FINAL THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD

We’re on Hiway 29 in VA headed toward Danville.  We think we can push through to Charlotte this afternoon.  So what haven’t we said in the blog?

• ·      Dave wanted me to make the case that nothing is really “wrong” with Bessy.  Like us, she’s just beginning to show her age.  Mechanically she seems sound and with only 68,000 miles she should have a long life to go.  (We got her at @38,000)  But we are beginning to wonder what will break next.  So far it’s all cosmetic things… things coming unglued, loose screws, the numbers and letters in the gearshift (lol) etc.  We've started lusting over some of the smaller units, but Bessy still has a lot of room, storage, and appeal, especially with all of our personal touches… the wine rack, internet technology, art, etc.  Where would we put it all?… and wanting to take the granddaughters out, it seems counter intuitive to put more people in a smaller space.
• ·      Usually at this point I include some of my lists I’ve made for fun… I had a great list of names of lobster shacks (I do remember my favorite:  “The Tourist Trap”) and I had a great list of BBQ places, many using Dave or David… but the jerk who did the smash and grab of my purse got my journal.
• ·      At almost every stop we've said that we could come back and stay there a week or more.  We left many things unseen and undone.  Virginia Beach would be a great family outing, and the Eastern Shore has many unexplored towns, history, and ecological features.  I’d still like to do the zip line at Lum’s Pond in Delaware.  I think we explored the Inner Harbor in Baltimore well, but I could spend a whole day in the American Visionary Museum in a heartbeat.  I want to come back for the Kinetic Race in May that the museum sponsors.  It’s already on my calendar. Liberty Harbor would be a great anchor for exploring NYC and with new found friends in the region; it’s a no-brainer.  There will always be more to do in Boston, Portland and Bar Harbor and many unexplored towns along the way.  The Hudson River Valley and Hyde Park have much to offer, and still “owes” me a sculpture park, not to mention the Catskills that we just blew through.  Pennsylvania and Ohiopyle are ripe with white water rafting and mountain hiking along with “behind the scene” tours of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  The history surrounding Harper’s Ferry is amazing and we still have about 220 miles of biking/segwaying paths there we didn’t see. And of course we only scratched the surface exploring wineries and breweries everywhere!
• ·      Dave is still talking about Adroit Theory Brewery and wonders is Charlotte is ready for a brewery specializing in doubles, triples, and sours at a higher price point.  mmmmmm
• ·      Next time we make this trip, we definitely will have to order an EZ Pass for the tolls.  We were nearly stripped of our cash several times, as the toll booths don’t take credit cards.  Unfortunately the RV pass has to be mailed to you, and not bought “on the spot.”
• ·      Southern Hospitality is NOT over-rated.  It would take some time to get used to the abruptness of New England Yankees, where rules seem to be more important than cordiality.  In the South, our rules tend to be “suggestions” and we are always open to making the exception.
• ·      One rule the Yankees have right though, is that pedestrians have the right of way.  Folks are quick to stop if you are in the white lines of a cross walk, and they often put crosswalks in the middle of the block when the blocks or long, or the crossings are popular.
• ·      Bringing along a crock pot was a great idea.  I made chili one day and a pot roast another.  It does take staying in one place for a day, however!
• ·      I didn’t finish my license plate game…Hawaii, North Dakota, Wyoming, Oregon (surprised by that one), and Nevada are still out there, unseen by me.  We’ve decided there must not be much to do in Michigan or Ohio… those people never stay home!
• ·      But you meet folks from your hometown EVERYWHERE… at an ice cream shop in Portland we realized that everyone in there at that point in time was from NC…The 10 “wineos” and 2 families traveling together from Chapel Hill.  Then I asked a random guy to take my picture at Fallingwater and he was a Davenport from Newberry!
• ·      We just passed a sign (near Lynchburg) for a Watermelon WINE Festival…. That really sounds completely awful!!  I guess all the other festivals have been taken!!  OK… I come from near Sally that has the Chitlin Strut, so I guess I can’t talk.  And then there’s the Possom Drop… Watermelon wine is sounding better all the time!!
• ·      We’ve gotten pretty good at this camping “thing”.  Setting up and breaking down is almost second nature.  We’ve learned what to pack, and how much food we can put in the fridge.  Though we’re still amazed that we can lose things in 300 square feet!
• ·      Last night, around the campfire, we talked about where we’d like to go next…except for taking the girls to “Gramp Camp” at Cherokee in a couple of weeks, the jury is still out, discussions and negotiations continue…

 When we got home, Mollie had supper waiting for us in our kitchen and Mike had saved us a parking spot for Bessy.  It is nice to be home where we know our neighbors and nothing feels better than your own shower and bed!

