This is a little record of my stay in Maine, mostly so I remember where I went and what I did. And if you can live vicariously through a little Maine adventure, cool. And if you end up seeing some of these spots and enjoying yourself, rad. And if you just give this a miss, no prob, Bob. But I just really need this week of vacation and I’m so grateful that I had the means to make it happen. I really needed to get away for a bit. Just away from my actual life. What a grown-up reason to vacation. That’s a little sad, I think, but the vacation is happy so that works.
I departed Vermont Sunday morning with the intention of stopping in Portland, which was almost exactly halfway to my destination, for lunch and doughnuts. In the event, I walked around Portland a little and just got doughnuts. Holy Donut, potato doughnuts, not my favorite genre but they were certainly good! I got a small variety so that I could enjoy them then and also have a couple the next day as a birthday treat.
Portland is a cute little city. I didn’t see a whole lot of it but there was a nice little historic downtown area with the sort of well-kept or recently renovated old houses (lots of brick, I approve) that one might expect. It was pretty touristy in a not-very-appealing way, particularly around the old port, but it was fine. Didn’t exactly impress but made for a very pleasant stroll, most of the way. And the doughnuts were tasty.
I arrived at my Airbnb in Hancock without difficulty mid-afternoon, headed into Ellsworth for the evening. Sat in a park by water and read for a while before going to dinner, had a Cornish pasty (or at least, what tried very hard to be and did a decent enough job of it) at Airline Brewing.
Also, this is totally an aside but I just had to say it somewhere. There’s a whole region of Maine and maybe sometimes Maritime Canada (the region’s a little fuzzy depending on who you ask and in what context, as many such terms are) called “Downeast” and I don’t like that at all. Apparently, it comes from sailing, which makes me feel better, but it’s still weird to me.
Monday morning, refusing to battle Acadian crowds on my birthday, I took the recommendations of a friend and headed further up the coast. I drove all the way to Lubec, which is at the Canadian border, on US 1 (which was just sort of fun for me) and then took the scenic route back, stopping to hike at a few places. The day started very foggy–enough that I couldn’t see half of the quite short bridge to Canada. It was very Maine vibes, I felt.
First, I went right out of Lubec to West Quoddy Head where there is a little lighthouse and some little trails. Very pretty, very fog aesthetic, good start. Started to get muggy and hot as I was leaving but I survived it. From there I headed to Boot Head Preserve (Maine seems to be into preserves–not government run parks but privately owned preserves that are public land? Not certain how it works but it’s odd to me, whatever works though). Boot Cove had a cute little beach and then a really deeply lovely walk along the coastal bluffs. The fog was starting to break a bit and it was superb.
My next stop along the coast was the Cutler Preserve which featured, surprise, additional coastal bluffs. Kind of Maine’s whole thing. But they are extremely pretty so I’m not mad about it. I didn’t go super far on this trail because I was hot and gross and a little tired and couldn’t fine any milage labeled on the trail but I still managed a pretty good hike.
I returned to my home base area, got dinner from the Steamy Buddha (a nice sandwich with bacon) and ate in the same park reading the same book and it was lovely.
Tuesday morning, I still didn’t want to see crowds (I had luckily not seen too many people on my adventures thus far) so headed to some more nearby preserves. Started with Taft Point in Gouldsboro, I was the first one there! Another wonderful, foggy walk by the sea. No bluffs there but that just meant I could actually touch the water a bit. I really love the sea.
Then I backtracked a little to the Tidal Falls Preserve in Hancock– a cool place where the water is very narrow indeed and the push and pull of the tides creates almost a sort of rapids in the channels beside this little island in the middle of a very small channel.
I continued down to Hancock Point and Carter’s Beach, more of these lovely granite beaches with such interesting rock patterns and lots of kelp and seaweed.
