Downeast Digest: Days 4 & 5

Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9

The last two days have been some pretty extreme weather–the most solid, nonstop downpour I've ever seen. But like Ulysses Everett McGill, we're adventurers, so out we go. We spent both days driving the park, seeing Southwest Harbor, Northeast Harbor, and the "quiet side" of Mt. Desert Island.

Saturday we stopped at an antique shop in a cute little town, Somesville, where I picked up a few books and Steve bought an antique printer's advertiser's block for a drugstore called Hays Drugstore. We ate lunch at a funny little restaurant called Downeast House of Dogs, which had like a blue million different types of hotdogs. I had an Italian dog, Steve had a Texas dog, and Rosie went for a plain old corndog. Then we headed into Bar Harbor to walk around a bit. We wound things up early because of the rain, and stayed in our motel and ordered a pizza.

Sunday we headed out to Bar Harbor again, and took a detour into the park on our way there. Steve wanted to eat at a place called 2 Cats for brunch, and we had a really long wait (over an hour) to get a seat. This was the day we were supposed to go on our puffin and whale watching trip, but the sea was too rough and the trip was cancelled. After fortifying ourselves with a hearty meal, we went back into the park.

We saw some deer and the rivers of water pouring over the hills were beautiful. There were a few flooded out areas that we couldn't pass through. But we decided that if there was ever a good time to see Thunder Hole, today was the day. We bundled up and the wind and rain whipped us, but the ocean did not disappoint. Boy, was it thundering and spewing today!

We drove on to Northeast Harbor, and the rain lessened a bit. There were lots of lobster boats out. On our way there, we stopped at Otter Point, and a seal popped up out of the water briefly. Rosie was the first to spot him, but he only made the one appearance.

We stopped for a few photos in various spots, then headed back to Ellsworth. It's dark here by 6 pm, so sightseeing ends early. On the way back, we detoured at a couple of antique shops so Rosie and I could browse. Then back to the motel to rest and freshen up. We ate a light dinner at The Mex in Ellsworth, then came back to the Twilite. Steve downloaded and edited photos, I read, and Rosie got to watch Monsters Inc on the Disney Channel. It was almost like being home.