In mid-September, we returned to Acadia National Park for the first time since our first year on the road and it didn’t disappoint. In 2017, Suzanne was fresh off foot surgery and we were unable to do any real hiking. This time we had the chance to see a lot of the Park. Susie and Dean Hereford joined us while we were there to make a great trip even better.
Although there were no cruise ships coming into Bar Harbor because of COVID-19, the park was quite full, with a fair number of people on the more popular trails. By and large, most were wearing masks and distancing whenever possible, but there were enough without that we tried to hike trails that were “off the beaten track”. We hiked and biked both sides of Desert Island as well as the Schoodic Peninsula. The park is absolutely beautiful with great water views and vistas around every turn. Also, we tried to eat enough lobster to get sick of it, but failed on the “getting tired” part. Also, modest amounts of quality vino were consumed as well.
After the Herefords departed, we relocated a couple of hours south to Camden, Maine. The attraction here was hiking in Camden Hills State Park and experiencing the wonders of the Penobscot Bay. The hiking was mildly strenuous (by our standards), but full of great scenery and views. It seemed like every trail went uphill to a magnificent outlook over the Bay.
Camden is a scenic New England town with a beautiful harbor. It’s a great place to chill and features the Sea Dog Brewery in the middle of town as well as dozens of cool shops. It’s like Bar Harbor, only smaller, quainter, and less touristy. Our campground was a few miles down the road in Rockport. Rockport is even higher on the “quaintness scale” and smaller than Camden. The harbor was full of lobster boats. Both towns were visible from many of the Camden Hills SP trail peaks as an almost-aerial view. During our stay, we continued our quest to over-eat lobster. We spent an evening on Spruce Head Island at Mc Loon’s Lobster Shack (with the best lobster rolls in the area!) and watched the lobster boats come in with their daily catch. The whole Camden stop was just memorable! We’d go back in a heartbeat.
