Bryn Arrives: Northeast and Southwest Harbor Exploring--July 2

Since we weren't expecting Bryn until around 5:30 PM or later, we decided to explore the other parts of Mt. Desert Island. Desert is pronounced dessert because of the French Acadia influence. Mount Desert Island is part of the Acadia National Park system and is stunningly beautiful. We had driven up to the top of Cadillac Mountain in past years and we had camped in Acadia National Park a couple of times. The first time we went there, my mother cared for Bryn, Matt, and Sean, and we drove up to camp in Acadia. It was a beautiful drive and we had a wonderful time. Then the rain came and it continued coming. We were not able to dry anything out and we got a bit tired of being wet everywhere so we went back to Albany. When we got there, however, we heard the weather had changed in Maine and we decided to drive back with the three kids. That was a wonderful vacation. We took them to the beach where Matt attracted a crowd as he dug a huge hole trying to find what was at the end of a rope sticking out of the sand. They swam in the ocean with us, made sandcastles, and camped in the woods--these children of the desert and Long Island loved it. We took them to the Oceanarium where they handled sea creatures and learned about the ecology of the area. We often pass the Oceanarium and are tempted to revisit.

We drove to Bar Harbor and instead of taking the fork in the road for Bar Harbor, we took the fork for Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor all on Mt. Desert Island. Southeast Harbor was adorable. Main Street in Northeast Harbor was very quaint filled with local artisans shops, unaffordable and affordable boutiques, cottage furniture stores, gift shops, naturalist stores, restaurants, bars. Oh, oh, oh! So much fun. And the markets, too, in these towns are like  mini-AJs. Everything is adorable. We stopped at a bakery/pizza shop/cafe run by Serbs. The bread in the window beckoned us. We also saw a few of the pizzas being consumed (inhaled by two couples eating at the sidewalk tables). Bob ordered a prosciutto sandwich on a baguette with melted provolone cheese and roasted peppers. I had a BLT wrap with guacamole. All delicious. We picked up some pastry for breakfast tomorrow (and I bought a peanut butter cookie for dessert). Then we shopped (yes, I bought another pair of shoes--sigh).

Bryn had been texting us her whereabouts and ETA. She visited Freeport and Wiscasset, had lunch at Red's Eats (she later showed me a picture of the lobster roll she had--1 1/2 pounds of lobster in it--oh my God!). She was having such a good time, and so were we. So when we knew she'd be at least 2.5 hours, we decied to explore Mt. Desert Island further. So on we went to Southwest Harbor and Seal Harbor. This Main Street was similar but the shops were very upscale. I love to shop and I used to buy stuff even if I couldn't afford them. Now that I can afford them, I shop more carefully and only buy little stuff that is reasonable priced. The market here was amazing. Very small, but it had so many unusual (many locally made) products, fresh fish, lovely meats, wonderful condiments, great bread. I visited one of the most amazing kitchen, dinnerware store--wow! Of course, it made me realize how many kitchen things I actually had. I have to admit, I do use mostly everything we have and that's because both Bob and I love to cook and entertain. I did buy a citrus juicer (the hand-held kind) and a small mandoline. Actually, the owner of the cabin is a cook and baker (not by trade) who had a pretty well-equipped kitchen (including a

Here are more pictures of Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor.

Some of the sights of Northeast Harbor and some of the sights of Southwest Harbor.

When Bryn called with just an hour ETA, we left and headed toward Trenton (Bar Harbor Airport Hertz). She arrived at 6:30 PM and checked in the car. We were then on our way to Bar Harbor where we had reservations for a restaurant we had visited before called Cafe This Way. The food is unusual (bistro style) and in an old house with a big old porch. We were seated in the library area. We had a duck confit tostada for an appetizer, Bob and Bryn ordered an organic pale ale and I had a drink called Nathan, Darryl & Darryl--all melons with vodka and it was delicious, as was the tostada. Bryn had baked haddock with a puttenesca sauce with a side of saffron rice and brocollini. I had a red snapper escabeche with garlic mashed potatoes and Bob had a ribeye steak with a port reduction sauce and blue-cheese butter with garlic mashed potatoes. Yummy. For dessert, Bob ordered blueberry pie (Maine is known for its blueberries) with ice cream and I had pots de creme (Bryn tried both).

Then home--one hour plus. We were beat and by the time we all went to bed it was after 10:30 PM, way past our bedtime.