Before we left for Maine I found a $50 bike for Amy on Craigslist. When we went to pick it up, Amy thought there was something fishy going on when she announced, “Wait a minute. There are no brakes on this bike. Now I know why it is only $50!” I had to explain that most “kids” bikes had brakes that engaged by reversing direction on the peddles. That just opened up a whole other line of questions about the bike.
Fast forward to Maine. After she got tired of riding around the cabin complex and Acadia and subjecting the dog to being strapped into a basket, we decided to venture out to the surrounding neighborhoods. I found a road in Camden. This time, after learning the lesson of hills of Acadia, I scouted the trail by car first. It had a few hills, but not terrible. We rode around a peninsula and stopped halfway to sit in the sun and look out in Penobscot Bay. A guy was swimming in between the boats not far from where I saw a large fin circling. We were on high alert with the recent Great White attack. Hopefully it was a dolphin, but it sure didn’t look like a dolphin.
We stopped for ice cream on way home and closed out the day with a trip to Knights pond.
The next day we took a ferry ride from Lincolnville beach to Islesboro. A small island where we could ride bikes. And see how the richer side lived. I think Travolta and others have estates here. Pretty hilly ride.
We came back and I took the dirt bike out for an afternoon ride.
After breakfast the next morning we hiked up Ragged Mountain outside Camden. Amy was getting better and stronger with each trail. We slowly upped the ante.
It was time to head back to Acadia and hit the Beehive trail. A trail I had done years back, the last time I was up here. It involves some bouldering maneuvers and climbing up some iron ladders bolted into the cliff face. We parked near the Sand Beach entrance and mapped out a combination of trails that would take us up the Beehive, over Gorham mtn and back along the Coast Trail.
We closed out the day at the beach with swim before the 1 hour drive back to the cabin.
On Sunday we headed over to neighboring town of Belfast. Small like Camden, but a bit less touristy. A short bike ride along the river, then checked into the Farmers Market where we found some pot pies, bread and even Thai food
Before heading home, stopped for lunch in the marina at the Front St Pub. We had to try the Fiddleheads, basically pickled and deep fried ferns
In the afternoon I took the bike south and ended up at Port Clyde. It was a ferry stop to get over to the Monhegan Island. I put that down on the list of things to do before leaving Maine. I guess this is also the spot where Forrest Gump starts his journey West. Funny, that this is the 3rd time in the last year that I have come across some spot FG ran through. I need to rewatch that scene to see what others I may have visited.
A few quiet days followed with visits to the pond, Ducktrap beach and local hikes.
Our next big event was a ride into Camden for Lobster boat tour. We learned about the tour from one of our neighbors. This couple from NY had been here a few more weeks than us and just kept on extending their stay. They were out every night sitting by the fire. I felt guilty since we only had a fire a couple days each week.
The lobster tour was educational. Learning about what it takes to become a lobsterman, how to avoid getting into fights with other boat crews and what makes a "keeper" lobster and crab. I was just happy I didn’t get seasick out there. We walked around the town a bit more before heading back, climbing up Mt. Battie overlooking the harbor.
A long road trip. We drove NE to Deer Isle. Stopped for lunch in Stonington and had fish at Stonecutters Kitchen.
Most of the trails were not dog friendly, but we found a quiet beach in Holbrook Island Sanctuary that seemed to gain approval with Max
This spot was up there with Ducktrap Beach and Knights Pond. We would journey out here one more time.
A final trip to Acadia was in store. Since we bought the annual pass for all the national parks there was no reason not to soak it all up. We drove up Cadillac mountain. Amy wasn’t ready for that climb yet and we had a few stops to make and a 4 hour hike was not in the cards. Nothing to write home about from up there. A lot of people go for the first sunrise in the US, in fact my friend got in engaged near here a few weeks later.
We moved on the west side of the park driving through the town at Southwest harbor. Lots of grandiose properties here around the sound. We stopped at botanical garden (Azalea) followed by a relatively short hike up Flying Mtn.
Or final stop was the iconic Bass Lighthouse. It is the image most people see when referencing Acadia National park
We had to hike down by the water to look back to get the classic picture.
On the drive home we stopped at a flea/antique market. We had ben watching a reality show on Amazon Prime leading up to our trip: “Down East Dickering” It is basically a bunch of woodsy Maine locals that drive around all day bartering for goods and services. This was our chance. I was hoping to talk someone out of an old lobster trap in return for a jar of homemade jam or maybe a hours labor in milking someone’s cow. Unfortunately I saw nothing that caught my eye.
A couple more days of local hikes. I put the dirt bike on the hitch and rode out to a 20 mile “Four Seasons Adventure Trail” It was basically a straight shot dirt path out 20 and back 20. It seemed to be primarily for snow mobiles. As I neared the end I ran into tons of ATVs acting crazy. That was enough for me to Get Out of Dodge. Regardless, it was a nice tail, but I hit lots of potholes that used the full extent of the shocks on my front forks and nearly catapulted me over the handlebars. I paid $90 for an OHV permit to ride this stuff. Probably not worth the hassle, but oh well.
Stop Lincolnville General Store on the way home
We were about to head out to the big cities of Bangor and Augusta?
Until Tomorrow,
Darren
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