The sun was a welcome sight as the Maasdam let her anchors down in Frenchman Bay off the coast of Bar Harbour. It was crispy chilly outside but it didn’t deter guests from being ready to go ashore.
The tender process got underway as soon as everything was ready.
The tour group I was with was soon heading across the calm waters to the pier and to the waiting bus. The drive around Acadia National Park was a scenic one, with a photographic stop at the top Cadillac Mountain. The air was clear and the views were stunning. After that we headed around on the park’s 27 mile loop road giving guests a good overview of the park, its lakes and hiking trails. There is much to see and do in the park, both in summer and in winter times. The old carriage trails still exist and many visitors who prefer a gentler walk with a more favourable gradient tend to walk it. Cyclists and horse riders also use it to this day. In winter time the carriage trail is used by skiers but the roads in the park are used by snowmobiles to get around. Today Jordan Cliffs, Valley Cove, Precipice, and a portion of the Orange & Black Path Trail were off limits. Peregrine falcons are nesting at the moment so the area and trails will be closed until the nesting season has finished.
What we saw of Mount Desert Island was beautiful. No doubt very cold in winter but lovely in summer time. Frenchman Bay is popular for growing lobsters and lots of lobster pots buoys could be seen floating in the water.
Sadly the tour ended and we arrived back at the pier. The majority of guests opted to remain ashore a bit to explore Bar Harbour more. The Maasdam will be back again soon, on the return trip back to Boston, so hopefully I will take the time to explore the harbour and its shoreline trails.
Paul has been hectically busy with work but he ‘downed tools’ and we had lunch together. We bumped into friends, Judy and Fred, and ended up joining them. Time passed far too quickly under Judy’s magical influence. If we would have had our way we would have sat with Judy and Fred for the rest of the afternoon but that was not the case. Paul had to remind himself of the time in order to get back to work. Ouch!
I’ve had a bit of a nap this afternoon, as usual. Fortunately I’ve not had weird dreams again! Thinking of time and naps … the clocks go 1 hour forward so that means 1 less hour of ‘beauty sleep’ 😳 for me in the morning. Grrr….😖
Time for me to download the photographs and then hopefully update facebook before dinnertime.
You can see my photographs via this link: Acadia National Park
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| Sailing to our next destination: Halifax, Nova Scotia. |
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