This was a maintenance day for us - we drove from the park into Ellsworth where we found a nice large (and clean) laundromat to do our laundry, well Kathy did that while I worked on the blog and downloaded pictures. We don't have any phone or internet service in the Blackwoods campground located in the National Park. After laundry Kathy spotted an LL Bean outlet store that she wanted to visit - those $10 coupons we "earned" in Freeport costs us here.
On to the super Walmart for some groceries and then back to camp.....but not before stopping at the Trenton Bridge Lobster pound just to have a look and check out their prices since many on the blogs/forums recommended it. Checking prices there confirmed that we had indeed made a great deal for the ones we bought and cooked ourselves....so we won't need to get any there.
While we were doing our chores Ed and Kay had a day of hiking along the coast from a trail that started in the campground. They packed a lunch and enjoyed a meal on the rocks overlooking the ocean. That is a popular activity, beautiful scene, cool breeze and not crowded (as opposed to some of the picnic areas).
Speaking of food - we decided to do a chicken pot pie for dinner and before I started it, I declared it would be a "culinary experiment" because cooking with the cast iron Dutch oven and charcoal outside is not an exact science. The cooking took longer than expected and drew attention from other campers passing by - "are you baking bread, one person asked" - and in the end we had a dinner later than expected but it was pretty tasty. The long cooking time allows for many campsite conversations and in this case a nice build up to what I will call the Moxie experiment!
I mentioned earlier about the local Maine drink called Moxie and the fact that a couple folks on the forum suggested that we hadn't done Maine properly without trying it. I went into at least a few stores looking for it and got funny reactions from local store clerks but alas, I found a two liter bottle (smallest they had) and put it on ice. Since I had a lot of it - I decided that Ed and Kay also needed to participate in this so, while the chicken pot pie was cooking we tried it. I poured small amounts into some glasses - carbonated, dark color and in the end it didn't taste "as bad" as most of the locals let on but it left you with a bitter after taste in your mouth. It had an initial taste of something like root beer. Now I am hoping we didn't damage the environment by pouring out most of the two liters on the ground.
The Moxie Experiment
Tuesday 4 September
Another full day of sightseeing in store as we head out to explore the park loop road. It is a 27 mile drive along the coast with many stops for attractions, trails and a beautiful ocean scenic drive that exposes the many different types of shoreline here. First stop was the Jordan Pond where there is a gift shop, restaurant with outdoor seating and best of all a nice hiking trail around the pond. One long section of the trail has a wooden plank boardwalk maintained by volunteers trying to curtail the erosion that is taking place. The hike was great - offering beautiful views of the clear water and the surrounding hillside and it took us a couple hours of easy hiking to complete.
Jordan Pond - from the trail
Cute Biker Hiker Chicks
Jordan Pond House Restaurant
Next stop on the loop road was Cadillac Mountain where the elevation is about 1500 +/- feet and as we drove up we decided we were glad to be driving as Kathy and I had talked about hiking it from the campground. It only looks like a 3-1/2 mile hike each way (on the map) and 1500 feet elevation doesn't "sound" too bad. The views up there were nice only hindered somewhat by a hazy noon time sky. After our Jordan Pond hike we began looking for a shady spot to enjoy our picnic lunch but ended up eating on Cadillac Mountain where the nice cool breezes mitigated the heat. It's amazing how 79 degrees can seem hot after a night of 62 degrees. Overall loving the weather!
Cadillac Mountain view of Bar Harbor
We continued on around the loop road making more stops at different overlooks and short trails to the waters edge for a look. Nice scenery. With all the different shoreline landscapes (mostly rocks) there is even an area of sandy beach in one cove that is named (you guessed it) Sand Beach. Unique looking spot with very rocky coastline on either side a little cove beach area that has sand. There were quite a few people there sunbathing and relaxing but few were in the water - and then not for long. Ed took his shoes off and eased into the water and said the water was very cold.
Scenic View on Loop Drive
Sand Beach
Back at camp and prepping for departure I noticed another Oliver trailer in the campground just a few sites away. There are not a lot of Olivers on the road (compared to most other campers) so it is exciting to see another and rarely in the same campground. I noticed these folks had Tennessee plates so since we speak the same language <southern smile> I felt obliged to visit. We met the nicest couple, Jeff and Donna Horton, from Kingsport Tennessee and spent a good bit of the evening talking with them and really enjoyed their company....exchanged contact info and hopefully our paths will cross again.
Heading for the Schoodic Peninsula in the morning!
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