Bar Harbor, Maine

The drive from Boston to Bar Harbor was long but quite scenic. The homes are very New England looking, some with very expensive real estate, pristine yards, craggy shorelines and more pine trees than I expected to see. Bar Harbor is the most easterly place in the U.S. to see sunrise. 

Bar Harbor is a town located in Hancock, Maine. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a popular tourist destination and home to the College of the Atlantic Laboratory. In addition it is home to the largest parts of Acadia National Park including Cadillac Mountain. which is the tallest mountain on the Atlantic coast north of Brazil. Spiraling upwards did make my stomach lurch as the driver had to honk around every curve to make sure traffic coming down would see us. I was happy to be sitting on an inner aisle seat!
The panoramic views are unparalleled as we rose above the treetops.

South Beach, Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park offers a variety of activities which include: fishing, horseback riding, museums, hiking, kayaking and rock climbing. The water is too frigid to swim in no matter which month of the year it is. 
One of the park's earliest benefactors was John D.Rockefeller, millionaire industrialist and philanthropist who later planned NY Rockefeller Center. Over a 27 year span he built a system of carriage roads crisscrossing his property, most of which he later donated to the park. Linking the 45 miles of carriage roads were a series of beautiful bridges built with local granite and cobblestones. Today most of these carriage roads are still in use for hikers, carriage rides and horseback riders.
The following pictures are from a boat ride with a naturalist presentation. Some views were breathtaking especially with the homes situated along the craggy rocks.

Moxie's popularity in the New England region was increased in its heyday by a ubiquitous radio endorsement from Red Sox slugger Ted Williams. Yes, it's now full of high fructose corn syrup like every other Coke product (it was purchased by Coca-Cola in 2007), but it's still worth a try just once, to see how strange the flavor really is.  I want to tell you its the weirdest soda I've ever tasted. Moxie bills itself as "Distinctively Different." It's like a cola flavored with anise (licorice) 

Originating as a medical tincture, the soda was invented by Dr. Augustin Thompson ME, as a cure-all that did not include cocaine or alcohol, as many did at the time. The secret ingredient, now known to be gentian root, gives the soda its unique flavor -- some say bitter, some say it tastes like bubble gum. Quite the unique beverage.






Next posting: An amazing lobster dinner with Fred, and I don't even eat lobster but it was the entertainment.