We had beautiful weather while we were there, and everyone was out enjoying it.

Birch trees were plentiful. The Indians used to make canoes, and many other useful items from the birch bark.

Southwest Harbor. This was on the quieter side of the island,and we enjoyed both the town and the harbor.

Thunder Hole. As the tide is coming in, the waves go up under these rocks, and as they come back, the air is trapped, and there is a booming sound like thunder. This works better when the surf is high. It was very calm when we were there, so the thunder was more of a "poof"!

Baker Island

We took a ranger led boat tour to Baker Island. This is an uninhabitated, accessible by boat only, island that is owned by the park. The ride out of Bar Harbor was calm and very scenic. Since it was a holiday weekend, everyone had their boat out.

The original inhabitants were squatters, who simply moved in without any kind of deed or title. They had a large family, and as those childern grew, most came back to the island with their families. At one point there were several homes, a church and a school on the island.

Baker Island lighthouse. Although it is completely electronic now, it is still a working lighthouse. I was hoping to climb it, but no such luck.

Table rocks, and the Atlantic ocean. These rocks are very large and flat, and the island inhabitants used to hold dinner parties and dances here. It is very scenic but I can't imagine hauling all that gear out here for a dinner party.

If there is an old car around, Steve will find it! This is the remanins of a pre-1912 Ford.

Cadilac Mountain, the highest point in the park. Since we were there over July 4th, we drive up and watched the fireworks from the summit.

View from the top of Cadilac Mtn, looking down into Bar Harbour.

We went to the "other" half of the island, which is less populated and quieter. That suited us just fine! We hiked the Echo Lake trail. Although not a long trail, it was extremely steep and rocky. At some points there were actually ladders anchored to the rocks. Other places just had steps cut into the granite.

Echo Lake beach. This was the view that awaited us.

The travels of Steve's cup: Steve had a take out cup from a resturant he frequents, and it ended up in the car on the trip with us. We started photographing it everywhere we went, and sending it to the resturant owners. We got a lot of milage out of that cup!

On our way to Acaida National Park, we stopped at a roadstand and got these lobsters. I spent about $20 for the two of them. Then I realized that I had no clue how to cook them, so on the drive, I was looking up info on Steve's iphone. Thanks goodness for the internet!

We didn't have a huge pot, so I had to cook them one at a time. I'm happy to report they were delicious!

Acadia is known at the crown jewel of Maine. Most of the land was originally owned by the Rockefeller family, and they were insturmental in the formation of the national park, and donated much of the land. There are still small private holdings within the park, and those are slowly being purchased as land and funds are available.


Ship's Harbor. We went to "tide pool school" here.

These lobster boats were everywhere!

Overlooking Sand beach. This is the only beach in the park that is sandy and beach like, as we think of it. The water was cold, about 55 degrees, but people were still playing in it.