Coasting thru Maine: Camden State park, ME 9/30/2009

Woke up to gorgeous blue skies and decided it was a great opportunity to visit the top of Cadillac Mountain again. The visibility was splendid and it was mind boggling to see that far in so many directions. (See today’s pic). If you ever visit Acadia National Park this is a must see. We had so much fun bicycling the Carriage Roads yesterday we decided to try for an encore performance. The ride we enjoyed this morning was pretty, but not nearly as breathtaking as yesterday. Then we rode over seven stone bridges, today only one. Ironically, the ranger advised us that today’s ride was easier – uh, not so much. A LOT of uphill. We headed out of the park and immediately saw a wine tasting sign at Bar Harbor Winery, Sweet Pea Farm. Considering there aren’t any grapes from here we were curious to see what wines they offered. We opted not to do the grape wine tastings since they were all from imported European juice. Instead we tasted an apple wine (quite good – close to a Pinot Griggio), blueberry wine (so-so, dry but flavorless) and an apple-currant wine (good dessert wine). We drove about 1 ½ miles further and came upon Bar Harbor Brewery. Since Ned was a good sport about the wine tasting, it was only fair to give beer tasting equal time. Once again they featured blueberry ale (which in Ned’s opinion was pretty awful), ginger beer, and a dark porter. Ned was not too impressed and since we were both getting a bit of a buzz on by then (it was not yet lunch) we decided to push on…We finally got off the island and took a totally obscure backroad down a couple of Maine peninsulas. We found a VERY off the beaten track lobster shack, near Penobscot, and decided to partake. For the second day in a row, I went for a lobster roll, but added onion rings while Ned ventured onto a haddock sandwich. Delish! We continued down the coast stopping frequently to see harbors and villages. (Ned did manage to finally taste a whoopee pie. Now we just have to find a Moxie soda). The stately homes and upscale B&B’s on the coast are a lot more tony than the double-wides of inland Maine. We are currently camped at Camden State Park and enjoying the free wi-fi. Great chance to get caught up on email and have some downtime. Yes, I do have a fine glass of California wine poured (thank goodness) and Ned is sampling some Canadian beer that was smuggled across the border. Mmm – what kind of day is this when you start out AND end up imbibing in a nip or two? Ah, vacation.