I know that I've heard tons about Acadia National Park. I see it written on t-shirts and sweatshirts and tote bags all over New England, and I know "it's so gorgeous."

I am now a devotee, and will tell everyone in the world that they MUST GO, and that they MUST spend at least 7 days, if not 10 or 14.

We went for a hike. I believe it was the best hike I've ever been on in my life. It was a very rocky hill that we were climbing, and the trail head was off the beach ... a sandy flat beach full of screaming kids and sunning adults (who apparently haven't heard of skin cancer yet). It twisted and turned around a hill, giving a 200 degree (or more) view of ocean, bays, and coves. The thing I loved the best, and what made it my favorite hike ever, was the rocks. It was a very rocky terrain, and was almost like we were climbing nature's staircase. Perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising that I loved this, since my machine of choice in the gym is the stairmaster, but this was so invigorating and wonderful. I was bounding up the paths as happy could be. I could have done much more of the same, but we were dealing with some time pressures. This was, after all, an exploratory trip, and not really a week's worth of languishing.

When we got back down to the beach I waded in the ICEY ocean for a bit before heading back to the car. We looked at the map for a little while to find the Hikes of our Future - and contemplated which were ones to take WITH the Things, and which we needed to work out doing alone. I think there's at least one that I may be doing ALONE. :)

We stopped at a few overlookes so I could drool over the waves crashing into cliffs and rocks below. I will post photos when I can. Until then, here's a link to someone else's photos.

We had lunch at a cafe which is oddly plunked down in hte center of the park. They're known for their pop-overs. That seemed a wee bit incongruous to us, but we enjoyed the pop overs and the sandwiches and the view - we sat on a screened-in porch overlooking a very large pond (which I would call a lake, but they call it a pond). They also had a gift shop, where we bought approx 400 post cards, a patch for Thing One's collection, and we started a collection of tourist pins for Thing Two.

We also randomly bought umbrellas. They are the kind that is made specifically to withstand high winds. As it turns out, Boston is the #1 windy-est city. I always thought that was Chicago, b/c of their little tag line, "The Windy City." But someone at work recently informed me that in fact, Boston is the city with the most wind ... as in, from the sky - whereas Chicago's reputation comes from its politicians -- not the weather. Some quick research shows that this is open to debate, but as someone who has had three umbrellas destroyed in less than 6 weeks, i'm willing to say that Boston gets the prize as the Windiest (weather-wise) City.

We then finished our drive through the park, and headed back to town to prep for our evening adventure, which is part III.

posted by Zuska @ 5:21 PM

2 Comments:

At Wednesday, July 05, 2006 1:35:00 PM, Anonymous said…

You mentioned in an earlier post that you've been to Portland, Oregon-- but I wonder if you've been to the Oregon Coast? From your gushing about the Maine coast, I think you would absolutely love it.
At Wednesday, July 05, 2006 6:21:00 PM, Zuska said…

I have *not* been to the Oregon coast. But a co-worker said the same thing to me the other day - that Maine reminds him of his home on the Oregon coast. HOpefully, some day, I'll make it back to that coast!!