"an elegant tapestry of quotations, musings, aphorisms, and autobiographical reflections" (James Atlas)



Thursday, June 21, 2012

Baa Haba and Bahstan

We arrived in Bar Harbour in sparkling sunshine, and were 'tenderized' (as DH put it) to shore in cute little orange boats. The township already looked inviting and bustling with tourists, but we had to wait a while for our bus, which eventually turned up with a somewhat toffee-nosed guide who didn't explain the delay. Undeterred, we proceeded to enjoy whatever was offered, and headed to Acadia National Park, and a small horse-ranch inside the park. Two delightful percheron horses, Pete and Gob (don't ask) came along towing a carriage, and pulled us through the lovely forest, while the driver, Emily, explained all about Acadia Park, and especially the Rockefeller family's association with it. It was just such a great day for a leisurely ride, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I think, when I get home, I might get a trap & pony to go shopping in town! After a reluctant farewell, we continued our trip up Cadillac Mountain, from where we had a fantastic view of the sea, islands, and the Maasdam, which appeared very small from such a height. The mountainside does not have large trees, there is granite below, and little soil in which to develop roots, so big stone slabs were exposed atop the mountain. We wound our way down again and spent a while at "Geddy's", a very quaint bar/pub, enjoying the seafood and a cold drink. I was quite tickled with the signs all over the place, including the ones for the restrooms - "outboarders" and "inboarders". We had a couple of hours left before having to take the tenders over to Maasdam again, so I had a bit of a look in the shops. Bar Harbour certainly promotes the moose! They're everywhere, on most T-shirts and other tourist paraphernalia. Having not seen one moose, I mentioned to the shop attendant that all the moose stuff was a little incongruous, given the rarity of them, he went to defend the moose, saying there were a few thousand in the state! Hmm, ok....
The next day was the end of our cruise, and we left Maasdam behind, sadly, since I'm definitely turning into a cruise junkie! We took a cab to our hotel in Boston, then headed out and caught a hop-on-hop-off trolley. These are a great way to see any city, and Boston was no exception. Mind you, from balmy weather we went straight to a brisk, cool wind, and I just HAD to buy a Harvard hoodie - to keep warm! We had lunch at Quincy Market - what a blast! It seemed the whole of Boston was there at the time. We walked a short part of the Freedom Trail and admired the beautiful old brick buildings. The history of Boston is so complex and interesting, it would be nice to spend more than a night there. Boston's city is not big, easily traversed on foot. We really liked it there and would happily explore it another time.
And then it was time for New York.....

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