Today is our last day in Acadia National Park. We drive north through Manset, Southwest Harbor, and Somesville then southeast through Seal Harbor, and finally north again by Blackwoods Campground and through Otter Creek to connect with the one-way Park Loop Road that takes us to Sand Beach. From here we embark on a 4.4 mile round trip coastal trail, Ocean Path, that takes us past Thunder Hole and to the cliffs of Otter Point.

Before leaving we spend time on Sand Beach with the dogs, again they are welcome because it is officially off-season. This beach is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. The waves confuse Casey and Murph still tries to drink the salty water. Jeff and I wade into the cold waters and watch a dog swimming back to shore from retrieving a ball. Jelly fish bob on the waves and a young man next to me retrieves a piece of floating trash, part of a marshmallow package. Jeff tries to submerge himself into the 50 degree waters but changes his mind. We leave happy and hungry so we place an order at Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound so that Jeff can drop the dogs and I off at the campground and he can go back and pick up our carry-out. We feast on lobster bisque, a crab roll, a fried haddock sandwich, French fries and a wicked Maine whoopee pie!

I shower and go into Southwest Harbor to do laundry at the Village Wash Tub. When I return Jeff and I prepare soup with all the leftover veggies and chicken sausage we have. We drink brewskis and snack on leftovers and cereal. Tomorrow is an early morning for us since we have to be on our way by 10:00 AM, campground check-out time.

Last night was a wee bit warm to sleep without air conditioning, but we survive. Jeff wakes me up early to his slurping noises. He made coffee with his new percolator and it was hot but very weak. I think he needs to perk longer. At 8:00 we turn on the generator, plug in our electronic devices to charge and make coffee. We head out with the dogs to the 2 nearby trail heads. Wonder Land leads us to a magnificent rocky inlet with spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and the low tide tidal pools. We take a side trail and discover that we are surrounded on all sides now by water. The dogs enjoy themselves and are happy for a drink of water at the end.

The next trail, Ship Harbor, is more back country terrain. We experience the beautiful seascape of the ocean pushing into the calm and serene harbor.

The dogs are so tired after our hike that they plop into the back of the car and wait to hydrate until we get back to the RV. Jeff snacks and I prepare my power oatmeal to eat for lunch. By 1:00 we are in relaxation mode. Jeff reads and I continue writing the destination factoids for my online journal. I finally connect my hot spot Wi-Fi to my laptop, only to discover that my Verizon juice is too limited to connect. Jeff’s Cricket android serviced by AT&T, however, connects to the internet every time!

This is our first lazy day. I word process outside of the RV while Jeff goes to the grocery store to get 2 cans of beans for our 3rd make-ahead and freeze dinner, chili. He returns with charcoal, charcoal lighter fluid, fat wood lighter sticks, a bucket for the leaking grey water, some more firewood, the local newspaper, and the 2 cans of kidney beans. Jeff prepares a big pot of chili for dinner with grass fed ground beef and ground bison. We reserve a quarter pound of each to make burgers for tomorrow. The freezer has 2, 2 serving portions ready for other busy day meals.

Today we take the car and dogs to explore our surroundings. We head out toward Bass Harbor stopping to take pictures of the ocean, noting 2 hiking trails nearby and visiting the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

The Bass Harbor Head Light was built in 1858 and automated in 1974 with the red light occulting (darkening) every 4 seconds. A U.S. Coast Guard family currently lives here.

Since the 1800s more than 70 lighthouses have guided ships carrying granite, lumber and fish to distant ports and brought back ships carrying goods to Maine. There are over 3,400 miles of shoreline weaving in and out of craggy cliffs and cobble beaches along Maine’s rugged coast. Today lighthouses signal to lobster boats, schooners, tour boats and cruise ships. Each light has its own fingerprint of a unique light pattern and color. (from plaque at Bass Harbor Lighthouse)

We pass through the smaller towns of West Tremont and Seal Cove before heading northeast to Somesville and the Park Loop Road via a slight detour in Bar Harbor. This town is the tourist mecca of Acadia National Park.

 it.wikipedia.org

The streets are crowded with people, restaurants and shops. We can only imagine what it looks like during the height of the tourist season! But wait, I soon discover that after Labor Day cruise ships dock for the day and these day-trippers fill the town. This reminds me of Venice with its daily influx of daytime ocean liner visitors.

The Park Loop Road leads us up to Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak in the park.

The views are awesome, especially with the clouds rolling in and out. The sun peeks through exposing a clear blue sky that catches the various shades of greens from the islands below and the splendid teals of the ocean. The white boating vessels add their clear crisp contrast to the scene. Small trickling wate really border the drive up and down the mountain.

I meet a couple from Lancaster County Pennsylvania who have been RVing for 27 years. I learn about an eco-friendly citron anti-barking collar from them. We exit the Park Loop in Seal Harbor and head northwest to Somesville again but this time we go south through Southwest Harbor where our campground, Seawall, is located.

We cook our second make-ahead and freeze dish, Spinach, Quinoa Burritos, and enjoy the food, the company and the beautiful night music of Mother Nature.

Acadia is located on Mount Desert Island.

 visitmaine.net

Some 25,000 years ago this island was part of the mainland continent buried under a massive sheet of ice. As the ice melted and recede a fjord was carved out and a 14 ton rock known as a glacial erratic moved 19 miles. Today this fjord is Somes Sound and the rock is Bubble Rock.

acadiamagic.com

 tripadvisor.com.au

Melting ice flowed from the flattened mountain tops filling in the lake beds and the rising sea levels eventually created the island.

The first people to live here were the Wabenaki, People of the Dawn. They named the island Pemetic, meaning sloping land. Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the Atlantic coast and the first place to see the sun rise in the continental U.S., hence the name for the first inhabitants of this land.

 acadiamagic.com  Photograph by Greg A. Hartford

In 1604 Samuel de Champlain spotted the peak of Cadillac Mountain from his ship and called this place the island of the bare mountains because he could not see any surrounding forests or hillsides. For the next 150 years no one actually settled on this island because there was an on-going conflict between Native Americans, French, English and new American Colonists as to who had rights to the land.

By the middle of the 1800s, painters from the New Hudson School visited Mount Desert Island to capture the beautiful landscapes on canvas. They enjoyed hiking from one scenic spot to another and were drawn to the simplicity of living here. Eventually their works drew an interest to the Acadia coast and soon more artists and intellectuals chose to journey here. The first steamboat from Boston accessed the island in the 1860s. In the 1880s a railroad brought wealthy visitors to the area who built cottages which were actually mansions with fifty plus rooms and a servants’ quarters. Two of these wealthy “cottagers” had the foresight to invest their time and money to preserve the natural beauty of what would later become Acadia National Park. John D. Rockefeller Jr. built 57 miles of carriage roads and stone bridges and donated thousands of acres of land.

 affordablearcadia.com

George B. Dorr donated land, blazed trails for others to enjoy the scenery and eventually became the first superintendent of the park. In 1919 Congress declared the area a National Park, the first one to be established east of the Mississippi River and the first one created entirely from private donations. (from YOUR GUIDE TO THE NATIONAL PARKS by Michael Joseph Oswald)