Maine Stay

Photos by H. Darr Beiser

Sunrise this morning

We mostly stayed in the Park, but one morning we took a drive to the Petit Manan Hollingsworth Trail, a wildlife refuge, outside of Stueben, Maine. This is a  “trails to sails” kind of place. As you walk through the reserve you come upon the rocky coastline, and a couple of Adirondack chairs invite you to enjoy the view of Chair Pond.  What was missing was wildlife. I saw nary a sign of life, unless we served as representatives of the wild life. Perhaps at one time.

Petit Manon--on Chair Pond

At the Steuben Country Store, I bought two pocket Kleenex, one protein bar, and one roll of Tums (blame the fried clams). The cashier rung it up for a total of $3.23. What? I know the cost of living is different here, but wouldn’t the Tums alone cost $3 anywhere else? I wanted to rename it the Stupid Country Store.

Schoodic Point

Then we went to less populated east side of Acadia, to the shining gem of Schoodic Point. Oh my, oh my, all the glory of open oceanfront with hardly any people and views from here to Portugal. Serene, divine.

Lobster at home

We cooked lobsters at home three times. I think lobsters taste better at home. Or maybe it's the fact that no one is tying a bib around your neck and asking you if you need help shelling the lobster. Me, need help shelling my lobster? Plus, you can go a little wild throwing the shells around, dribbling butter down your chin, and getting schmutz on your clothes.

We discovered the Travelin’ Lobster. This was the casual, counter-service, owned-by-a-lobsterman-who pulls-his-catch-straight-out-of-the sea, place we have been searching for. Your lobster dinner (cooked in seawater) includes mussels and corn on the cob and is served in a tin pail.

I joined the the Jessup Memorial Library, because I know my way around a week at the beach. That way you can check out DVDs far superior to the dreaded Red Box. I got us Will You Ever Forgive Me, I Tanya, Five Easy Pieces, and The Danish Girl. I also picked up All the Kings Men, I knew it had gotten bad reviews, but have you ever seen a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 12%? We all make mistakes.

Perfect popover at the Pond

Jordan Pond

We had a delightful day at Jordan’s Pond, we hiked the Asticou Trail, 5 miles, in order to earn our delicious order (2 each) of popovers at the Jordan Pond House. Then to counteract the popovers, we hiked the Jordan Pond Trail pond (4 miles).

Long Pond

One morning we hiked the trail at Long Pond (also called Great Pond).  I don’t think I’ve ever been so completely removed from civilization. This is what silence sounds like and isolation feels like and nature looks like in the raw.

At home we have the daily thrall of stunning views of sunset and the sunrise, right here from the living room. Why drive up to Cadillac Mountain when you can hold your coffee cup and turn your head to the right for sunrise and to the left for sunset?

The Ovens

One of the advertised features of our cottage was it being in “walking distance of the Ovens.” Sounds kind of ominous. Well I guess they are some sort of geological wonderment, but they just looked like caves to us. The Ovens, described as “curious craggy cavities” are made up of vertical fractures and inclined faults. Aren’t we all?

From Bar Island

We had a townie day. We started with the hike up Bar Island. We proceeded around the Shore Path which is magnificent and has lovely benches from which to contemplate the wonders of life, the infinity of the sea, the stars and sky.  But instead we spent the time judging the cruise ship, The Norwegian Gem, a blight of a sight that the Rockefellers surely never intended for the perambulators on the Shore Path.

Had breakfast at the delightful 2 Cats.  But what’s up with the cats wearing sombreros, and serving the 2 Cats Hot Sauce, consisting of five peppers and hot as hell? Aren’t we in Maine? Meow.

We had a date night, starting with dinner at Testa's. Darr got his steamahs, and I had halibut almondine, and an appetizer of “calamari fries,” a gimmick in which the squid was cut into the shape of fries. Really? Give me my tentacles next time. We went to the ever-delightful ImprovAcadia, and had a cone at Mount Desert Ice Cream.

From the top of Beehive-Sand Beach and Great Head

For our finale day, I went on a four-mile run so that I could earn a day at the beach. Darr hiked the Beehive Loop Trail and Great Head Trail while I plunged into the 58-degree Atlantic Ocean. We each had our acts of bravery. I was the only one who fully went into the water at Sand Beach, I was expecting a camera crew to interview me when I got back to my chair. But no, I was an unsung hero.

It was once said that you can work or you can work on tan. In my youth I worked on tan at Old Orchard Beach. And here is how the day would go, hit the beach by late morning, place your chair facing the sun, which is coming at you full force from the ocean, throughout the day gradually turn your chair in order to achieve even tanning, so that by the end of the afternoon, when your back is to the ocean, you know it's time to go to happy hour. Intersperse the tanning with dips into the ocean, get tossed around by the waves, and battered by the surf to be reminded of who’s really in charge. The most common description for a dip in the Atlantic Ocean is "bracing." Bracing like getting your braces on or off, or having to wear a leg brace. But it’s really more like three espresso shots to the heart.

Here are some things I did on vacation that I can’t do at home: read a whole book, finish a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, sleep more than 8 hours a night, eat potato chips whenever I want, not wear make up, let my manicure go to hell, go almost meatless, approach the day without deadlines and urgency, experience nature and silence and the boundless beauty of the ocean.  

And according to the Maine slogan, that's the way life should be.