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• Stay tuned….  

FOUR STATES IN FOUR MILES!

Since Bessy had trouble pulling Bert UP the mountain, we decided we did not want Bert pushing Bessy DOWN the mountain, so we drove separately to I-68.  Even there we had some interesting climbs and down inclines.  Then as we came down I-70 within four miles we left Pennsylvania, and came through Maryland, West Virginia, and Virgina, and then back to WVA!!!  We are staying at Harper's Ferry KOA right beside the National Park... However, we decided to do the hysterical instead of the historical... though a little history seeped in....

Tracy and Clay had given us their "tasting notes" from their trip here, so after we settled in, we decided to try out a few of "their" wineries and breweries.  Here are OUR tasting notes:

Breaux - (Tracy and Clay gave it 6.5 on views and 7.5 for wine.  They liked it.)... Us?  not so much.  But I think it was because it was SO CROWDED that we had to taste in an overflow area and our pourer was pretty harried.  And Glenn,... they really need you up here, man!  The glasses were not even good Libby's!!  They were very small footed teardrop glasses that did not allow you to smell much of anything!  That said, the wines were mediocre and may have been better with fewer folks and better glasses... obviously they are doing well and folks like their wine!  It was a very pretty place and they obviously do a booming wedding business... if only they didn't have numerous bachelorette parties on Saturday afternoon!!

The arbor at Hillsborough was cool and pretty.

Hillsborough - (T&C gave the view an 8 and the wine 7.5) This was a big winery too but a little less crowded and we bought  a rousanne that we thought would be fun to compare with the NC versions and one called Bloodstone that used Fer Servadou grapes, a varietal we were not familiar with, and it was supposed to be like a Malbec.  It was interesting enough to buy a bottle and bring home for folks to try.

Adroit Theory Brewery - We were blown away here!  They have all "big" (read potent 7% alcohol and much higher) beers.  Dave and I each got a 3 part taster and we liked them all!  Unfortunately several were not available for home purchase.  They had one called Bloody Roots that was supposed to mimic a bloody mary.  I didn't think so... but it was very good.  My favorite was the Love of the Damned that was brewed with syrah grape must.  Dave liked the Imperial Saison named Fear is Your Only God and the G/I/A/A named Ghost that was an Imperial IPA.  Their experimental Belgian IPA made with local peaches was interesting but too sweet.  Dave bought 3:  G/I/A/A, Fear is Your Only God and a B/A/Y/S that was bourbon barrel aged.  They have a beer club like a wine club (I keep telling David that should be his next business!!) and that last beer was only available to "Black Heart Society" members.  However Dave befriended a member and they got it for him!!

After all of that we needed FOOD and again Tracy and Clay helped us out.  They had suggested Magnolias and it too was amazing!  We had an appetizer called cuban pork nachos.  The nachos were actually plantain chips (green plantains sliced and quick fried) with great pulled pork seasoned with cilantro, black beans, and sour cream.  We could have made that a meal, but we also tried the mushroom truffle burger and fried green tomatoes which were also terrific!!  Our waiter looked like a young Gomez Addams from the Addams' Family!! 

As we were coming out of the restaurant, we noticed a bike trail and as we learned it was the Washington and Old Dominion Bike Trail and went for 45 miles all the way to Arlington, VA with a connector into DC.  We took it for about an hour on our Segways and really  had alot of fun.  It connected to many neighborhoods and was being used by bikers and walkers.  It was built on the old W and OD train tracks.  What a great idea to use defunct tracks like that!!

Back at the campground, we talked to John and Chris who were camping in a tiny clam shell camper and shared a bottle of wine and fire with them.  They work in DC and are experimenting with camping and we had traveled to some of the same places, and their experiences in Guam were very interesting.

