Yesterday’s fog was still with us when we woke this morning. Although we spent time packing up our things and loading up the car, the fog still hadn’t begun to dissipate by the time we headed to Morning Glory to pick up our traditional last morning’s breakfast. (Well, traditional until the last two years, when Morning Glory began their fall hours early and were closed on our last day, always a Tuesday. This year, they aren’t beginning fall hours until October 1.)
The fog was so heavy that it was very nearly raining (“It’s raining!” “It’s just heavy fog …” “I think it’s raining!” “When the fog is so heavy, it feels like rain. Well, I guess really heavy fog is rain!”). I had already packed my rain jacket in the car, though, and I wasn’t about to dig it out.
We loaded up on goodies at the bakery: three danishes this time (apricot, blueberry and red raspberry) and one sticky bun, all cut in half, so we could easily share them and even save a few for later. Our usual benchmark bench was soaking wet, but a few strategically placed napkins kept our buns mostly dry. The waterfront was nearly deserted today. Just a few cruise passengers walked by the whole time we sat enjoying our danishes, coffee, and tea.
On our last slow walk back to the room, I suggested stopping in the Acadia Outdoors store to see if they had a t-shirt for Rich matching the one I bought the other day. They didn’t have one that he liked (the men’s version was all cotton instead of the blend that mine is) but we did find a Kuhl jacket that I liked and another moose t-shirt for me. Rich insisted, and bought both of them for me. So sweet!
We stopped at the Bar Harbor Manor office to see if Brandon and Monika were available. They weren’t, but the woman at the desk texted Monika and she came right over. She has it in mind that we want to come again next year, but we can’t actually reserve the room until January 1.
Around 10:00am, we were off. Due to the construction on Route 3, we took the detour route—west on Eagle Lake Road and then north on Route 102 to the causeway. The fog was still thick as we drove off the island and along the highways of Maine. We didn’t encounter any rain until southern Maine, but from that point on it didn’t let up until we were nearly in Pennsylvania. The rain was being churned onto the coast from Hurricane Jose, which was sitting off the coast of Delaware and simply not moving for the entire day. Fortunately, it never rained terribly hard, and traffic wasn’t as bad as it has been in the past.
Somehow we (well, Rich!) managed to do the entire drive with only one break (during which we got Whoppers that we were tasting again and again for the rest of the day). He got us home safely just after 8:00pm. As always, we knew our wonderful vacation was truly over when we came down Moosic Lake Road and saw the lights of the valley. Was it all just a dream … ?
With all that changes, much remains the same. So much rings true for me in this excerpt from Clara Barnes Martin’s 1885 guidebook Mount Desert on the Coast of Maine, written decades before most of the trails we hike and roads we travel were built:
Who that ever knew them, could forget the quiet charm of the coves at the head of the sound; the mill in the meadow under Kebo and the merry brook below it; or the pebbly beach on the north side of Bar Island; the long, bright bay beyond, and the soft ripple of the waves, dying in harmony with the murmur of the pines? Calm sunrises over quiet seas, broad moonlight on shining forests, glowing sunsets across purpling distance, and tender afterglow on shadowy hills, complete the radiant changes of the days.