Day 7 - Acadia

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There’s a sign in Seal Harbor, “SLOW DOWN DON’T KILL OUR KIDS” with blood running from the word KILL that we laugh at. I guess tourists driving curvy mountain roads at fast speeds scares the locals!

Acadia is a lot like other national parks – pine forests, lakes, marshes, mountains and rocks – but it has the ocean coast and there is development nearby. Most of the parks out west are surrounded by National Forests and pretty much not much! The coast in Acadia is mostly rocky, but there are a few sand beaches. We haven’t seen any wildlife except for a deer, probably due to it being intermixed with populated areas. As I said earlier, the park is unique in that it isn’t all in one geographic chunk, so you can be driving on a private road with million dollar oceanfront homes, inns, restaurants and real estate offices on your way to a hike!

Started today with a stop in Seal Harbor for coffee, muffins and smoothies, then headed to the western side of the island. We hiked Beech Mountain (.7 mi) and enjoyed the beautiful views. We also picked wild blueberries just like the Morschers used to do when Rick was a kid. Stopped at Pretty Marsh for lunch.

After our hike of Beech Mountain we drove through Seal Cove and Bass Harbor. We stopped to view the Bass Harbor lighthouse which wasn’t very large. We were surprised there is still a Coast Guard posted at the lighthouse now that it is automated. Bass Harbor and across the Tremont across the water were much more quaint little seaside towns. All the harbors are sprinkled with sailboats.

Next we drove through Seawall, and stopped in Southwest Harbor at a laundromat to do laundry and Rick did some work. Stopped for groceries including ice cream! Continued driving the loop of the western side of the island back through Somesville and back to the park loop road. Stopped at Bear’s Cove for dinner (new meal of pizza) and for dessert – ice cream and blueberries. Back to Thunder Hole 2 hours before high tide. We saw Thunder Hole splash a little more today – sounded more like a fart.

Need to mention that most days in Acadia we’ve had fog. Today we drove through some after Bass Harbor.

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