We started our day out with a segway ride on the C & O (Chesapeake and Ohio) Canal towpath.  The National  Park Service maintains 185 miles as a linear park.  It is a perfect walking/bike/segway path (and the Ranger "blessed" our segways as "legal"...lol).  We rode to the first set of locks and explored a caretaker's house.  You can actually stay in them.  I've been reading in the paper a lot lately about how Charlotte should be more bike friendly and if can we learn many things from other bike friendly towns (ie. Minneapolis).  Our experience on this trip has been that there are MANY places waaaay ahead of us in this arena.  When I first visited Boston almost 40 years ago, I remember my cousin telling me that the traffic was so bad because it was "where the NY cabbies came to train."  Well, I'm sure if you drove it now it would still be a challenge, but Dave and I were able to segway all over downtown.  We experienced the same thing in Baltimore, Harrisburg, PA, Acadia, ME, and now twice near Harper's Ferry.  One letter to the editor bemoaned the fact that we are putting more energy into greenways and he didn't want to be segregated there vs. bike lanes with car traffic.  Our experience on the segways is that we need BOTH.  The protected paths are really nice.  And when there are dedicated bike lanes, we felt "safe" in traffic.  What we really liked about the towpath and C&O path were the mix of generations they attracted:  retirees, avid twentysomething "jocks" and families.

Segwaying on the tow path to the C & O Canal

David at the locks

Deb and Dave at the lock keeper's house

Fabbioli - This was the last of T&C's recommendations (view 6.5 wine 7.0) that we visited and it reminded us of Rustle in Oregon in that they did small (read tiny!) bites and paired the wine with food.  The tasting was very relaxed and our "wine educator" only had us in her group. We bought an Una Pera which was a pear wine but unlike most fruit wines, this was very dry.  We also bought a Tennant that was pared with salami and garlic cheese.  We think they will be interesting to share.  We considered their Chardonnay which was very oaky, but a little too sweet for Deb's taste.

Fabbioli Winery

Now it was time to explore some wineries on our own and bring Clay and Tracy some new places to visit (and hopefully our wino friends too!)

Notavina - This was suggested to us by the pourer at Fabbioli.  We were once again lamenting that our big fat noses wouldn't fit in their glasses and we struck up a very congenial conversation with their winery manager.  He gave us a tour and we regaled him with stories of filling our bar and deck tables with wine glasses to find the perfect glass for each wine, and how we discovered salt water submerged wines at Demetria.  We bought another Chambourcin (ok so we'll have a side by side by side by side!!) and a Blaufrankisch which is an Austrian wine, often called Lemberger on the West coast.

By now we again needed some food, so we stopped in at a BBQ joint, the owners of Adroit Theory suggested:  Monk's. David bonded with the owner as we discussed SC vs. NC BBQ sauce (they had both, but the SC wasn't "mustardy" enough) and they had a Whiskey Blackberry Sauce that was terrific along with their smoked pastrami.  The owner began with a green egg, so he and Dave had much in common (and hopefully Dave did NOT get any ideas of starting a BBQ joint!).  

Two Twisted Posts - Here we met Ana the winemaker and her daughter in law served us.  A new winery, it is named for a Tavern in the 1700's that existed both in England and Virginia.  They found a pottery bottle on the property with the name and Ana, who is from England knew of the Tavern in London, so that is how this new winery came to be.  Frankly, they need to work on their marketing.  They kept apologizing for their wines as this is the first vintage they have released and 2011 was very rainy and did not produce the hearty varieties they expect to get with this year's release of the 2012 wines.  I was reminded of one of our trips to Paso when every pourer said, "200? was a really challenging year with cold, etc., but OUR winemaker was able to blend a really special wine!!"  Their wines had promise and we will need to visit them again to see how they have grown.  We did not buy anything there.

