Our butts were a little sore,
But we hopped back on our bikes for one more day of exploring.
We were up bright and early this morning to catch a ferry
To cross Frenchman Bay to Schoodic Peninsula,
Touted as the “quiet” side of Acadia.
On our way to the harbor,
We had to squeeze in a quick ride
In the pump park
Everyone loves a pump park!
We’ve taken ferries before—
In Seattle and to Mackinac Island—
So we thought we’d knew what to expect.
Mom was a little caught off guard
When she called to get some details and they warned her to buy tickets early
Because they often sell out.
That many people go to Schoodic?
When we got to the harbor
And walked passed all the big ships
And lined up at what we assumed was a dingy,
We understood the sell out issue.
The boat was a bit smaller than we expected.
Ok, a LOT smaller
But our crew—
Linda and Dan, just the 2 of them!—
Were very knowledgeable and welcoming.
We were a little disappointed it was so foggy and cloudy
But it made for some cool, kinda creepy, pictures
A short 45-minute ride later
And we were back in the park
We stopped off to get sworn in as Junior Rangers
We set out on Schoodic Loop Road
And were mesmerized by the fog over the Porcupine Islands
We were pulled in by the rocky beach
And its tide pools and swallow areas
That were teaming with mini crabs
Can you see it?
Right in the middle
They were TINY!
Between picking up the crabs
And finding “Purple Rocks!”
(Sung to the tune of Purple Rain),
We could have stayed there for hours
But Mom knew there was lots to see
So she pushed us onward
To Schoodic Point
She was right,
It was pretty cool
The tide was coming in
And the waves were crashing
We were all pulled to get as close as possible
The whole point was fascinating
All the crashing waves
Again,
We could have stayed for hours
But again,
Mom and Dad knew there was more to see…
There were 3 ways to get to the highest point on the peninsula.
In true Reed style,
We chose East Trail—
The shortest, quickest, most rapid assent,
To the top
It was a crazy trail!
It had some SERIOUS climbs
(No rungs or ladders provided!)
A quick 0.5 miles and 440 feet up later,
We were at the top!
Hmm.
Looks a lot like our view of the Grand Canyon
Ah, well.
It was a fun climb.
We continued our trek around the park
And landed at Bunker’s
(The lunch stop highly recommended by our ferry guide, Linda)
While Beckett and Tucker raved about the chicken alfredo,
Dad, Mom and Wes decided to make a trio sampler of rolls—
Crab, lobster, and clam
The winner?
Lobster, followed by crab.
Wes thought it was better than Side Street!
Thanks for the recommendation, Linda!
It was great!
A scenic bike ride,
Tide pools and crashing waves,
A delicious lunch on the shoreline—
We didn’t think our day could get much better.
But then, IT DID!
We’ve been looking at these souvenir lobster bouys
In all of the gift shops, but they were over $40 and oddly wooden.
So imagine our delight
When we rode past this roadside stand
Selling REAL lobster bouys
In the colors we would pick for ourselves!!!
(Chiefs colors, of course.
Lobsterman get to choose their own colors and register them with the state)
That is a SCORE!
All that was left
Was to take the Schoodic carriage roads
Back to the harbor.
We’d heard the carriage roads weren’t quite the same
As those in MDI Acadia…
And whoa, was that true!
They were loose gravel
And really hilly
Which really tried our endurance
(And Tucker’s patience)
But we made it back with time to spare
So we headed into Winter Harbor for
What ended up being Dad’s favorite ice cream of the trip—
Morton’s Moo, made in Ellsworth, the city just over the MDI bridge.
Before we knew it,
It was back onto the ferry
For our trip back to Bar Harbor.
It turned into quite the scenic tour.
We saw porpoises, seals,
Guillemot birds, and more.
The scenery was cool too
A few lighthouses
Towering cliffs
Private islands
Crashing waves
And amazing cloud banks
Just as good as a scenic tour!
Back on land,
With another 17 miles on our wheels,
We turned in our bikes
And headed to Reel Cinema—
The infamous pizza and movie restaurant in town.
We figured it would be sub-par, cheap pizza.
Boy were we wrong!
It was AMAZING!
Some of the best specialty pizza we’ve ever had.
Oh, and Despicable Me 4 was good too.
Glad we finally made it!
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