Acadia National Park

As I’ve said before, we really like Acadia National Park, and this year it was even more beautiful because Autumn came while we were there. 


The leaves started to change colors and, when it wasn’t raining, the sky was so clear and blue.


Local fishermen sell lobsters everywhere, and we decided to take advantage of their fresh catch.


Bob kept telling me to hold the lobsters up, and they were getting quite feisty.  Even though they had their claws rubber banded, I thought it was a little risky to play with them too much.


Here’s a fresh 2 pound lobster attempting an escape.


After feasting on lobster we went for a bike ride and found a pond with a beaver lodge.


We’ve been to Acadia National Park three or four times before, but we’ve never driven to the Schoodic Peninsula.  It’s a quieter, more peaceful area not far from Bar Harbor, and you can see Cadillac Mountain across Frenchman Bay. 


The Schoodic Peninsula has many little bays and harbors dotted with tiny islands. 





There were lighthouses on many of the little islands.  I’m not sure if I could live there, especially during the long, cold winter months.


I just couldn’t stop taking pictures.


See what I mean?  It was so pretty everywhere we looked.


This little guy must have been Amish.  He didn’t want to have his picture taken.




Get your Schoodic Sushi here!


There were so many little harbors like this, with houses lining the water and the lobster traps all neatly stacked.


Bob went to look for some action.  The fishermen go out very early and come home in the morning.



Each lobsterman has his own colored buoys.



After the nice, relaxing day we had driving through the Schoodic Peninsula we decided it was time for another hike.  That was find with me, I like to hike, but then Bob suggested hiking The Beehive.  The Beehive, what are you thinking?  You know I'm terrified of heights!!  (Look at this picture and you can see in the middle of the huge, steep rocky cliff that there's someone climing up.)  Me?  Go up there again???  

Here's another view of The Beehive.  This time there's someone in a white shirt a little lower than the middle towards the right side of the picture.  This is NOT a hike for someone that's terrified of heights!


We made it! You can even see my scratched, bruised, quaking knees in this picture.


The view from the top of The Beehive was outstanding!  That’s Sand Beach way down there.


If you look closely you can see a cruise ship that’s docked at Bar Harbor. 


This is not a regular cat.  One morning Bob went for a walk and talked to a lady walking this creature.  It’s part cat part ocelot, and will grow until it weights about 40 pounds.


It was very pretty, but it it definitely wasn’t the kind of pet I’d want, or want my neighbors to have.


This last picture is for our friend Charley.  He’s a really good dog and I think his mom and dad should find this restaurant with it’s special Doggie Menu.

Stay tuned for more of Acadia National Park and some special visitors.

A Day in Boston

We’re still driving north, but remember, Bob promised a trip into Boston.  There’s so much to see and do in Boston and when we were there previously Bob had meetings, work, or had to stay connected to work, or I was sort of stressed about a little run I was going to do.  This time it was just a visit to relax and enjoy ourselves, and we did!


It was easy to get to Boston from the RV Park, so we decided to make it a day trip.  We took the T, and the entire ride into Boston took one hour.  It takes an hour to drive to Harrisburg when we’re at home!  


Our first stop was Quincy Market for some lunch.  Yes, clam chowda!


We walked Freedom Trail again.  This was the first time we were able to see everything without Bob on the phone talking about a release at work.  Retirement is nice!!  Paul Revere lived in this house a long, long time ago.


Sorry, I didn’t see the sign that said NO PICTURES ALLOWED (honest), so I have this forbidden picture of Mrs. Revere’s kitchen. 


Paul Revere is riding with his lantern, but Bob is looking very confused.


It’s the Old North Church that Paul hung his lantern from.


The inside of The Old North Church was very nice, but the pews weren’t very comfy at all.  Look at those brass chandeliers.  So pretty!


Bostonians love their boats!


This ship was in dry dock, and I was really amazed at how skinny it is at the bottom!


Of course we went aboard the Constitution, Old Iron Sides, and it is gorgeous!


Come on Bob, you were a Marine, not a sailor!


With all these cannons lined up it’s easy to imagine the battles it won.


The officers quarters looked pretty cushy to me.


This lion looks cute, not fierce.


That’s the officers quarters at the end of the ship, with windows for an ocean view.


Another trip around Quincy Market, and we found Larry Bird’s shoes.


Right next to Larry’s shoes were Bill Rodger’s shoes.  He won the Boston Marathon four times!


No, we didn’t leave Boston without eating some raw oysters.  Yum!


We went back into Boston another day and visited the Kennedy Presidential Library, where his sailboat is prominently displayed outside.

   
Of course you can see the Oval Office the way it looked when JFK was president.


The library has a beautiful view of Boston Harbor.


The Profile in Courage Award


We finished our visit to Boston with a walk through Boston Common.


The Swan boats always look so nice.

It was great to visit Boston, but now it’s on to Bar Harbor!

In Search of Witches

As we headed north Bob said we can stay near Boston and go into the city if we want to.  If we want to?  Boston is always fun!!


We found a really nice campground near Boston called Minuteman Campground.  It was only about 30-35 miles from Boston, but so peaceful and quiet.


Since we were so close, a trip to Salem was in order.  This old cemetery was attracting a lot of attention so we took another look.


The cemetery had a memorial for the people condemned to death as witches.  Each stone had someone’s name carved on it and how they were killed. A rose and piece of rosemary were placed on the stone.  Rosemary…for remembrance.  


This one seemed particularly gruesome to me. 


I forget how many witches were memorialized here, but there were at least 20, I think.






















Wow! This witch looks pretty scary!!! Mean too!










Salem is home to a small National Historic Site along it’s harbor, so we toured the full sized replica of the three masted square rigged East Indiaman FRIENDSHIP. 



Bob found the construction of the ship very interesting.  I guess it’s because he worked on rebuilding our chicken house all summer long.


It takes a lot of rope to operate one of these ships.


I don’t think I could ever figure out where everything went, or what each rope was for.


We also toured Salem’s Customs House.  Every piece of goods the Colonies traded for came through this Customs House.


Nathaniel Hawthorne worked here, and it was here that he got his inspiration for The Scarlet Letter.


Mr. Hawthorne had an excellent view of the harbor, if he got bored.


This is The House of the Seven Gables, also in Salem.

OK, enough of Salem, we want to go to Boston!