Cardadom - This was our last stop of the day.  Also a new micro winery, we were able to talk with the owners.  Their "gimmick" (their word!) was to pair the wine

with salsa.  They recently moved to the area from San Francisco where he was a "classically trained chef" (they said this several times!!).  Keith would have really liked the salsas... the wines?  Probably not.  LOL  Supposedly they only served whites because they sold out of their reds in just 4 weeks.  Perhaps it was good, I guess we'll never know. This might be a place to revisit to see how they've grown.  They are opening their tasting room after the 4th... now they were serving out of a tent. 

So now we have come just about to the end of our adventure.  We toyed with driving as far  as we could tonight so that we could finish up tomorrow.  And we sent our neighbors an email asking them to save a parking spot for Bessy.  But after all of the wine, we figured we needed one last campfire or two.  We aren't sure how far we will get tomorrow and plan to break the drive up into 2 days.  And to be nice to Bessy, we are taking 29/I-85 which is a little longer but flatter.

  

HOW TO GET OUT BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE IN 18 "EASY" STEPS!

Note to readers:  I posted 2 blogs today.... this one and the following one about the Frank Lloyd Wright Houses we toured.  That one will actually follow this.

1. Get to the campground tired and hungry after Bessy climbs over almost impossible mountains.
2. Decide to position the RV in a "unique" position on a very  private and MUDDY campsite, definitely designed for RV's smaller than 35 feet.  
3. Say, "But if no one comes next door, we can exit through their site."  Try it with Bert, the truck, it works great.
4. Come back to Bessy hot and tired from looking at Frank Lloyd Wright houses.
5. Check with the camp office and find out we can move to site with electricity AND someone is slated to move in next door.  Brighten when we get to the site, and they aren't there yet, but know we must hurry. 
6. Give Deb the walkie talkie... remind her to press the button to talk!
7. Make about an 8 point turn and head for the empty campsite... thinking you're home free.
8. Miss the fire ring by a hair..... oops there's a rock on the OTHER side...AND a tree that's about to take out the front mirror... Deb sees only the rock.
9. Think... "Gee, Bessy sure is wider than Bert!!"
10. Do ANOTHER 8 point turn trying to miss the rock and the tree.  Get RV wedged over the rock.
11. Critical Element:  Campers are notoriously helpful and one is watching from across the camp road.  He comes to help.
12. Brainstorm with him... you decide the best strategy  is to move the rock since we can't move the tree.
13. Both of you try to be "he men"... but the rock  wins the first round.
14. Helpful camper goes and gets a rope.
    
15. Deb goes and gets the truck, but makes David back it in and drive it.
16. With much straining, and mud-rutting, Bert moves the rock.
    
    
    
    
17. After thanking the helpful camper profusely, Dave pulls out and goes to a campsite with electricity where we can cool off with a little air conditioning in Bessy.
18. We recharge our computers, Dave fixes a drink and opens a bottle of wine for Deb, and we write this blog!

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

In Western Pennsylvania in the Bear Run Mountains near Ohiopyle State Park there are two Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  The most famous, Fallingwater was built by the Kaufmans, department store owners in Pittsburgh in the 30's.  By the 50's, their friends the Hagans, who owned a local dairy co-op and manufactured Hagan's Ice Cream, wanted a retreat nearby.  That became Kentuck Knob.

Dave and I began our day at Kentuck Knob.  It is a "double Unsonian" and is much cozier than Fallingwater, and it was easier to envision someone actually living in it.  At just over 2000 square feet, it has 3 bedrooms and is built into the "brow" of the hill rather than on top as a Wright statement of how our a house should compliment the site, rather than dominate it. They would not let us take pictures on the inside, but if you're interested, we bought picture books of both houses and we will be glad to share them when you visit us.  Dave's favorite feature was a "disappearing" window, that was placed in the living room with planters on either side and the glass disappearing into the rock facade so that you felt you really were outside.  Deb was delighted that we got to actually go into the kitchen and loved the Kitchenaide stove that had hinged burners and the stainless steel counter tops. She was intrigued by the concessions Wright made to Mrs. Hagan to have a basement, larger kitchen and dining room, and cork floor.  Outside, David loved the hexagon "holes" or skylights in the overhang to provide light.

