Farewell, Acadia!

We’ve just returned from our annual two week vacation at the Northampton Beach Campground on Great Lake Sacandaga.  Managing to snag a reservation in this park is always difficult; reserving a waterfront site is even more so.  Diligence and perseverance are required, but the time and effort spent securing a campsite is well worth the effort.  Believe me, we exerted quite the effort.  Many days, there were four of us with fingers poised on the “Book Now” button on ReserveAmerica; at one point, all five of us were trying for one particular campsite.  No luck that time, but we did triumph – eventually.

A view of the inlet and on out to the lake from the kids' campsite

Ryan and Anya, our son and daughter-in-law, camped at their own site with our former travel trailer.  Our daughter, Kyra, was there briefly, as allowed by her work schedule.  Although Alan was the one to secure our waterfront campsite, we gave it to the kids.  The Jayco, with its big dinette window on the curb side, was better suited to take advantage of the site (and the sights) than our Outdoors RV trailer with its big windows on the back and street side.  We were camped across the road, but took full advantage of “the neighbors’” excellent location, dragging our camp chairs and our morning coffee over to their site without apology.  (They assured us we were always welcome.  Had we not been, I’m not sure that would have stopped us.)  The views of both the lake and the never-disappointing entertainment at the boat launch were spectacular!  The weather was not as cooperative as we would have liked, but a good time was had by all.  We enjoyed boating and biking, coffee around the campfire and kayaking.  There may or may not have been a couple of trips to the local ice cream stand.  The day of departure is a challenge for all of us, because nobody wants to leave.  Whining, complaining and sniffling are not uncommon occurrences, and we all drag our feet when saying goodbye to the lake.  Now that we’re home, with the laundry done and the bills paid, let’s get back to our adventures in Maine over the Memorial Day weekend.

Acadia National Park - Dining Our Way Across Mt. Desert Island

Just the thought of spending any time over Memorial Day weekend in the tourist town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island was enough to inject fear into Alan’s heart and mine.  Those of us who are “socially selective” tend to favor opportunities for solitude in our National Parks over holiday bedlam.  That was reason enough to leap out of bed at o’dark-thirty on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  Okay, let’s face it, we no longer “leap” anywhere.  But we were up and out early on our way to Café This Way.  Which way?  This way . . .

Acadia National Park - The Adventure Continues

In the summer of 2011, our family of four enjoyed our first ever visit to Acadia National Park in Maine.  At the time, our son, Ryan, was 17 and our daughter, Kyra, was 12.  (That awkward “tween” age would explain the response I received from Kyra when I asked the kids if I could post a particular photo of them in Bar Harbor – “Oh my God please no!”  That, my friends, is the reason I always ask first.)  My previous blog post covered some of Acadia’s history, the hiking trails we tackled and a bit about the carriage roads that we enjoyed biking.  This post details our experiences with water sports in the Park, our pilgrimage to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, some touristy fun around the town of Bar Harbor and a favorite tradition at The Jordan Pond House.