Bus Ride

This morning we boarded a bus for a tour of Acadia National Park (along the Loop Road) with a stop for lunch in Bar Harbor.  Carol Ann wasn't feeling well (trying to catch my cold) and stayed at the RV.  I wasn't feeling great but did go on the tour.  Our first stop was the top of Cadillac Mountain.  Not really much of mountain as far as mountains go, only about 1500 or so feet high.  But it is the highest peak that can be seen from the Atlantic Ocean between here and Brazil.  When the sun rises each morning, the very first piece of land in North America to feel its rays is the top of Cadillac Mountain.

There were two other stops on the tour, Sand Beach and Jordan Pond, that were new to me (Carol Ann and I drove the Loop Road a couple of days ago).

People get real excited about sandy beaches up here, which is understandable, because most of their beaches are very rocky.  It was a sunny day and a lot of people were on Sand Beach but I didn’t see anyone in the water.  Even on a hot day up here the water is too cold to support human life for very long.

Jordan Pond is the only place in the Acadia National Park that serves food.  Most people seem to eat at tables on the back lawn that overlook Jordan Pond.  We were only there a short while so didn’t get to eat.

The bus then took us into the town of Bar Harbor and dropped us off for a couple of hours.  Most of the group had lunch in one of the restaurants recommended by the tour guide.  Rich and I had a different idea.  We went directly to the Cottage Street Bakery and bought popovers to go.  We found a shady spot on the Village Green and ate our popovers with butter and blueberry jam.  After we finished the popovers, we went across the street to an ice cream parlor and got dessert.  We sat outside and ate ice cream and did a little people watching.  It seemed like everybody in town was a tourist (except for the people working in the shops and restaurants).   

Bar Harbor is the summer playground of some very wealthy people who have a lot of influence on what happens or doesn’t happen in Bar Harbor.  They are very picky about the type of businesses allowed to operate in the town.  For example, there are no fast food restaurants and no Walmart in the town.

There is a sand bar in the bay, which at low tide provides a land bridge from Bar Harbor out to one of the five Porcupine Islands.  You can walk or drive your car over to the island as long as you get back to the mainland before the tide comes back in.  The difference between high and low tides here is about six or seven feet, based on the moon, and the tide changes four times a day (like someone I know but will not mention).

I walked around town taking pictures and worked my way back to where the bus would pick us up and return us to the RV Park.  By that time I was beat.  I’m still not over my cold and yesterday afternoon a tooth began to ache.  I have had trouble with it previously and really need to get a root canal.  However, I phoned my dentist back in Texas and asked him to call the local Walgreen’s with a prescription for an antibiotic (metronidazole) for me.  The last time I had a problem with this tooth I took the same antibiotic and it at least delayed the need for a root canal.  Hopefully, it will do so again (at least until we get back to Texas in late August).  I wouldn’t wish a root canal on my worst enemy.