Bangor
Bangor to Annapolis Royal N.S.
30/06/12 16:57 Filed in: Travel | Photography
Rousing ourselves early this morning, we hit the road shortly after 7 a.m. to go to Acadia National Park, the Park Loop, and Bar Harbor Maine. We knew we would have to leave the north part of the Island by 1 p.m. to head along Hwy. 1 along the Maine Coast to Calais (pronounced “Callous”, which Bob laughed about more times that I could count), the border crossing with Canada. Back to the DownEast area..............Acadia and Bar Harbor. We went up to the top of Cadillac Mountain which is the highest spot on the East Coast and the first part of the United States to see the sunrise. The island was named Desert Island by Champlain in the early 1600’s because it is bare of most trees and has a lot of rock with little cover soil. You can see how happy Bob is to be on vacation and seeing new territory.
After visiting the mountain, we stopped by Bubble Pond and then Jordan Pond. These are more beautiful small lakes than ponds that have been dug out of surrounding ground by glaciers many years ago.
We then shortly visited Seal Harbor, the Northeast Harbor and drove along Sommes fjord. One boat was out in the fjord checking his lobster traps.
Our final stop while on Desert Island was Bar Harbor, a very quaint town that brings to mind Carmel or Calistoga CA. it looks like a neat place to stay and then see the sights around the area. We enjoyed a Lobster Roll with fresh Maine lobster on grilled toast. We bought 1/2 lb. crab meat at the same place to eat along with way with a box of fresh strawberries. The crab was really great, mild and melt in your mouth like butter. Yum!
It was on to Calais and entering Canada. The border crossing was fairly quick. They wanted to know if Bob was an unemployed Terrorist and if I was his veterinarian accomplice. Since we weren’t, it was OK for us to be Canadians for a few weeks. We found a lovely beach and view of the Bay of Fundy at Dipper Harbor located about 18 miles west of St. John.
We rushed off to get in line for the ferry crossing from St. John to Digby NS. For some reason, the ferry left the dock about one hour before we expected. Later we found out that the time zone changed to one hour ahead at the border. A very good thing that Bob pushed us to be there early or we could have missed our ferry and lost the $178 it cost to take it. It is about 72 km across the Bay of Fundy (where the tide change can be 4 stories in itself). We will arrive about 11 pm at Digby and on to the B and B.
After visiting the mountain, we stopped by Bubble Pond and then Jordan Pond. These are more beautiful small lakes than ponds that have been dug out of surrounding ground by glaciers many years ago.
We then shortly visited Seal Harbor, the Northeast Harbor and drove along Sommes fjord. One boat was out in the fjord checking his lobster traps.
Our final stop while on Desert Island was Bar Harbor, a very quaint town that brings to mind Carmel or Calistoga CA. it looks like a neat place to stay and then see the sights around the area. We enjoyed a Lobster Roll with fresh Maine lobster on grilled toast. We bought 1/2 lb. crab meat at the same place to eat along with way with a box of fresh strawberries. The crab was really great, mild and melt in your mouth like butter. Yum!
It was on to Calais and entering Canada. The border crossing was fairly quick. They wanted to know if Bob was an unemployed Terrorist and if I was his veterinarian accomplice. Since we weren’t, it was OK for us to be Canadians for a few weeks. We found a lovely beach and view of the Bay of Fundy at Dipper Harbor located about 18 miles west of St. John.
We rushed off to get in line for the ferry crossing from St. John to Digby NS. For some reason, the ferry left the dock about one hour before we expected. Later we found out that the time zone changed to one hour ahead at the border. A very good thing that Bob pushed us to be there early or we could have missed our ferry and lost the $178 it cost to take it. It is about 72 km across the Bay of Fundy (where the tide change can be 4 stories in itself). We will arrive about 11 pm at Digby and on to the B and B.
Comments
Maine Stopover
We traveled up I-95 this afternoon and reached Bangor Maine in 4.5 hours. It is not a very scenic drive since there is mostly just scrub trees alongside the road. It appears that the East Coast seems to favor not cutting plant growth alongside roads where in the West, we have a much better view of the countryside from our freeways. It is much nicer to view the Willamette Valley or the Columbia River Gorge than have the view blocked by trees.
Bangor seems to be a nice city with some large barn-like homes near the downtown. They look like they have a lot of square feet or would hold a number of apartments. It is difficult to adjust to the New England abruptness or crustiness, especially with servers at restaurants. It is no-nonsense business, “What do ya waaant” type of request and don’t interfere with their work. Bob asked tonight for Zinfandel and they said they had it. it was White Zinfandel and when he said he had asked for a red Zin, it was “Oh, you want a Chianti”. Different reality! Bangor is Paul Bunyon Country and also has a museum of The Maine. It is a shame we don’t have more time here. On to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor ME daytime tomorrow, a thunderstorm is threatening tonight.
Peirce Memorial to Lumbermen in downtown Bangor.
Bangor seems to be a nice city with some large barn-like homes near the downtown. They look like they have a lot of square feet or would hold a number of apartments. It is difficult to adjust to the New England abruptness or crustiness, especially with servers at restaurants. It is no-nonsense business, “What do ya waaant” type of request and don’t interfere with their work. Bob asked tonight for Zinfandel and they said they had it. it was White Zinfandel and when he said he had asked for a red Zin, it was “Oh, you want a Chianti”. Different reality! Bangor is Paul Bunyon Country and also has a museum of The Maine. It is a shame we don’t have more time here. On to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor ME daytime tomorrow, a thunderstorm is threatening tonight.
Peirce Memorial to Lumbermen in downtown Bangor.
