Maine - July 2012

In continuing our quest to take Grace to every National Park we possibly can, this year’s summer trip was to Acadia National Park in Maine.  Oh, what a beautiful trip!  We flew into Bangor and then drove to Bar Harbor.  We spent four nights in Bar Harbor What a beautiful town!  Great shopping and great food!  Lots of lobster – Greg was very happy with all of the seafood!  We stayed at a resort right on the ocean.  Our room was to have a partial view of the ocean.  If you went out of the patio, then you had a nice partial view.  The resort was very nice.  The pool looked like it ended right into the ocean.  Grace loved the pool – she is such a fish!  We spent all day everyday that we were in Bar Harbor in Acadia National Park.  Grace did a great job hiking.  We hiked around Jordan Pond.  The trail went all the way around the pond.  Their idea of a pond and mine is totally different.  It was much more like a good size lake.  It was a beautiful hike.

We also did a hike that started at Sand Beach.  We tried to go in the ocean, but couldn’t get past our toes.  Oh, it was so cold!  Our toes were numb almost instantly!  Believe it or not, there were actually people who were immersing their entire bodies in the water!  When they were coming out, I asked how they could stand it!  They could hardly even respond back to me because they were so cold.  From the beach, we climbed a pretty steep incline up to the Great Head Trail.  It followed along the tops of the cliffs overlooking the ocean.  What a breathtaking view!  It was a pretty long hike which took most of the day.  While Grace is a great hiker, she does slow you down a bit!!!

Another hike that we did was the Gorge Path.  It started out in a pretty deep forest.  It seemed rather dark since not very much sunlight could get through.  The mosquitoes were swarming us.  We stopped and covered ourselves with bug spray.  This really helped!  As we continued through the forest, we came to a true gorge!  It was huge rocks with a small stream running through it.  Luckily, it hadn’t rained in awhile.  I’m not sure how we would have made it if we had to worry about a raging river!  But it was absolutely beautiful.  It was a tricky hike for Grace.  The gaps between the rocks were a bit too big for her little legs.  We ended up lifting her from rock to rock, which ended up making it a pretty difficult hike for us as well!  I think we covered all the other main tourist sites at Acadia, such as Thunder Hole, Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, Cadillac Mountain, and Jordan Pond.

 

 

 We then drove down to Belfast, Maine.  We spent three nights in a hotel there.  It’s a very small town, but quaint!  It was a short drive to Camden, Maine.  This is where we spent most of the rest of our time.  Camden is a beautiful town with more great shopping and great food!  At Grace’s request, we had to go on a boat ride.  We chose an hour and a half cruise.  That was plenty long for Grace.  It took us along the coast, where we saw some beautiful scenery, two lighthouses, and some amazing homes... well, estates would be a better word.  No whales or seals though.  The Captain even let Grace drive for a bit!  She was all smiles!

At Camden Hills State Park,there is a beautiful drive that takes you up to the top of Mt. Battie.  It gives an unbelievable view of the city of Camden below.  It was a little foggy and drizzly that day, so we decided to drive up the mountain instead of hiking.  Despite the weather, we still got a pretty good view from up there.  The photo to the right was on our way back down at a park along the coast.

For this vacation, Grace chose a stuffed moose for her souvenir.  It is so cute!  The moose has become great friends with the moose that she chose when we went to Glacier National Park.