Our plans for this morning required an early start, so we headed to Jordan’s for breakfast. Although Jordan’s is an extremely popular breakfast spot in town, it doesn’t normally excite us. It’s just a typical diner and when we’re on vacation we’re usually looking for something more unique.
Jordan’s also turns into a tourust hotspot a little later in the morning, which we always prefer to avoid. But it’s open early (5:00am, I think), and is reliable, if not overly exciting. And it’s mostly just patronized by locals at that time of day.
I enjoyed my wild Maine blueberry pancakes and blueberry juice, while Rich filled up on a larger meal of pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, and homefries. Everything was, as I said, reliably good, and served quickly, and we were sufficiently energized for a full day of activities.
Anemone Cave
Low tide and sunrise would coincide this morning, which gave us an excellent opportunity to explore Anemone Cave, a “long-lost” feature on the eastern side of the island near Schooner Head. This sea cave can still be found on old maps, of course, and locals all know about it, but visitation of the cave is no longer promoted (although it is allowed). The Park Service has removed all signage and other means of directing users to the cave.
Anemone Cave got its name, naturally, from the anemones that dot its rocky tidepools. In addition to the anemones, you can also spot sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins, barnacles, bivalves, and various algaes.
The sea life in the cave has been at risk since the 1880s, according to old guidebooks, and it was taken off the park maps several decades ago—in part to preserve the remaining life in the cave, and in part because accessing and spending time in the cave is extremely dangerous. Not only are the access points steep and typically as slippery as ice, but just being inside the cave in the event of rising tides or rogue waves can be life-threatening.
Being generally cautious people by nature, Rich and I took it slow, and made our way to the cave without incident. Once inside, we were very careful to watch where we stepped, and spent a few minutes looking around to see what we could find, and taking a few photos. Sunlight streaming into the cave makes it much easier to view the colorful sea life covering the floor of the cave—one reason it’s best to go at sunrise. Rich has been telling me about Anemone Cave for years, and I was thrilled to finally see it for myself.
Survey Mark Hunting near Hull’s Cove
After a morning that had already been full of excitement, we just kept it coming. We had a few (hopefully) simple benchmark hunts in mind. First, we stopped at the Bluenose Inn in Bar Harbor to look for the NGS disk BARH B that Rich found five years ago. For some reason we hadn’t yet come back so that I could recover it—but today was the day. We had no trouble finding it, and it is still in excellent condition and solid in its setting as it was when Rich found it.
There is also a station designated BARH A, but it is in a restricted area at the Bluenose ferry terminal. Rich considered recovering this mark in 2002, but he bypassed it because of the secured area. The situation is much the same today. Although we drove into the parking lot for the ferry terminal just in case we might be able to catch a glimpse of the mark, we realized that we would not be able to get anywhere near its location.
Next, we moved on to Hull’s Cove beach, to a large outcropping ledge across Route 3 from the Colony Motel. We intended to search for K 10, a USGS benchmark that we’ve known about for a while (since we received copies of the USGS datasheets) but today was the first good opportunity we’ve had to search for it. We found the disk in excellent condition, just as described, on the high rock ledge.
We did not see the “P.B.M. 17.1” that the description indicates should be marked on the ledge—if it was painted, the paint is probably long gone. We also did not find the chiseled square that served as the reference mark, but we would like to come back to search for it again.
From Hull’s Cove, we drove back south a short distance to Canoe Point, where we hoped to find a disk designated HULL. Like a few others in this area, HULL is a topographic disk, something a little different from the majority of marks we find. This one also had us wandering around on private property belonging to the Bar Harbor Yacht Club. Fortunately we didn’t need to go anywhere near their facilities and were able to walk quietly out to Canoe Point through the woods without any problems. The disk is in very good condition and is set into a nice smooth rocky ledge that would be perfect for a picnic overlooking the bay.
Sunbathing and Supper
The day was so sunny and warm that we decided to search for a quiet spot for some sunbathing and relaxing. Lake Wood was close by, but our favorite sunny ledge was already occupied. Instead, we headed to the other side of the island to another favorite spot on Echo Lake called Ike’s Point. We spent a pleasant hour or so there, just relaxing and watching the occasional kayaker glide by.
All the sunshine and activity made us hungry; good thing we had early reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, Havana! The atmosphere at Havana is classy but very relaxed at the same time. The food is somewhat Cuban-inspired, as you might assume, but also incorporates many traditional Maine ingredients like seafood and blueberries. Portions are very well-balanced, and although they may sound exotic, the dishes really are pretty restrained, never over-the-top indulgence. Just the way we like it. We always find some new combination of flavors that surprises us, and inspires us to try something similar in our dishes at home.
This evening, we started with mojito cocktails (Havana’s are the best!) while filling up way too much on the bread selections of the day: Havana’s traditional blueberry cornbread and and onion-dill-nut bread. They were served with a strawberry-chive butter, which complemented both breads well.
We shared the soup of the day (smoked gouda and cheddar soup with green onions and broccoli florets) and a spicy appetizer (jalapeño pan de carne).
For an entree, I chose the salmon with honey-lemongrass drizzle, which was fresh and light. Rich went for the Cuban hanger steak, seasoned with an herb rub.
Somehow, after all of that, we had enough room to share a rummed apple pecan tart with mascarpone, blueberry, and mango sauces for dessert, along with a few sips of cognac.
I’m falling asleep just thinking back on that delicious meal … it’s no coincidence that we collapsed into bed as soon as we returned to our room!