The Rest of Maine

I have already written about cycling and kayaking in Maine. The rest of the trip was pretty col too. For completeness, here's a summary of the rest of the trip:

Thursday: Set off from DC to drive as far as we could. Quite unlike us to not have a planned destination. We made it as far as Lowell, MA.

Fri: More driving! We finally made it to Bar Harbor and settled into what turned out to be our favorite accommodations of the stay, the Saltair in. This place was really nice, and the couple who ran it were very warm and welcoming. They did a lot fo the work themselves and had lots of good suggestions on activities, restaurants and such. We quickly discovered that Maine is not the best place food-wise for people who don't eat shellfish. We ate dinner at the Thirsty Whale. I had a haddock sandwich.

Sunset at the Saltair Inn

Sat: Started the day with a nice breakfast at the inn on the deck overlooking the water. We then headed over to Acadia and biked. Lunch at Jordan Pond House, then a like more cycling for me. We had dinner at a recommended pizza place - which turned out to be pretty discusting. Valerie couldn't even eat the eggplant parm hero. To make up for our sub-par dinner we got some very good ice cream at Ben & Bill's and watched the sunset in downtown Bar Harbor. This was the most beautiful sunset of the whole trip.

Spectacular Sunset in Bar Harbor

Sun: I went kayaking at Long Pond in Acadia, and Valerie went shopping in town. After paddling I browsed a little bit in town too. In the evening we brought a picnic up to Cadillac Mountain and watched the sun set. A little while after we got there we noticed a group setting up a big cross and a portable keyboard over to our left. They came over an invited us to participate in a "non-denominational" sunset worship service.

Sunset at Cadillac Mountain

Hiking at Acadia

While Hiking 

Mon: We did a short hike at Acadia (it was a hot day), then drove the park look and headed out. We drove to Camden, where we stayed at The Inns at Blackberry Common. This place had very nice rooms - rustic but very upscale - but the proprietress was one of those innkeepers who seemed a little put out at having to deal with guests. One wonders why such people start B&Bs. Unlike Saltair, she wasn't very hands on, either - most of the work was done by a gaggle of Bosnian college students working in the U.S. for the summer. We walked into town and ate at an upscale pizza place.

Tues: I got up early and went for a run, which helped situate us in terms of what was nearby. We drove down to Rockland and went to the Farnsworth Museum, which has a focus on the Wyeth family. After the museum we walked around downtown Rockland a bit and got lunch in a combination crunchy granola grocery and lunch spot. On the way back from Rockland I picked up a rental kayak at Maine Outfitters. After a dinner of leftover pizza we went for a lovely sunset cruise aboard the schooner Surprise.

Aboard the schooner Surprise

Sunset on the Water

Weds: In the morning I kayaked Rockport to Camden and Valerie browsed the shops of Camden. After a nap we went out for a dinner at Peter Ott steakhouse in downtown Camden.

Thurs: After a breakfast including a rum raisin polenta and an omelet with cheese and herbs we packed and hit the road, heading for Portland. Valerie was asleep when we drove through Bath, ME but I was excited to see two Zumwalt class destroyers under contruction at Bath Iron Works. These things really look like ships from the future.

We hadn't planned this, but I decided to stop in Freeport, where we did some outlet shopping - L. L. Bean, of course, plus lots of other outlets. We didn't really buy all that much, but it was still a nice experience. How do I know I was on vacation with Valerie? Ben & Jerry's for lunch.

After we finished our shopping we continued on to Portland, where we checked into the Old Port Hilton Garden Inn. Our room had a somewhat funky smell - like the AC hadn't been run in a while, but we put up with it. Valerie had had her steak dinner the night before, so I got my choice: The Green Elephant vegetarian restaurant. We walked there (about a mile) and both wound up loving the food there.

The synagogue at the Maine Jewish Museum

Outside the Museum

Fri: I got up early and went for a run on a trail along the bay - pretty nice. Our room didn't include breakfast, but when we checked in Valerie used some sort of Jedi mind trip and the woman at the desk gave us breakfast coupons - so we ate at the hotel. After breakfast we went to the Maine Jewish Museum (yes, there is one), browsed downtown, and then caught a matinee of the Star Trek movie. How do I know I was on vacation with Valerie? Donuts for lunch at Holy Donut. The Old Port is sort of the hipsterish part of Portland and I had the odd experience of going into a kitschy store and finding that many of the retro items they were selling (Polaroid cameras, eight tracks, ...) were items I remember from when they were new. Boy, I *am* old.

After the movie Valerie had a bad stomach ache and so she went back to the room to rest. I strolled downtown a bit more and wound up hanging out at a coffee bar and reading. For dinner we went to a loud bar called Rosie's. Kind of a local hangout, but it was nearby and they had some items which appealed to Valerie, who was still under the weather. I had haddock "chowdah" and a salad.

Saturday: Breakfast, then we headed home.