Today was mostly a rest day since Rich was still feeling out of sorts from the crappy cold that I brought home for both of us. And I’m still dealing with the leftovers of it, too. After a pretty quick breakfast at Jeannie’s (an egg sandwich on English muffin for Rich, one blueberry pancake and home fries for me, and some baked beans to share) we took the Sand Beach bus to Thunder Hole and climbed down among the rocks toward our secret spot.
Well, the tide was high and the ocean sure was angry today! This combination of factors prevented us from actually getting to our spot, which is a large, flat, barely sloping triangular-shaped ledge at the water’s edge. So instead we found a great spot just south of our usual secret spot where we could sit for a few hours and rest in the sun, and get splashed by the insane waves!
I wish Rich had felt better so he could have enjoyed it even more, but it was still a really pleasant experience. We kept watching to see just how crazy the wave action would get, and it did indeed top our little ledge at a few points. It splashed me solidly at one point and I had wet shorts, shirt and underwear for the next hour. He-he!
As the hours went by and our spot fell into shade, we moved up to a higher ledge and I read Matt Marchon’s book “The Acadia You Haven’t Seen” (getting ideas for the rest of the week) while Rich rested with his eyes closed.
When the wind picked up and we started to feel chilly, we walked over to Thunder Hole to see how the crazy surf would affect it, expecting some really great thundering action. Unfortunately the viewing area was closed off today due to supposedly unsafe conditions.
Back on the bus, we took the ride around through Blackwoods Campground and Otter Creek on our way back to the Village Green in Bar Harbor. We’re thinking about heading back to this area to check out the old road to Otter Point as well as the Green & White Path from Otter Cliffs Road up to the Bowl! My acquaintance Karen from Otter Creek says it’s easy to find the start of the trail—just look between poles 8 and 9, on the other side of the road. The trail, she says, can be hiked easily up to the Bowl.
We rested in our room for a little while and looked through our photos and video clips from today before going for a light meal at McKays. We were thirsty after all our time in the sun; Rich had the red ale and I had the Lunch IPA. Then for his entree, Rich ordered the burger, of which I got a substantial piece since he still didn’t have much of an appetite. I had the McKays salad and duck plate appetizer with smoked duck from Brown Family Farm, Camembert cheese, pickled vegetables and sweet/sour/spicy jam with crostini. It may sound like a strange combination, but—Yum!!!
Nothing much on McKays dessert menu appealed to us, but after stopping by the newly expanded MDI Ice Cream parlor this morning, I had been thinking about ice cream all day. I got the cinnamon-cardamom which was excellent and which I was looking forward to trying since least year. It’s very reminiscent of the Swedish cardamom buns I bake in the winter.
Early night, relaxing!