Day 35 Sunday June 2/13 Westport/Camden, Maine 11155 kms

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It is Sunday morning and we have just ridden our bikes back into the centre of Bar Harbor from the not-downtown hotel. We wanted to take advantage of the sites without the crowds. The town is empty even though the Veendam cruise ship is anchored in the bay and tendering passengers back and forth. We walked around the town for an hour, took some photos, and made plans to spend the day driving around neighbouring Acadia Park on Desert Island. The rich and famous live here in massive, manicured to the hilt estates. Opulence, wealth, affluence, you get it. The Jone's outdoing the Jone's. There's no shortage of pleasurecraft anchored with both bow and stern lines, it reminded us of Avalon Bay at Catalina Island.

We rode past spectacular beautiful scenic bays one after the other in the park. It was a great place to ride. We have since been told that most of these mansions sit empty all winter long and the town itself becomes a ghosttown in the winter.

We continued on with a short ride down the coast on Highway 1 passing through historic town after historic town. It's everything we imagined New England coastal towns to be: cottages with unfinished, aged, greying cedar shakes, red brick homes all with immaculate gardens.

We stopped in Camden, Maine. For us, it is the jewel of all the coastal towns we've been through. It is the best of the best. The gardens were a little nicer, the streets a little more quaint. Nothing here appeared artificial, and people live here year round. The harbour contained more boats, and docks that were anchored to which two boats are tied each side. It makes alot of sense, as you can get more boats in the bay. On a whim we decided to find a place to stay, however $300 to $400 per night in the heart of town (3 blocks) was more than we wanted to pay, so we decided to look out of town. We only had to venture a quarter mile and discovered a small Americana motel with hanging flower baskets (that's what actually caught my eye). It was small and older, but extremely clean, and chairs outside the room doors. Walking in, the hosts at the desk affirmed our decision to stay at the Towne Motel. We walked back into town for dinner, for a wonderful romantic meal on a deck by the water, with a warm breeze and you guessed it, another lobster salad. The weatherman issued a tornado warning for the area, and we heard one crack of thunder, but nothing materialized and we were able to finish dinner and wine outside overlooking the harbour. Good food, great scenery, great libations and the best company. It doesn't get any better than this.

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