Ba Haba

I grabbed a lobster roll and drove to the top of Cadillac mountain. Now I can say I ate a lobster roll at the highest point on the entire North Atlantic seaboard! Where else can you do that but in Bar Harbor?

It was late, but I was just happy to finally be there. Timing had to be just right. I had to make the connecting flight in Detroit in order to get to Bangor just after 11pm. The Hertz rental agents will wait if they know your flight number, otherwise the shut down at 11pm and you will be out of luck for a rental.

Our plane to Detroit was delayed, but finally, we boarded. I sat and looked out the window, wishing and wishing we would just take off. I only had an hour window as it was and time was slipping away. The pilot said we would depart just as soon as everyone was seated. But the whole time I was staring out the window at the rainy fall day. To my annoyance I see that none of the baggage has yet been loaded. To compound my annoyance my tripod bag was sitting out in the rain. The baggage handler checked it with his scanner seemed confused and slowly shuffled away. A few minutes later he slowly shuffled back to the bags and walked away again. I tried to relax but was in the height of annoyance. "Ladies and gentlemen, I told you we would take off as soon as you all were seated, but it appears our luggage has not been loaded."

To make a long story short we were on our way. But I had a chance to see my camera case thrown hard, up on the conveyor belt, upside down. Not surprising, but its something you just don't want to see.

We got to Detroit. That airport has terminals that stretch onto infinity. It's a long walk but there is a long connecting tunnel that is pretty cool. It changes color while atmospheric music plays. It is a long walk and the music changes between relaxing and spooky with little warning. Kinda cool, kinda spooky.

The drive to Bangor to Bar Harbor was pretty dead. Straight out of a Stephen King novel, there were no cars and the intersections flashed with yellow warning lights.

It was late when I checked into my lodge and, finally, I crashed.

Cut to the chase!

I woke worn but was made chipper by the immense sunny view of the harbor from my window. My video shoot even made me exclaim aloud, I was so impressed! Shades of dark blue, interupted by rocky, tree-covered islands and finger-like projections from the shore. You could see boats both at sail and anchor in the harbor.

After my two shoots I head downtown. Bar Harbor had a slight colonial-port-feel. I parked near a church, walked by the 1790's cemetery and through the central park. People were chatting on benches and laying on the grass with their dogs. There was a tall bronze fountain and central gazeebo. It made you feel relaxed and happy.

Stepping out into Main street, the sidewalks were packed with tourists, many of them Germans. As the streets drop down into the harbor area above which is a hill, with another fountain and a grand view of the boats in the bay. There were more people relaxing. A group with three cute corgis, another group of young Dasistglubinheimenschlaufkens and many older couples. In the harbor there was a great big cruise ship in the distance. Nearer, were many sail ships at anchor. The view was relaxing but I had not much time. I needed some lobster, to summit the mountain and make the two hour drive to Camden!

I grabbed a lobster roll at a deli. Take a hot dog bun, slap on some mayonaise, pack it with fresh lobster and there you got a lobster roll.

Acadia national park takes up most of Mount Desert Island, upon which sits Bar Harbor. The drive to peak of Cadillac winds up the mountain with many pull-offs to view the sights on either side. The higher you go, the more and more enticing it was! Once at the top, the view not only looks down into Bar Harbor, now dwarfed by the sea and land around it, but also the many different lakes and channels all throughout the Island.

On the way off the island I gazed longingly at the ferry station to Nova Scotia. That would come, a different day. But the drive impressed the character of Maine's cost. It's like the area above Duluth times 10. Meaning that, the blue waters are very similar to those of the immense Superior. The shoreline share that hard, dark and sharp lava rock feel and the trees, while greatly deciduous, give you a far-north touch. But the topography varies greatly. There are sharp rises and deep valleys, over which many bridges pass - some from days past some with impressive modern engineering. There are old forts,colonial buildings and fleets of sail ships. While the sidewalks can be congested and the two-lane roads often turn to traffic jam, there are many places where you are alone on the road to stare out at the coast or appreciate the tall, white, church steeples.

The final stop of the day is Camden. Another harbor, more church steeples and hilly roads. I walked downtown as the evening came in. Most buildings were a-glow and warm inside, an inviting contrast to the cool late-fall weather outside. I first went down to the harbor, to see wooden lobster pots and smell old fish. There was a falls dropping behind the town and into the harbor. It made you think of the mill or water wheel that could have been place there. Perhaps it was, years ago.

Well, walking up and down the alleyways, with the close-packed storefronts, rectangular windows with wooden panes and hanging store sign above, takes you to a place straight out of a Robert Louis Stephenson novel. You can hear ship bells and bozun whistles and the drunken songs of sailors a-whorin.' The many different whalers and fisherman, from ports around the world had walked these same places hundreds of years ago.

Those thoughts put in the mood for some ale and victuals. Into a chowder house for some fish stew and ale made with Maine blueberries. A good way to end a day on the coast of Maine!