A Rainy Day at Acadia

The day was very rainy and cool, so after updating our blogs we took off to visit Beech Hill Farm, a project of the College of the Atlantic.  In Maine, the growing season is too short to grow tomatoes very well, but these wre growing and luscious in the hothouse!

Beautiful zucchini blossom and fruit.

Kale, lettuce, scallions for sale

Turnips and Onions

Beets, Leeks, carrots, onions

Potatoes and cabbage...

One of Craig's cool photos!

After the farm, we went to Bar Harbor and visited a yarn shop.  I found some really  lovely Malabrigo 100% merino worsted weight yarn, 

Wound it into a ball....

For the digital license plates...

Another one for my collection...

We decided to take a hike up to see Bubble Rock.  The walk was foggy, but also pretty!

This is Bubble ROck.  It is a glacial erratic.  It is HUGE!

Craig walked around the bottom of the erratic.  He  took this picture from down below...

A nice family took this for us...see the view of Frenchman's Bay?

Came up behind this one on the way home...it was such a good day!

Riding the Carriage Roads at Acadia National Park

Craig rode up Cadillac Mountain again this morning, and he saw a license plate but couldn't figure out what it meant.  By the time he got it, it was too far away to get a good shot, so he wrote it down and brought it to me.  It was on a Jetta:  VW 

It was a pretty day so we decide to do our annual ride on Acadia National Park's beautiful Carriage Roads.  We rode around Eagle Lake (go on the left side first!) toward the Jordan Pond House, around Bubble Pond and back.  It's a 12 mile loop and is probably our favorite ride.  We see many of the same things every year, but it always fills us with this renewed sense of awe at the tremendous beauty.  It is still, just like the first time, like riding through a postcard. 

Another perspective on Eagle Lake

Our annual photo in front of Eagle Lake.

Craig looking for his granite block.

Along the edge of Bubble Pond.

Bubble Pond

A waterfall along the way

Of course, we had to stop for coffee and popovers at the Jordan Pond House.

At the top of Bubble Pond

It's about a mile long, gentle uphill ride to this point after the Jordan Pond House, but it's a beautiful view, and right after this there is a 1.5 mile long downhill and it's fabulous.

Bikes and Birches at the top of Bubble Pond

We had a nice dinner after we got home.

Monday in Southwest Harbor

The day started off kind of rainy and Craig was itching to get on his bike, so he took a 4.5 miles cruise up Cadillac Mountain, elevation about 1500 feet.  We always go there at least once while we are here, especially at sunset, because it is so incredibly beautiful surrounded by ocean and granite cliffs.  Doesn't sound like much, coming from the Smokies, but it really is incredible.

The pink granite and lichen are a beautiful combination.

A waterfall Craig saw on his morning ride.

When Craig got back, he had blueberries and granola for breakfast.

The sun was trying to come out, so we decided to take a drive to Seawall and we found our favorite tree still standing guard next tot he rocks.  Last year, this tree was shrouded in fog and being guarded by seagulls.

Yay!  The sun came out.

Trying to set up an automatic shot. 

On the rocks.

We found a book sale, where I lucked into a huge back of kids books for not much money.

We wandered over to the Charlotte Rhoades Butterfly Garden -- familiar from last year but so much more lush!  I saw this couple sitting and having a picnic.  They were sweet.  The pictures below are all from there.

I loved the look of these plants against the sky.

We saw a monarch.

Monarch butterfly.

Look closely!  This is a hummingbird moth.  They look at move like hummingbirds, but are about half the size.  Pretty neat to see them working at these flowers!

Salvia

Monarch caterpillar on a stone wall.

We had a good day.  It was pretty laid back.

Sunday at the Farnsworth Art Museum: On Our Way to Southwest Harbor

We loaded the car in the pouring rain.  Lesson learned -- should've loaded it the night before.

Wer stopped at a little farm stand along the way and got a GREAT deal on wild Maine blueberries.  Been enjoying them all week.

Also got zucchini, squash, onion, tomatoes, and cucumbers that we have been enjoying  this week.

A pretty neat shot Rockland, ME where we stopped to go to the Farnsworth Art Museum.

Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture in the Farnsworth Art Museum garden.  Unfortunately, not allowed to take pictures inside -- but I fell in love with Andrew's "Fog," "Goodbye My Love," and "On the Edge."  We saw so many beautiful things.  I also fell in love with George Bellows' paintings -- very Gaugin-ish.

Of course, we had to visit the Rockland Cafe for lunch.  We had cheeseburgers and chocolate cream pie.

We discovered Boynton McKay's in Camden when we went looking for a cup of coffee.

This is a really cool bridge that we always look forward to driving over -- it's right outside Bucksport on Rte 1 / Rte3 and is near Ft. Knox Historic Site.  It spans the Penobscott Narrows.

This bridge is one of three bridges that uses a cradle system to  hold it up.  You can read about it here.

We got to Southwest Harbor about 6:30 and stopped at the store to get some food for the cottage.  We both felt like we had come home!  And we found this wonderful handmade quilt that Kathe was working on last year when we were here -- all cheerful purple and yellow and placed there especially for us.  :-)