The house is currently owned by a member of the House of Lords in London, and his art and influence was evident throughout the house.  Outside he has created a sculpture garden surrounding the house and in an adjoining meadow.  When the Hagans built the house in the 50's they had a view of the valley  over farm fields.  Mrs. Hagan planted over 9000 trees and now the house is in the woods.  David and I had fun exploring the sculptures and views through the woods and meadow.

Deb as part of the Red Army sculpture made of over 900 figures

An historic French public bathroom... it is a hole !!

Deb and David pretending to talk on the K-6 pay phones from London and Scotland

Part of the Berlin Wall... the 3rd piece we've seen this trip!

Deb trying to bite the apple sculpture

Fallingwater was Wrights iconic piece and was nominated as the 8th Wonder of the World, losing out to Macchu Picchu!!  Proposing that the house be built on top of the waterfall was a surprise to the Kaufman's but secured Wrights place as a master architect.  It is well known that the building after 75+ years has structural and water issues, but the docents all explained them away as "upkeep" and maintenance.  The stairway down to the stream in the living room was extremely impressive.  But since the house is built on top of the waterfall, it has limited views of it, only on certain terraces.  However, it can be heard and felt throughout the house.  It truly is the epitome of organic architecture with the house blending in, complimenting, and reflecting its natural environment.

Later in Ohiopyle, we enjoyed the waterfall

Stop & Dropping our Way to President Roosevelt AND the "Snatch and Grab"

We said good by to Belfast and the lobsters Sunday morning and began our day with a "climb" (by elevator) to the top of a great bridge in Maine.  It was sort of surprise, and that they put observation windows in it was amazing.  We could see several small towns and Fort Knox, an historical granite fort, but not THE Fort Knox.

Fort Knox, but not THE Fort Knox

From above

From Below

We then worked our way to Camden.  It had been described as an “artsy” town and I had high hopes but with only one or two exceptions, most the shops were just chotsky t-shirt places.  Keith told us that the inns in Bar Harbor had a buying cooperative for tableware, linens, etc.. I think the chostsky shops must have a buying co-op too… they all have the same thing!  The one gallery owner told me that most of the artists were moving to Rockland (darn).  As it was, we were late leaving for the Boston area, so another town was not in the picture, and I was about shopped out.

We barely got to Foxboro before dark.  We had decided to go back to Normandy Farms since it was so nice and it was ½ way to our next stop.  Traffic on I-95 removed all hope for the hot tub after supper, but we did get laundry done.  When you’re out for a month, sometimes you just have to take care of business!  With a 2 pm checkout the next morning, we were able to get some shopping and other chores done.

From there it was a long ride to Hyde Park, NY.  Thankfully this would be a 2 night stop and even more thankfully the KOA was one of the nicest we’ve ever seen.  KOA’s tend to be like Bojangles: you usually know what you’re going to get, but they can vary more than McDonalds.  And KOA’s usually cram as many sites onto the land as they can.  So it was a pleasant surprise to find a wide and deep heavily shaded lot.  In fact, it was so shaded; we had to turn our lights on by 6:30… quite a change from the late sunsets and early sunrises of Maine.  One should not have to wake up to full sun at 4:45 am!!!  After 2 days of “stop and drops” we excitedly planned our day in Hyde Park, NY.

We spent the morning touring President Roosevelt’s and Eleanor Roosevelt’s houses.  And yes, for those of you who have seen the movie, we saw the room where the King and Queen of England stayed and the menu for the “hot dog” party (they also served Virginia ham and turkey).  The Park Service Docent said that was about the only thing the movie got right and then told us about many of the inaccuracies.  The President’s house was really his mother’s and was an opulent “retreat”.  Roosevelt used the dumb waiter in the servant’s wing to haul himself up to the 2^nd floor and several ramps were added to the house to accommodate him.  Eleanor’s “cottage” was more than a mile away.  She really wanted to get away and have something on her own. And when you realized that her bedroom in the “big house” had a door that opened into her mother in law’s bedroom, it was easy to understand!!  The park ranger pointed out several similarities between the Roosevelt’s and the Clintons, the main difference being that Hillary has many more options open to her and Bill’s dalliances are out in the open.  Supposedly the Presidential Library contains many letters from Roosevelt’s “dalliances”, since it was revamped a few years ago.  We did not do the research.  What is it about Presidents?  Glad I'm not married to one!!

