Twin antique cannons point out into Bar Harbor, reminding visitors of America’s revolutionary history.
A vintage Model A Ford climbs Cadillac Mountain in the heart of Acadia National Park.
Just a fewmiles past the bridge onto Mount Desert Island lies the charming town of Bar Harbor, the gateway to Acadia National Park. High-end boutique shops, artists’ galleries, and bistros lined the narrow streets, and we enjoyed a wonderful early morning walk, latte in hand, along the waterfront. Twin antique cannons perched high on a hill pointed out into the harbor, reminding us of America’s struggles to secure and keep its independence centuries ago. Down in the harbor, small sailboats and elegant yachts moved slowly in the soft morning light, offering a glimpse of the summertime pleasures that have lured wealthy city dwellers to these shores since the turn of the last century. Mount Desert Island (pronounced “dessert” by locals despite the spelling) is shaped a bit like a lobster claw facing down with its pincers made up of two large lobes of land separated by Somes Sound. Acadia National Park fills much of this land, and its Loop Road circles around the eastern half. This scenic drive wanders along the shoreline, providing occasional peeks at the ocean where lobster boats putt from buoy to buoy and trap to trap. At Thunder Hole the Atlantic Ocean’s waves crashed into the granite shore. Loud thunderous booms filled the air each time a wave struck the cave below us, sending sprays of salt water sky high.
Acadia National Park offers much more than just coastal vistas, however. One of the most delightful ways to experience the Maine woods is to walk or ride on the 50 miles of carriage roads that wind throughout the interior of the park. These beautifully groomed dirt roads were built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in the early part of the last century. At the time a feud had developed between the local Mainers, who wanted to drive from town to town in their newfangled automobiles as they went about their workaday lives, and the rich summer visitors from the big cities who wanted to travel for leisure by horse and buggy without sharing the road with loud and fast motorcars. While each town worked out its own local road laws, Rockefeller built the carriage roads across his vast land holdings for his wealthy friends to ride in their horse-drawn carriages. Later, he donated his land and roads to the National Park Service. Today the carriage roads of Acadia National Park are ideal for a horse-drawn wagon ride or to explore by bicycle. The fragrance of the balsam fir in the Maine woods is like no other, and we breathed deeply as we rode our bikes over and under the lovely stone bridges that crisscross the roads. At Jordan Pond we stopped for a bite to eat and watched kayakers paddling across its depths. The ocean seemed a world away although it was just a few miles to the craggy shore.
DOWN EAST MAINE
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2018
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