My last main plan of the day was a visit to Lamoine Beach, directly across from Mount Desert Island. We had a sudden fog bank roll in a quickly disappear, but it remained pretty windy. It is a lovely, sandy beach, but the park is pretty small–there’s a state park just up the road but I didn’t bother with it, I imagine it’s much the same.
I also took a little stop at Egypt Bay (because I could not not), an arm of the Mount Desert Narrows within walking distance of my accommodation. Then I headed back into Ellsworth to a) get my National Park pass for Wednesday b) visit Big Chicken Barn antiques and books, because why not, and c) get dinner.
Wednesday, I was on the road at 6:00 to try and see if I could manage some nice non-crowd time at Acadia National Park (everyone in New England seems to know that it’s pretty and also extremely crowded all summer {I guess unsurprising when it’s the only national park in the region and it gets a lot of Boston and New York vacations, along with everyone else}). Please bear in mind, I use the term “mountain” in what follows because that’s what things are called, not because I endorse any of these features to bear the name.
I wasn’t super intent on anything specific in the park so I didn’t mind totally missing some of the major attractions in favor of other hikes that I was confident would still be pretty and probably more enjoyable for me. To start with, I went for the trail to Parkman Mountain-Gilmore Peak-Sargent Mountain. Sargent is, I believe, the second tallest point on the island and, since the tallest is both extremely popular and also has a road to the top, I was perfectly happy with my view of Cadillac (and actually much of the island) from Sargent. It was a pretty difficult hike, lots of ups and downs, but a pretty one. Cute, pink granite everywhere, the scent of balsams, views of water, nice trees, all around good times.
After collecting myself for a sec in the parking lot (wow was I grateful to have gotten a parking spot; there was only one other vehicle when I arrived at 6:40 and when I left, cars were parked along the road for quite a ways–and this was the less popular side), I headed to Beech Mountain. A very brief, hot, crowded hike for which I was one parked on the side of the road a ways away from the parking lot. But it was a lovely little mountain and some neat views from a little fire tower one could climb up just a little ways.
From there, I only had a couple more places I had decided to check out so I got driving. I stopped along the Seawall for some more beachy time and to have salt water in my life intimately again. I love the sea. Then I headed to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse which involved a long wait in the car (no roadside parking allowed) and in the event, wasn’t all that interesting.
The last thing I wanted to do before heading out was stop in Bar Harbor, the main town on the island (there are other towns, intermixed with the park, it was all a little settled-feeling, not my typical National Park experience heretofore but that’s neither here nor there).
Anyway, I learned that some French guy called it the island of deserted mountains because the tops are mostly bare granite, so that’s why it’s called Mount Desert Island (there is a Mount Desert, it’s a pretty small one, not sure how they picked that one). Bar Harbor was cute but so, and I cannot emphasize this enough, crowded. Now, it’s not like it was Disneyland and people were seriously packed it. But it was a lot more than I found at all enjoyable and it was compounded by there being a lot of cars because it’s kind of hard to get to even though they have a bus system that seems decent (I had wanted to take it onto the island but my desire to head out super early won that debate).
Anyway again, cute town, lots of people, got some wild blueberry things because Maine is super into that, I’ve learned, had a little walk, got food, headed back to dear old Hancock for some leftover pizza and time to relax.
Tomorrow, the current plan is one more preserve hike in Hancock (Old Rail), driving over to the Schoodic peninsula which is part of the National Park on the mainland, and then heading to Augusta for the night. I’m hoping it’ll be some lovely nature and a fond farewell to the sea for another while. And then hopefully a nice afternoon/evening in a new-to-me state capital.
This vacation was so needed, I’m so glad I could have my birthday time away from work and life and everything. Moving will still be madness but it’ll be over quickly and that’ll be that. I’m refusing to look forward much because I just don’t want to and that’s okay. Christmas will be here soon enough and that’ll be nice. Something to get me through to December. And then I guess I’ll need to plan my next time to get away and pretend that’s all there is–away.
Journeyman 