Atlanta to Acadia National Park in Maine

Sunday - 26 Aug

     Left home early (0545) Sunday morning with a target goal of 610 miles to Woodstock, Virginia. That is alot of miles to pull a camper in one day but we want to get in the New England area as soon as possible to begin touring and relaxing. As scheduled, we pulled into Woodstock around 6:00 PM and found a Cracker Barrel for dinner and discussed our plans over dinner. In the end we decided since there was still some daylight we should continue driving until dark at least then we would find a place to park for the night. We ended up making it to Harrisburg, Pa - very tired and over 730 miles on the road. In fact that day we traveled through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania! We found another Cracker Barrel to park for the night with plans of enjoying breakfast there before leaving in the morning. We checked with the manager who was very nice about it and even stopped by the camper to say good night after closing the store.

     The route we took was I-85 to Charlotte, then I-77 to Virginia where we picked up I-81 the rest of the way. The scenery (although interstate travel) was great - Shenandoah Valley in Va and the Pennsylvania countryside were especially nice. The trip was pretty uneventful except for the poor road conditions in Pennsylvania...and they had the highest prices of diesel fuel also - go figure. There is a tremendous amount of heavy truck traffic using that highway.

Monday - 27 Aug

     Because we made so many miles on Sunday we were left with only 540 +/- to Kennebunkport, our first stop in Maine. We were not sure when we left if we'd get there on Monday evening or sometime Tuesday but with 540 miles we set our sights on it for Monday and took off after breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The roads did not improve but the scenery remained pretty good as we made our way into New York where we began to encounter toll roads - I asked the toll booth attendant if we could expect improved conditions now that we were paying!!...she just laughed.

     A combination of very poor roads and my not properly securing the bikes produced a problem on a rough spot of New York highway not long after crossing the Hudson River - one of the bikes (you guessed it, Kathy's) came loose from the rack and had fallen over and was dragging the ground behind us as we quickly learned from frantic passengers passing cars. I stopped right away but not before some damage to the rear bike tire and some to the handle bar/brake area. I am in big trouble now!

     After hitching the injured bike back up (and feeling embarrassed) we headed back into what was becoming terrible traffic with MANY long delays including one for a very long time in Hartford, Connecticut for an accident that we believe had to have some fatalities. The shorter drive on Monday turned out to be the hardest and most stressful of the two - we kept telling ourselves we can rest, slow down and relax when we get there.

     Weather - we have been watching the weather in Maine (while we sweated in Georgia) for the last six weeks and the highs were in the low 70's with lows ranging from 55 to 65 degrees....we could hardly wait to get there and experience that for the remainder of the summer and into the fall! Well, as we drive across Pennsylvania my google engineer & chief navigator and weather lady (Kathy...busy girl) gets a weather alert for Kennebunkport indicating record high temps for the two days we are going to be there....temps in the mid 90's with high humidity. At least it is only scheduled to last two days then back to more of what we are looking for! Hope they don't blame us for bringing that from Atlanta!

     One other travel observation that we found to be hilarious (maybe because we were so tired at that point) was as we entered New Hampshire on I-95 there was immediately a sign (similar to National Parks or points of interest) for the New Hampshire Liquor Store and Lottery outlet - it even had it's own special exit off the highway.

     We made it on in and set up camp in a small town near Kennebunkport called Arundel - campground is Hemlock Pines. Arriving late and hungry we did not have many options for dinner but the campground host recommended a food truck a short distance away and we had our first (of what I expect to be many) tastes of lobster....we each had a lobster roll and they were pretty good.

Kennebunkport Harbor

     The campground is nice but a little pricey for our liking but we were determined to stay put for three nights and get some rest along with a little touring of the area. We plan to tour the south east coast of Maine as we work our way towards Acadia scheduled for arrival on Saturday 1 Sept where we will meet up with Ed and Kay.

Tuesday - 28 Aug
   
     After a restful night and sleeping as long as we wanted we relaxed for the morning and I did some internet research to find a bicycle shop that might help me get back in Kathy's good graces about the bike. Turns out there is one in Portland that sounded reasonable and we had Portland (and the Portland Head Lighthouse) on our list of things to see and do so off we went. The town is pretty cool and the folks in that bike shop were really nice and fixed us up. We learned alot more about Portland and especially the local biking opportunities while there so we want to return before we are done with this area, time permitting.

