Rain day! This was a real bummer since we usually spend our last day on a quest for an abandoned trail, or something similar, to whet our appetites for next time. It rained hard overnight and the worst of it was over by the time we woke up, but the forecast was iffy for the entire day and indeed, it did mist or sprinkle for much of the day.
Our breakfast plan was the Black Friar, which worked out well since it’s always a cozy place, never busy early, and is close to our hotel. Johnny was off today, but he has trained his assistant well; everything came out delicious as usual. We started with the usual tea, coffee and pineapple juice. Then I had the granola again, with a side order of Friar Fries (of course!) and Rich had two fried eggs, crispy bacon, and two pieces of toast. Both came with the fruit slices as always. We also showed Friar Tom my friar charm and purchased a t-shirt to wear during the year.
It was still raining, so we spent some time in the room working on photos and deciding where we could go that would provide cover in case the heavier rain returned. Our first thought was to try the Asticou Inn for popovers and then poke around at Thuya Lodge and gardens, but we were so stuffed from breakfast that we decided against it. Rich’s back was still hurting too, so we kept it simple and did the Shore Path in town (but we walked it in the reverse direction from what we usually do on our last morning here). We took lots of photos along the way of the colorful berries and flowers we noticed.
It was still misting heavily, so after finishing the trail we headed back into town and checked out Sherman’s bookstore for a few minutes. They had an interesting puzzle of an Edward Gorey illustration and we also learned that there was a limited 300 (or 400?) copy reprint of Trails of History made last November. It was so weird to see that book back on the shelves! The quality of the paper and covers seems inferior to the original edition, though.
It was early afternoon by this point. For years I’ve been wanting to check out the Bar Harbor Historical Society on Ledgelawn Avenue. For one reason or another we never got there—mostly because the weather was good, or when it wasn’t, the historical society wasn’t open. Today it worked out perfectly. There was no one, other than the volunteer working there, in the building when we arrived.
In four rooms they offered a large array of photographs, documents, implements and ephemera from, mostly, Bar Harbor’s history. We were hoping for more information about the park but they don’t seem to have too much about the park itself or the trails. I’ll contact the library (we would have gone there today too, but they’re closed on Mondays). They have a vertical file that contains some of the information we seek, and they probably have more that I’m not even aware of. I would love to know if there is an official archive for the park.
On our walk along Ledgelawn Avenue, we noticed that the reconstruction of Holy Redeemer Church is underway—it’s a Lego church! It looks like they’ve numbered and color-coded the facing stones and will be removing and replacing them. Good thing, because we noticed last year that the entire south side of the building looked like it had shifted and was about to collapse.
It was still dreary, if not actually raining, so we spent the rest of the afternoon in the room working on photos and reading about more abandoned trails, the search for which will, unfortunately, have to wait until next year. All the while, we were daydreaming and talking about pizza. Which toppings will we get? I wanted half plain but Rich was free to do whatever he wanted with the other half. Onion? Pepperoni? Onion and pepperoni? We were so ready for it.
That’s why, when we approached Rosalie’s and detected no smell of pizza in the air, and then found the place dark with a note on the door “Closed Monday, opens Tuesday @4pm” we were so incredibly bummed! This must be something new. I recall that last year, Rosalie’s was also closed Monday, but we assumed it was just an emergency that they had to close that day, because we had always gone there on our last night in town in the past. (Just in case, I had even checked their website on Sunday and it didn’t say anything about being closed on Monday!) What a disappointment. Now we’ll have another year to wait before we can have another one of their delectable pies!
We were still hungry, and weren’t sure where else to go. We checked out the menu at Side Street, but Rich wasn’t feeling it tonight. He wanted to go to McKays again for another burger, which was fine with me. When we got there, though, he was tempted instead by the fish & chips. It was OK, but not as crispy as we remember it from the past. I was just feeling snacky, so I had the pretzels with smoked beer cheese and the heirloom tomato salad, with cucumbers, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar (that was fantastic!). I realized while looking at my selections that I had kind of created a deconstructed pizza: bread, tomatoes and cheese. Close enough, I guess!
We had beers as usual (IPA for me and CentenniAle for Rich—the proceeds from which go to the park) and we shared a delicious roasted cauliflower soup that we want to learn how to make. It was a cream-base soup but very light and smooth. MDI Ice Cream provided our perfectly-sized dessert: chocolate ice cream for Rich and my favorite blueberry-basil sorbet. I have to get it at least once every year!
The rest of the evening was spent working on more photos, investigating more potential abandoned trails (those explorations will have to wait for next year, sadly), and thinking back on the wonderful adventures we shared over the past two weeks.