In Eleanor's Cottage... she had a chair to suit every size person on purpose!

Note the wheel chair on the left

We weren't successful getting a reservation at the CIA (Culinary Institute) so we settled for a family diner instead and then started driving to the Storm King Art Center which is a large sculpture park with amazing sculptures…. Unfortunately we found out about ½ way there (I was looking it up for the 2^nd time on the internet to give Dave some statistics.) that they were closed on Tuesdays… bummer!

This is one of the sculptures we missed!  Go to Storm King Art Center on Google!

  We regrouped in a parking lot and after plugging in the address of a brewery that Dave wanted to  try, we decided except for the Roosevelts, nearly ½ the town closed up on Mondays and Tuesdays!  I thought that was a Southern small town “thing”!  So we punted to plan C and went to Orange County Choppers to check out Paul Sr.’s new digs.  I’ll have to admit, it was impressive.  A huge building, it housed a huge store, bowling alley and café with a stage for bands.  Around the edge of the store were many of his super-custom motorcycles and they were even more impressive in person.  My favorite was one that was green and covered with “spider webs” for a super hero show.  But I’ll have to admit the 911 bike was moving and Dave liked the FBI bike:  the gas tank had hinged compartments “concealing” a gun and handcuffs! 

Dave's favorite...

The 911 Bike... note all the Fireman's patches on the wall

Deb's Favorite... note the lack of a gas tank (Its in front of the rear tire)

We meandered back to the campsite, and I cut out 3 more outfits for the girls and Dave built a wonderful campfire.  We met an interesting couple next door who were traveling on a motorcycle with a custom trailer from St. John’s in Canada.  They plan to follow the Ohio River until their vacation time was over.  It made a convincing argument to Dave for dumping the RV for a motorcycle… I agreed as long as Diane and I are following in a convertible!!

Wednesday morning we packed up and headed for one more “stop and drop” in Harrisburg, PA.  The drive was all interstate, but it felt like the bumpy road back in Maine with all of the construction, or lack there of!!  We settled into the campsite by about 2 and after a quick lunch decided to take the segways into town and ride them on their linear park by the Susquehanna River.  They have put their AA baseball stadium on an island in the middle of the river.  A pedestrian and bike bridge goes out there (along with a separate car bridge).  We parked on the island and took the bridge to the linear park.  We didn’t do the whole park, for there were threatening clouds, but we saw the Capitol building and a little bit of downtown. 

On the bridge in the middle of the Susquehanna!

Then we visited a brewery Clay had suggested and I’m becoming a real fan of barley wine… it was excellent.  I also liked their lager.  Dave bought an IPA and a barley wine. 

The "Snatch and Grab"

Again, we began to meander home, stopping at Camping World for a replacement part to the shower (they didn't have it) and finding the Croc’s I've been wanting at Gander Mountain, while Dave was looking for a 6 gallon replacement gas can. (We left one in a gas station somewhere in Maine… was it my fault or Daves?... that is still in dispute.)  The rain was beginning so we headed for “home”… but some gas cans in the window of a Harbor Freight Tools caught our eye… 5 minutes later, and NO gas can, we go out to our car and the window is smashed.  My purse, Dave’s wallet (he just took in his ID and credit card, so at least we have those!), and the GPS were taken.  The inventory of my purse included my bank cards, ID and cell phone.  (So don’t try to call my number!!)  The police were really nice and we couldn't believe the attention they were giving us.  They dusted for fingerprints, took our information, and tried to get Verizon to ping my phone (but they wouldn’t without a court order). David has his phone registered with Carbonite, and my old phone was.  We had failed to update the Carbonite account with my new phone:  lesson learned the hard way! We spent about 2 hours with the police, and one of the detectives had just placed a surveillance camera in the parking lot and they have the whole 30 seconds on tape and are hopeful they will catch the guy, as they believe he has performed 18 similar “snatch and grab’s” in the past few weeks.  While they are hopeful they will catch him, they are not hopeful that any of our stuff will be recovered as he has probably already sold it for drugs.  As I write this, David is cancelling all of his cards.  I did mine while  he was talking to the police. And we are both wondering what we have forgotten to cancel.  The hassle of getting new licenses, Costco cards, health insurance cards, etc. will begin when we get back to Charlotte.