     Leaving the bike shop we head over to Fort Williams and the Portland Head Lighthouse - my plan is that this is a scouting expedition for best angles when returning during better lighting conditions to try to photograph the lighthouse as we were there in the bright sun of early afternoon. We did take some shots while there in case the return was not possible. It is a really beautiful scene there.

Portland Head Lighthouse

     Research on the forums prior to this trip we were advised (more than once) that we need to experience a whoopie pie and a moxie while in Maine. The whoopie pies were being sold at a food truck near the lighthouse so we got that one checked off the list. It was like a little debbie cake on sterroids - pretty big, but it was good - however you wouldn't want to try it without a drink of some kind. The moxie is a different story - that is supposedly a drink that is a product of Maine but they were not selling them on the food truck. I looked for one in the grocery store and although the stock boy said they sell them I was unable to locate on yet....more to come on that experiment.

     After we leave the lighthouse it is time for a late lunch at a place recommended by the folks at the bike shop - it is a restaurant not far from Fort Williams called the Lobster Shack and the seating area is outside on some rocks overlooking the ocean - a really cool place for lunch and you guessed it, yes we had lobster again!

     We stayed near the coast on the way back enjoying the seaside towns and scenery they offer and we came back into this area at Kennebunkport. After getting our bearings straight we took a drive along Ocean Ave where we were able to see the Bush (President) compound....a really beautiful place and all of the homes in that area are beautiful with spectacular views of a rocky coast.

Bush Compound

Wednesday - 29 Aug

     With Kathy's bike put back together and both of us anxious for some exercise we decide to take a ride on a nearby trail called the Eastern Trail. It is a really cool trail for riding bikes or hiking that we took for about a 10 mile ride - mostly flat. You can read about it here https://www.easterntrail.org/ One interesting part of it actually crossed over I-95 on a pedestrian bridge. It was a good work out for us and a great way to start this day.

     The afternoon we went to Kittery Maine which is about 20 miles south of the campground to just have a look around and do lunch. We used trip advisor to identify a lunch spot called "When Pigs Fly" that was a pizzeria on one side and a bakery on the other.....we were not crazy about the pizza we ordered but agreed that we have a huge weakness for bakeries....we left there with a loaf of apple cinnamon bread that is delicious.

     On the return to the area we decided to go back to Kennebunkport and park and do a walking tour of the town. It was a nice walk around and we ended the day with an ice cream.....big mistake. I saw one labeled "spicy rocky road" - I thought this was odd and I asked and was told that it had a pepper flavor added to it. What they didn't tell me was just how much pepper - WOW! and maybe the worst part of it, Kathy followed my lead - not a good idea. A couple of bites of ice cream and she is talking about finding some tums. Worst part is the lady offered us a sample and we declined - not a good idea.

Thursday - 30 August

     Today was moving day...we left Kennebunkport and headed to about 20-25 miles north of Portland to a county campground called Winslow Memorial Park...still in the direction of Acadia. We are two nights here and the campground is pretty nice - no hook ups at all but he weather is turning cooler finally so no problem. After getting set up we made our way into Freeport to have a look around and do some shopping at the mother ship of LL Bean, what an operation they have here - quite nice. They even have a little concert venue there and this Saturday (we will be gone) the band is "The Fray"....all for free.

     We left the Freeport area and headed back to camp thinking we would grab some dinner and head back into Portland so I could attempt to photograph the lighthouse with better light conditions but time got away from us AND there was actually a live band performing (also for free) in the campground. They were called The Lazzo Family Band and were actually quite good. They played a mix of bluegrass sounding tunes and country and their harmonica player was really good. After they were done it was time to head back and get ready for some rest and do it all over again tomorrow.

Lazzo Family Band

Friday - 31 August

     I had read on forums (and trip advisor) about an outing to Cabbage Island for a New England style clam bake that sounded like a fun thing to do. The tour left from a port city north of where we were staying called Boothbay Harbor and we wanted to visit that area anyhow so we signed up for the trip. Leaving the campground early enough to take the scenic route there we headed up for the hour and fifteen minute drive....stopping for a doughnut breakfast along the way. We didn't have the exact address to put into our GPS but all of these coastal villages are small and we knew that the boat departed from pier six so as we got close we just put pier six into the GPS. Unknowing to us, it took us to a peninsula (not the village we were looking for) and we discovered we were lost - at least not where we needed to be but this was one beautiful place with a nice road running along a beautiful rocky coast. Only problem we were running late for catching our boat and didn't get to hang around long.

