Avoiding the crowds

We decided to sleep in this morning to celebrate the first “real” day of our vacation. Sooke has a slightly different interpretation of what sleeping in means, as by 7am he was trying his best to rouse us so he could explore his new yard. With our earlier than planned start, we still took it easy and hung around the cabin for most of the morning, enjoying a delicious breakfast of eggs and sausage thanks to Sara’s efforts.



View from the cabin

By 10:30 we were out on the road and decided to hit the visitor center at Acadia National Park first, so we could pick up maps and other orientation materials. Not surprisingly the visitor’s center was packed with the Labor Day weekend crowds, so we decided to leave the park’s main loop road for later this week, when the crowds have hopefully subsided. Having been here once before, we remembered that there is a lesser visited half of the island (which we never got to explore), so we decided this would be a good place to beat the crowds.

As it was nearing noon, we decided to stop in Bar Harbor first to grab some food. As we drove into the downtown where we were greeted by the sight of a looming cruise ship and throngs of passengers descending on the little town. We skipped food and made a beeline out of town and toward our planned refuge on the south and west part of Mount Desert Island. En route we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway. While this may sound mundane, it was quite significant as it ended Sara’s almost 10 year avoidance of Subway (which is an entirely different story).

We found a quiet picnic shelter at the Pretty Marsh picnic area where we ate and let the dogs explore. To say Sooke was very wound up today would be an understatement. He was very excited and quite a handful, as Bear showed him the ropes of wilderness exploration (with us being dragged down the rocky mountainside behind them). After herding them back to the car we set out and found some nearly deserted unpaved fire roads through the park’s backcountry. We made our way to the interior side of Seal Cove Pond where Sooke and Bear both took quick swims. We then hiked along the mountainous shoreline, while Sara took pictures.

We wrapped up our trip around the island stopping at the Seawall Picnic area where Sooke got his first glimpse (and taste) of the ocean. He and Bear had fun sampling the assorted kelp littering the rocky shore and wading into the surf. By the drive back to the cabin, the boys were thoroughly exhausted!



Sooke at the seashore

-- Post From Shawn's iPhone

Location:Blue Hill Point, Bar Harbor, ME United States