Tomorrow will begin with a trip to the auto glass place about ½ mile from the campground to have the window replaced.  Then it’s on to Ohiopyle and the Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  We aren’t going to let a “snatch and grab” keep us down.  Dave still has the essentials:  his ID, credit card, Senior Park Pass, and cell phone, so we will survive... and the robber  didn't take my new shoes!!

Baah Haaabaah! (How Mainelanders say Bar Harbor!)

Note to readers:  We have been “off the grid” for 3 days in Bar Harbor. We expected no internet, but our cell phones were useless too so the Mi Fi wouldn't even work)   I wrote this post twice on the way to Oxbow out of Portland (see below) but the bumpy road got the better of my computer and somehow it was deleted!!  (So now I am better at saving after each paragraph!!).. .There will be 2 posts, this one and Portland)

The Ocean at Bar Harbor

Our drive up to Bar Harbor took a good bit longer than “Myrtle”, in the Nuvi predicted but it was laced with good beer, good food, friends and fun.  A friend of Sam’s who is on the board of Allagash, told Keith that we should stop by Oxbow brewery on the way up to the National Park.  So Keith and Dave were on a mission!  Duly putting in the coordinates we set off on the scenic drive up the coast.  At some point Myrtle veered us inland on farm-to-market roads and Bessy bumped and “grinded” along.  We were “following” the Wassums but they got ahead of us and took a “wrong” turn and we both arrived at Oxbow at the same time but from different directions!  It was a clear that Bessy and Bert would not fit going up the winding dirt driveway and turning them around would never happen, so we went on down the road to find a place to disconnect.  A large drive by an electrical substation provided a spot about ½ mile away, but Bert’s “butt” was hanging out in the middle of the road, so Deb took off the Brake Buddy while Dave disconnected Bert in record time and Deb watched for cars.  If disconnecting had been a “sport” like NASCAR  pit-crew teams, we would have won it!

Dave at Oxbow

Oxbow did not disappoint.  Keith learned that both of the owners had gone to college with his new son in law, Sam.  Which is really amazing since we are in Nowhere, Maine and they went to a Lenoir Rhyne sized college in Colorado!  They had been featured in Beer Advocate magazine this month and their beer was unique and very flavorable.  Their Farm House Ale was low alcohol without being bland and their IPA was flavored with a new hop, Acacia.  They were using Czeck and Belgium brewing methods with an American twist.

Deb and Bert then followed David to an intersection where they could reconnect without endangering other motorists, and it was on to Belfast for Marshall Wharf Brewery which was on the wharf in a very quaint ship building town.  We got there right before closing, but when the brewery closed, the pub opened and after a seafood dinner in town, Dave and Keith later returned to taste the missing brews. Diane later commented that “they could sure use Emily up here,” The waitresses in Boston were surly and ours could not answer any of our questions.  She did go get her supervisor to tell us what the scallops and fish were stuffed with (we passed when she said Ritz crackers and crab, with little assurance that there was more crab than crackers!) The beers were very good.  They each bought a 4 pack of“Cain’t Dog Double IPA” and they had a barley wine that was worth the return to the pub.  Meanwhile Deb and Diane checked out a few of the galleries in town and deemed the town worthy of a return stop for D2 on the way home!

We arrived at the campground about 7:45 and barely got set up before dark.  Of course setting up with no hook ups is fairly simple, though the sloping but wooded site presented Dave with a few leveling challenges. (And later the girl next door had us and our friends as an audience as she rocked back and forth on her leveling blocks. We talked to her the next morning and found out she was on a solo trip to Maryland for her 50^th birthday to pick up her Mom, in her 80’s and take her back to Colorado for a bucket list road trip!)

We drove into town and met the Kuklentz, Browns, and Wassums at their B&B’s (literally across the street from each other) and realized that our group now numbered 8… perfect for 2 tables of bridge.  The men formed a group and had a rowdy game, while none of the women had exciting cards and we had a hard time staying awake until the guys finished their “never-ending” rubber.

