Bah Habah

We finished up our time in Maine with two weeks in a town called Bar Harbor, but nobody seems to call it that.  You see, when we were in Wells, I heard people with New York and Boston accents mention "Bah Habah" in conversation, and I thought it was just their accents.  But then later, I had a conversation with someone born and raised in Maine, and he said it the same way.  And he didn't even have an accent!

As we went on, we saw "Bah Habah" t-shirts, books, stores, and a license plate, too!  It made us think of our time in Arizona, when someone told me that a certain store was in "Preskit" and it took me a few blinks to figure out that they meant Prescott!  You know what they say:  When in Rome.  So we've taken to pronouncing it like people here do.

Bar Harbor (spelled correctly for the sake of you, reader) is a town on Mount Desert Island, in northeastern Maine.  It's quite unique in many ways!

One neat aspect is that it encompasses Acadia National Park, one of the most beautiful national parks in the country!  On the shuttle one day, I spoke with a man who has been coming to Bar Harbor for forty years.  He told me some of the island's history.  In 1901, an architect named Charles Eliot was bothered that a lot of the land in Maine was being bought up by private citizens.  He worried that soon the public wouldn't have access to the beauty of Mount Desert Island, so Eliot decided to figure out a way to protect the land and keep it open to everyone.  He took his concern to a group of wealthy summer residents, proposing that they buy up land on the island and donate it to be used as a protected park. People were in agreement and set about creating this national park all on their own. They had help down the road, but that's how it all began!  

Eliot lobbied that every resident should treat the entire island as if it were a park.  The man I spoke with on the shuttle told me that there are strict rules for business owners and residents, to keep the island from changing too much.  I have to say that they have taken the task seriously!  This island is an exceedingly charming and peaceful place to be.  Despite road construction and crowds, we still loved our time here and felt at ease. 

The island is filled with summer vacationers and would be difficult to get around if it wasn't for the wonderful free shuttle system.  The schedule runs like clockwork, so you can hop on and off anywhere on the island.  This made our stay in Bar Harbor so easy-going and stress free.  Having just come from a town that was very difficult to navigate through, we were so grateful for this convenience.

The kids and I went in to the Village Green on our first full day there.  We loved it so much, we were eager to drag Jeff back down one morning before work.  They have an ice cream shop called Ben & Bill's that makes THE BEST fresh ice cream we've ever had, plus some great restaurants and a lot of touristy shops.  There is also a park and a few other neat things down there.  The kids loved seeing the boats down by the docks.  There were a few enormous yachts as well that were neat to look at.

Jackson climbed trees while we waited for our shuttle back to the RV.

Another morning, we started at Sand Beach and hiked 3 miles to Otter Cliffs and back.  The first half of the trip was quiet and relaxing because we got there so early, but on the way back we met a few big shuttle drop-offs of people.

Leaving Sand Beach for the trail.

I can't remember what he was telling me and I think it was something that I wanted to include in this post.  Hopefully I will remember later...

I do remember why I took this photo, though.  Jackson said, "Look, Mom!  The water looks like it's filled with paparazzi!"

The three hiking amigos.  They always hike together in a pack.  Makes me smile.

And Jackson is my exploring partner!

If you look closely, you can see the beach we started at in the background.

On another day, we did a nature walk and visited the Carroll Homestead.  We had a fun talk with a ranger who is stationed in Maine.  She helped us to identify the conifer tree that was dropping weird looking pinecones all over the area (Eastern White Pine) and also shared an insider tip with us!  She said that most people have no idea how amazing Bar Harbor is in the winter, and don't visit.  Most everything shuts down except a few stores and restaurants that stay open for year-round residents.  I guess cross-country skiing is perfect here and it's a peaceful winter wonderland.  Prices on rentals and rooms also drop drastically after summer time.  Maybe we'll visit again one day, and have a winter adventure!

My camera had another SD card dilemma!  I literally only got a few close-up photos of the forest before it acted up.  But if you've ever wanted to know what kinds of plants grow in Maine--and, I mean, who hasn't--then you've come to the right place!  Haha.

We also stopped by Echo Lake so Jackson could swim.  He took a quick dip in and decided it was too cold to swim without a wetsuit!  It was a pretty place for our picnic lunch and we enjoyed the stop.

On a related note, we're in the market for a wetsuit that will fit this growing weed--I mean, boy.  He is currently a size 12/14, but who knows how long that will last.  His feet are bigger than mine and he's back to eating double meals, so we might be better off locating a 14/16!  If you have a used wetsuit you'd like to sell us, message me.

We were expecting some rain in the evening and it came in as we made our way back to the RV.  Look at the line it made in the sky!

We finally did it.  We tried all the things.  We had fresh Maine lobster, steak, and crab, and decided that...

WE DON'T LIKE SEAFOOD!

It's too much work and not very good.  It isn't awful, but for the price and all the effort, you'd hope it would taste better, right?  I don't know.  To each his own.  We'll stick with pizza and burgers for our treat meals.

We walked along the land bridge to Bar Island one afternoon at low tide.  I kind of thought that the kids wouldn't be able to appreciate the fact that they were walking on something that is normally under water, and I was right.  It just felt like a beach walk.  Neat shells and sea critters, though!

This bee couldn't fly because of his heavy pollen load.  He kept trying but couldn't make a lift off.

After our walk, we relaxed in the park and looked out at the ocean.

Jeff and I got out for a date one night.  We ate at a restaurant called Blaze, which serves these yummy duck fat fries with garlic aoli.  We really liked the atmosphere here.

The docks at sunset.

And that wraps up another two weeks!  School and work keep us pretty occupied these days.  I am still working through reading Megan's books, and she's catching up to me quickly.  She has also been plugging away with a new art style that she's excited about, and Jordan has been reading a ton. Jackson made friends with a boy in our new park, so he has been busy with games of hide-and-seek, freeze tag, and all manner of boy-adventuring.  The people next to us now are a Christian, homeschooling family with three kids.  Imagine that!  I had a chance to visit with the mom the other day and really enjoyed her company.  I hope we get to spend more time together over the course of this week.  I have been feeling rather poorly since we left Bar Harbor.  Coming to Cape Cod brought the return of bad sinus pressure headaches and breathing issues.  So that's no fun.  I hope the next area we visit isn't moldy. It makes me want to lay in bed with a pillow over my eyes instead of getting out and exploring.  Oh well.  Jeff has been working hard in his free time to brush up on upper math skills and learning as much as he can to help his company with new projects.  I don't understand much of it, but I do know that man never stops learning!

Love and miss you all!

I'm thankful that my boy has been able to swim as much as he wants in pools, lakes, rivers, and oceans across America.  Kind of cool, really.