Boothbay Harbor

     We did make the boat on time in Boothbay Harbor and boarded for a one hour narrated boat ride to Cabbage Island where a lobster feast awaited us. As we left the harbor on the port side (left) of the boat (which is where we happened to be sitting) a huge hump back whale blew and surfaced - really cool. The captain who has been doing this for years declared that he had NEVER seen a whale in the harbor so that was a treat. We made it to the island (pretty small) where we were greeted by our hosts and checked out the cooking operation and the lay of the land there.

On the fantail of the Bennie Alice (boat)

     A late lunch/early dinner was served and was delicious - it included two lobster each, a dozen clams (steamers), baked potato, corn on the cobb, an onion, an egg, and topped it off with a huge slice of blueberry cake. I embarrassingly declared to one of the attendants that I had never eaten a whole Maine lobster before and would like to have some tips on navigating the process - without embarrassing me in front of others (you can guess how that ended) and now I am an expert! The meal, the weather, the boat ride and the company were all fantastic!

Preparing the feast

Meal fit for a king!

Arriving Cabbage Island

     When we left Boothbay Harbor we were torn on moving farther north to a lighthouse called Pemaquid or heading back south (in the direction of our campsite) to give the Portland Head Light another look, this time in the late afternoon light. We decided to go south and we were there until sunset taking photos and trying different approaches for getting that perfect shot...I have a lot to learn. While out on the rocks setting up for the photos a young man from France who was here on vacation set up near me and we talked a good bit while shooting. He had just come from Acadia and we were headed there. As we left he gave me a book he had purchased about photo tips for the Acadia park - super nice gesture & a very nice young man!

Portland Head at Sunset

     After the photos it was late but we were still not hungry after such a big and late lunch - Kathy declared that she needed to correct the bad ice cream experience from a few days ago and a blizzard from Dairy Queen was what she thought it would take to do it :-) A good way to end what was a very nice day.

Saturday 1 September

     Moving day again - this time we are headed to Acadia National Park. We decide to avoid the highways and take the coastal road up there and look at more of the interesting small villages/towns along the way. We stopped along the way for a nice tomato sandwich lunch and as it turns out, this day is the first since we arrived in Maine that we will not eat any lobster.

     Other than the nice weather and scenery the only other significant thing we saw on the way was a poor fella on the opposite side of the road from us in a newer model pickup truck that was on fire - seemed to me like something in the bed of the truck had caught fire and was now engulfing the entire truck. It was a real bad scene but he seemed to be out of the truck and help was on the way.

     As we get to within 20 miles of Acadia I told Kathy that a camper I see ahead is Ed and Kay but since they were coming from an entirely different direction I thought the chances were slim that it was actually them....as we got closer it was them and we ended up pulling into the park together....excited to see each other! We gathered with them for dinner and Ed grilled up some really good chicken while we made plans for exploring the next day.

Where we drink coffee in the morning now :-)

Sunday 2 September

     We fixed a big breakfast of coffee, pancakes and bacon to enjoy with Ed and Kay before we struck out for the day. We decided to stay away from Bar Harbor and the park loop road which we expected to be the busiest - park is crowded because of the holiday week-end. Instead we headed over to North Harbor, Southwest Harbor, and Bass Harbor while enjoying a stop at Echo Lake and two or three hikes along the way. We hiked to Valley Cove and Wonderland Point which were nice and we also did a drive through the Seawall Campground just to have a look.

Lunch stop at Southwest Harbor

Bass Harbor Maine

     We did lunch at Southwest Harbor on the water and I opted for some fried haddock but Kathy can't get enough lobster....I didn't get it this time because we had discussed buying some live ones to bring back to the campground to cook ourselves. (Ed said he knew how). After lunch we toured some more and just before heading back we started to look for some lobster to buy and we found a guy who had something on the back of a truck but turns out it was oysters - but he said a lobster guy was coming soon to trade with him and we could probably get some from him. He did and we did - four nice fresh off the boat lobsters for $25 and they were delicious the way Ed fixed them!