Thursday the Browns and Kuklentz were our guides as they had been in Bar Harbor a day.  They came to the campground and we went up to Cadillac Mt.  Keith and Diane were up for a more challenging hike and decided to take the 4 mile hike down.  It turned into much more than that when they began blazing a new trail down the mountain.  Meanwhile we walked a more level path to Sand Beach and we only got ½ way up to Thunder Hole before it was time to go meet the mountain hikers.  Between our wrong turns and their blazing trails we were able to meet them within ¼ mile of the trailhead.  The Browns and Kuklentz went on to Thunder Hole and pronounced it more booming than the day before.

View from top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

Dan and Betsy Brown

You want to do what?

It was windy

We took couple's pictures and of course Keith was missing... we think that's him on the rock!

But they found each other!

Everywhere you look there's another post card scene

Then it was a trek (by caravan!) across the peninsula to Bass Harbor and Thurstons, the Kuklentz and Brown new favorite restaurant, where Dave, Keith and Diane ate 2 pound lobsters.  We also enjoyed watching the lobster boats come in with their catch and talking to the locals.  We found out that one could figure the lobster’s age at about 7 years per pound.  So Dave, Keith and Diane were eating teenagers!!  You know there were times when the kids were teens I was tempted to boil them and eat them!! LOL

Bass Harbor at Thurstons

We;re eating up here!

Lobster bouys at Thurstons

We all gathered back at our campsite for hamburgers and a store bought carrot birthday cake for Dan along with Maine’s “famous” whoopee pies.  Pat has nothing to fear from Hannaford’s recipe for carrot cake, however because Pat has never US whoopee pies, we can’t judge the “famous” whoopee pies.  Of course our judgement was a little clouded from the numerous bottles of wine and beer consumed around Dave’s glorious campfire.  We said goodbye to the Browns and Kuklentz as they were leaving early the next morning.  It sure has been great camping with friends, even if they are in B&B’s.

Friday dawned a little cloudy and chilly.  Dave and I found our way to the ocean from our campsite so we can now claim this as one more site “on” the water! Keith and Diane arrived about 10 and we finished our excursion to Thunder Hole and walked from there to Otter Cliff.  Returning to our campsite, we dove into Keith’s requested watermelon from last night. (between the whoopee pies and cake there was no room for watermelon!)  We said good bye to them about 1 pm so that they  could potentially get to Boston in Allie’s car before dark.  Now we were alone for our trek South.  We had hoped to segway on the carriage trails, but the weather while not rainy, was damp and windy.  We are completely off the grid here with no cell or internet service, so we went into town for a “fix” and to give Emily some editing advice.

Thunder Hole - the tide come into this crevice and pops a sound as it rushes out.

Later we had another of Dave’s glorious campfires and enjoyed the company of our “neighbors” from Wisconsin.  After it became completely dark, we returned to the path down to the ocean and marveled at the bright stars.

Saturday morning we packed Bessy for her south-bound journey and left her in a lot in Bar Harbor while we took one more tour of the National Park.  We got out our segways and took a carriage path around one of the lakes.  Before the park and Depression the Vanderbilts had a summer home in Bar Harbor and had made carriage paths for their guests to enjoy the countryside.  These have been maintained as bike trails in the National Park.  The 1 ½ hour ride was a lot of fun and several bikers stopped and asked us about the segways and we stopped when we met 2 groups of horses to make sure our odd machines didn’t spook them.

Arriving back  in Belfast, Deb shopped the art galleries while Dave sampled a few more beers at Marshall Wharf Brewing.  When Deb joined him we decided that their Barley Wine and oak aged Belgium were the best.  Then we had what MAY be our last lobster dinner at a Lobster Pound called Youngs.  Their Bucket List meal had EVERYTHING on it,,, 2 lobsters, a dozen clams, more than a dozen mussels, oysters and shrimp for $50 (TOTAL for both of us!!)  It was the best yet! 

Harbor at Belfast

This is the tool they use to put the rubber bands on the lobsters!

Only a fraction of the catch of the day!

Too much food!.... but we ate it ALL!!

Yes we did!!

Now to plot our route South.... we're both a little bummed that we are starting the Homeward Bound phase and there's a hole without our friends.