Hiking Sand Beach Ocean Trail and Carriage Roads

Southwest Harbor at 7:30, Wednesday Morning

Tuesday Morning

Tuesday Morning Sunrise

Marina Tuesday Morning at Southwest Harbor

I am up at 6:00 on a very rainy morning, no surprise as much of Maine is locked in a Nor'easter for the rest of the week, alas. I went downstairs, made a couple of cups of coffee for Evie, one for myself on the Keurig, then came upstairs to read and write my blog until breakfast at 8:00.  Because of the weather, we have had to make drastic changes in our plans and the fact that everything is closed around here for the season.  So we are leaving the area, driving a couple of hours down the coast, stopping in Camden to browse and for lunch, then on to Rockland, Maine, to visit the Farnsworth Museum, home of Andrew Wyeth, in Rockland where we will spend the night.  It is supposed to rain all day so no more hikes, just some driving and a visit to the museum for a couple of hours.

Reflections on The Tarn

Sand Beach From Hiking the Ocean Trail

Sand Beach Off In The Distance

Yesterday was luckily a good day until about 3:30, just about the time we arrived home from our walks.  We started the day with a great breakfast, with a couple from York, England.  Breakfast started with an apple dumpling, drowned in a warm syrup.  I am not used to sweets in the morning but I made an exception.  After that, we had Eggs Florentine and marinated grape tomatoes, a nice contrast to the sweetness of the apple dumpling.  We were on the road by 10:00, heading to Bar Harbor, then the Loop Road, ending up eventually at Sand Beach where our hike began. The loop road towards Sand Beach is one way but two lanes, so people can stop whenever they like in the right lane for a view, a great idea.  After a few wrong turns, of course, we arrived at a beautiful sand beach, thus the name.  We then walked along the coast line on the Ocean Trail for a couple of hours, out and back, just about to Otter's Point.  The walk is well marked, mostly gravel, with paths every so often leading down to the amazing rock formations along the coast.  Most hikers would take their time, occasionally taking a path down and climbing around on the rocks, taking pictures, enjoying the final hours of dry weather.  We really enjoyed the hike, would do it again.

 One of Many Beautiful Views

Lobster Boat Displaying Colorful Buoys

Typical Rock Formations Along Ocean Trail

Grey Sea

Ocean Side Cairns

We then drove to Northwest Harbor, a picturesque port, with a couple of shops, one Evie loved but not a restaurant in the whole town was open.  So, after some shopping, we backtracked to Seal Harbor, and did a short walk on one of the carriage paths along Little Long Pond.  It was starting to cloud up but was still a beautiful walk down the paths, trees on both sides, a pond off in the distance. We even ran in to a couple of women on horses, a great place to ride I assume.  We ate lunch out on the side of a hill, overlooking the boat house, which we thought was a cottage except that the innards were filled with the pond water, instead of floors.

Otter's Cove

On Trail Near Carriage Road

Carriage Road

Long Pond

We returned to our B & B and relaxed, Evie working on pictures, me reading Jack Reacher and taking a nap,  I went out for a short walk to see if we could take another  hike but it was miserable outside, thus the beginning of our thoughts on changing our plans for the next two days.  The last thing we want to do is spend the day inside or shopping.  We went downstairs to the B & B's living room to be sociable but everyone was either coming or going so we read, had hot apple cider and cookies before getting ready to go out for dinner at the Dry Dock next door.

We walked a block to the Dry Dock around 6:45, found a seat at the bar in a very crowded restaurant, the only game in town.  We, unfortunately, made no new friends.  The guy next to be was too interested in wooing a younger woman, so we mostly talked with the bartender, a gal who waitressed yesterday.  Evie had another lobster roll, couldn't pass it up.  And I had clam chowder and highly recommended Blue Maine mussels, from Acadia, with a lime, cilantro, wine and chive cream sauce.  It was superb, the sauce great for dipping with crusty bread. Our bartender did tell us an interesting fact, that many of the staff on the peninsula were from Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Serbia among others.  They work the season then go home to school.  In fact, the cook at the Dry Dock was Bulgarian as was one of the waitresses.  We stayed until 8:30 and went back to our B & B and read and surfed on our devices until we were tired and went to bed.

Off to Camden tomorrow, then Rockland and at the Andrew Wyeth Museum, before heading back to civilization, the Albarran home in Darien, CT, on Thursday, a day early because of the rains. C'est la vie.