July 12- 13                                  Southwest Harbor, Maine

Some large cracks had developed on the bow pulpit on either side of the anchor wench.  David contacted Ellis Boat Company and they again sent a workman.  Ellis Boat Company is located in Southwest Harbor and builds beautiful boats, mostly under 40’ in length.  Their production is slow due to the economy so they are now doing refitting for other boats.  We were pleased to find a source for trained, knowledgeable people to make some needed repairs.  David and Joe, the Ellis employee, soon determined a way to solve the problem and he immediately began to work.

We rented a car for a week to make it possible for us to visit an orthopedic specialist in Bar Harbor for David’s leg pain and give us an opportunity later to see the area, including the beautiful Acadia National Park.  Covering most of the island, Acadia is a biking, hiking, and camping destination for hundreds.  Most of the land was given for a park by John D. Rockefeller and others who once owned huge expanses of the property.  Miles of “carriage roads” with magnificent stone bridges were built by Rockefeller to facilitate travel through the park by carriages or horses.  Automobiles were not used at the time.  Today these roads are used by hikers, cyclists, and a few carriages.  In the winter they are a means for cross-country skiing.  We plan next week to take a tour through the park.

Maine lobstermen are having a difficult time due to plummeting wholesale prices because of Canadian imports.  The local newspapers are filled with stories detailing their plight.  We have several lobster boats in our marina and I stopped to converse with a little fellow who had just come in with his dad from a day running lobster pots.  He allowed me to take his picture.  He was quite happy for he had made $200 that day.  According to his dad, the State of Maine allows youngsters under a certain age to own ten traps.  That day his son had caught 69 lobsters—a very good catch.

Dinner was with Phil, Linda, Jan, Phil’s sister from San Antonio who was visiting them for a few days, and Sue and Darrell, boating friends of the Hardbergers.  Sue and Darrell are retired attorneys from Michigan who live most of the year on their 2005 Ocean Alexander.  Together we traveled the short distance to Quietside and Thurston’s Lobster Pound, a local favorite.  Dining on boiled lobster and corn, we had a marvelous evening getting to better know each other.

On Friday we left early for Bar Harbor and David’s eight o’clock appointment with the doctor.  It was too soon for traffic and we made it there in twenty minutes, giving us time to tour the quiet downtown streets.  Bar Harbor had a disastrous fire in the early twentieth century which destroyed many of its buildings and homes but significant examples of the quaint architectural style of the previous century remain.  The large Grand Hotel on Main Street is a wonderful reminder of the years when people came for extended stays and relaxed in rockers on the porch or played croquet on the lawns. Colorful hydrangeas, daisies, lilies, and peonies were in profusion in beds, window boxes, baskets, and pots.  Even one alley way was lined in pots, each filled with an array of flowers. Small shops dominate the downtown streets and there is no hint of a national chain establishment. The city park overlooks the beautiful harbor where the cruise ships and small boats dock and presents another scene of postcard quality.

We drove slowly through some of the waterfront area which contains some of the remaining “summer cottages” built in the late nineteenth century by wealthy families.  Most are outstanding examples of New England architecture of the period with wide porches, gabled roofs, and shingled exteriors.  Some have been converted to bed and breakfasts or professional offices but their grand origins are still evident. Many had more than thirty rooms with a ballroom for lavish entertaining. Never approximating the palatial styles of the Newport “cottages,” the homes in Bar Harbor are nevertheless significant examples of the lifestyle of the rich and famous of the era.

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