Acadia National Park

It is Wednesday, Sept 29 and this is our last day of touring before we begin our drive home. We first drove into Bar Harbor and looked at the wharf and dock areas. The Holland America ship "Eurodam" was in port as well as its many passengers. The sun was shining and we walked on the gravel "bridge" exposed by the low tide to Bar Island. At the end of the day, we returned to see it completely covered by the high tide. After fortifying ourselves with coffee and blueberry scones, we spent the rest of the day driving a circumference drive of Acadia National Park. The coastal Maine scenery is rugged and interesting and the day was sunny and quite warm at 75F. At the end of the drive we went to the top of Cadillac Mountain - elevation 1572' - and got a wonderful panoramic view of of the park and coast.
Tomorrow, we head for I-95 and after a stop at the L.L. Bean Store, we will head to the Boston area and in the next couple of days, make our way on I-90 for home.

It is 9am and the tide is at it's lowest, so we can walk on dry land to Bar Island. We were fascinated to watch the gulls pick up clams and fly up about 20 feet and drop them onto the stones to crack them open and then fly down again to eat - before another gull grabs it from them! Look at the pictures later in the blog to see how this area appears during high tide.

At the end of the "land bridge", looking back at the town of Bar Harbor.

Sand Cove

Thunder Hole where the waves enter a small cave causing explosions of air to burst out with booming sounds.

Acadia National Park is criss crossed with carriage roads built by John D Rockefeller for horse carriages and now used by cyclists and horseback riders.

North and South Bubble and Jordan Pond from the lawn of the Jordan Pond House where we had lunch of chowder and their famous popovers with butter and jam.

From the top of Cadillac Mountain - the view of the town of Bar Harbor and the Porcupine Islands.

At the end of our day, we return to the area where we walked to Bar Island on the land bridge revealed by the low tide. Now, at high tide, it is completely covered by 3 feet of water.

Driving onto the ferry

The Digby Ferry

We arrived in Digby, Nova Scotia by 5pm and parked at the Walmart because we have to get to the docks by 7am to take the ferry to St. John, New Brunswick. We woke to drizzle and fog and drove in the dark to line up and pay $290 (!) for our RV and 2 passengers for the 3 hour ride. But this saves 7 hours of driving to go around the Bay of Fundy and a tank of fuel - not cheap these days. On board, they had great wifi for the computer and we had a wonderful opportunity to Skype Tara and Dylan. It is Greg and Tara's 14th wedding anniversary and Dylan was having peaches and oatmeal for breakfast. He looked at his Oma and Opa and gave us just the biggest grin and then a nice wave! It was so good to see him - we have missed the little guy!
After rolling off, we drove along the New Brunswick coast and crossed the border at Calais, Maine - a small town with room to line up 4 cars or 2 RVs. Then we continued to Bar Harbor, Maine. We set up camp about 6 miles from the entrance to Acadia National Park. We went to the village for dinner - a last opportunity for lobster (Mary) and seafood linguine (Jack) before we begin to make our way home.

Monday, Sept 27 - We took a ferry across a large inlet on the Nova Scotia south shore rather than drive all the way around it as we continued on the Lighthouse Route. We got to Digby this evening.

We are finally seeing Fall colour changes as we travel the Scotia shore to Digby.

Shelburne - a town of ship and dory builders going back 200 years. A stop for lunch.

Lunenburg

Lunenburg is a UNESCO world heritage town and it's history goes back to the early 1700s. They have a rich heritage in shipbuilding and fishing. The famed ship Bluenose was built here in the early 1930s and garnered many prizes in sailing races. But it also had to pay for itself so it was also a fishing boat off the Georges Banks. Lunenburg became a center for rum running during the US Prohibition years. We drove and walked several of the terraced hillside streets and took lots of pictures of the brightly painted Victorian homes. Near the waterfront is a Fisherman's Memorial with hundreds of names inscribed of men lost at sea - the Autumn storms were especially severe and took a sad toll in 1935 and 36. Men who build boats and go down to the sea and the families who stay home have left a significant mark on this Nova Scotia coast

Lunenburg Harbour and the Fisheries Museum

The Victorian Homes of Lunenburg

The 3 churches of Mahone Bay. If the water is still, they make a lovely reflection - but not today!

Our campsite from the hiking trail to the caves

Ovens Naturel Park

We are spending a couple of nights at this very interesting park on the Scotia shore near Lunenberg. The cliffs are riddled with caves and long tunnels made by the water over eons into the shale like rock. The caves make interesting sounds as the waves come in and are sucked out again. We spent several hours hiking and exploring around the park. At low tide we could walk out on the rocks and look at the cormorant colonies.

Thunder Cave

Cannon Cave goes deep into the rock and the water entering the tunnel and dead end cave makes a roar with each wave

Peggy's Cove