman English, but we could choose the other two.  I picked Great American Books and American Humor, both of which included Mark Twain books.

The house is a beautiful brick house in what I would call the arts and crafts style.  There is some intricate brickwork on the outside and neat details on the inside, including two fireplaces with windows above the mantels.  Twin flues go up either side of the window.

The downstairs was decorated by Tiffany, yes that Tiffany.  The paneled entry hall is stenciled all over with tiny geometric shapes in silver paint.  It gives the impression of inlaid wood and shimmers in the light.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but here’s the outside.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, lived next door. 

Our tour guide for the house was dressed as Mrs. Twain and one of our fellow tourists was dressed up as Mark Twain, so they posed for us.

One item in the gift store caught my eye.

Some things don’t seem to change.

I’ll try to get Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the next post, but I did want to mention that we managed to get together with John, Enza and their daughter, Milania, in Quincy, Massachusetts.  John is our son-in-law, Mike’s, brother.  We always enjoy visiting with them.  And we hadn't met Milania yet, who reminded us of our granddaughter, Maria.  Visiting family and friends is one of the joys of traveling.

Time for bed!

Take care,

Deb

Thursday, July 7, 2016

It was a cold and foggy day in Acadia National Park.  So first we went looking for sustenance.

Actually, we stayed in the trailer until Steve had picked his seats for Purdue basketball this winter.  He had a time this morning when he was allowed to sign in and pick his seats.

Once that was done, we did go looking for food.  We were going to explore the “quiet” or east side of the island and headed for Southwest Harbor to find a restaurant.

We found Beal’s Lobster Pier.   We like to use Trip Advisor to find restaurants but it doesn’t really like this island and wasn’t being too helpful until we were actually in Southwest Harbor.  It had a good rating for Beal’s, so we went.  And once again we lucked out!  Here’s Beal’s from the parking lot.

Beal’s is an active seafood market and has lots of outdoor seating.  Luckily for us, they have an enclosed area heated with outdoor heaters.  It wasn’t a good day for outdoor dining.

And luckily for me, they had gluten free rolls for their lobster rolls.  Lobster rolls are a big deal in New England.  Basically, they are large pieces of lobster stuffed in a bun similar to a hotdog bun.  Sometimes there is also mayonnaise, sometimes butter, sometimes who knows what.

So I had my first lobster roll today.  I hadn’t had lobster in a long time; I prefer crab.  And my first bite of lobster today didn’t change my mind.  Lobster’s okay, but I still prefer crab.  The sandwich was really good, though.  The bread and lobster work well together.

As we were leaving we noticed this:

Dog lovers can dine outside and their dogs can even get a drink.

After our lunch, we headed for the Bass Harbor lighthouse.  It’s perched on a rocky ledge and has always had a red light.  Each lighthouse is different to help a ship determine where they are, as well as avoid disasters.  A Coast Guard family still lives in the lighthouse, although the light is automated.

There is an easy path to the lighthouse and a rocky one, which has better views.

The rocks are indicative of Maine’s rocky coast.  Here’s the view in the opposite direction.

All over the island we have found this wild rose.  At least I think that’s what it is.  This is the best chance of a picture.

There have been lots of small flowers to be found on the island; they’re just hard to photograph!

Tomorrow we head to Canada and the Maritime Provinces!  It’s always an adventure.

Deb

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

We are at Acadia National Park in Maine.  And the scenery is amazing!
Acadia covers most of Mount Desert Island and several other islands.  It became the playground of the rich in the late 1800’s and there used to be large “cottage” summer homes for the Rockefeller's and the Vanderbilt’s.  Several of the wealthy joined with the locals in an effort to protect some of the land.  They bought up available land and eventually gave it to the US for a national park.  It was established in 1916 and was the first national park in the east.  It was mostly made up of land donated by the people.

In terms of national parks, Acadia is not large, but it is diverse.  Meadows, marshes, lakes, ponds, a beach and mountains all share this island.  Bar Harbor is also on this island, along with summer homes, permanent homes and lots of tourists.

Today there are only a few large “cottages” left and they have mostly been turned into other things.  The rest were destroyed by a fire in 1947 that lasted a month.  The result of the fire was added diversity of plant life on the island.

We usually travel at non-peak times of the year or in more isolated places, so the crowds in northeast seem large to us.  Acadia was crowded; we passed up a stop at the only beach on the island as the roadway and parking lots were packed.  We took the suggested loop drive and had to wait at several stops for a parking spot.

But it was worth it.  Here are the pictures.

The fog was moving in at a fast pace, but never climbed.     We had sunshine above the fog all day.

This gull landed right beside our truck and posed carefully while Steve took several shots.

Mountain laurel in full bloom in the wild garden in Acadia.

One tradition from the gilded age is afternoon tea overlooking Jordan Pond.  Today there is a full service restaurant, but afternoon tea on the lawn persists.

It was a beautiful day!

Deb