Lobster Festival and a Visit with Paul Bunyon & Stephen King

Bar Harbor
Lamoine State Park


We could only get a couple of nights at the same campground with Curt and Glenda so we switched over to Lamoine State Park which was just a few miles away.  I forgot to get pictures but it was a small campground, lots  of trees or open sites to choose from but no electric or water.  We were in #3 which was one of the few sites big enough for us.  Grassy spot, but firm ground. $30 a night.

When we found out the 70th Annual Maine Lobster Festival was going on in Rockport, off we went.  It was over an hours drive away but it was a beautiful drive.

Along the way we crossed over the 446 foot tall Penobscot Narrows Bridge which is a 2,120 foot long cable bridge that connects Verona Island to Prospect.

The Maine Lobster Festival bills itself as "Five days of Fun and Feasting on the Fabulous coast of Maine".  Sounds good!  They say 30,000 people attend and 20,000 pounds of lobster is served, including more than 1,700 pounds of butter!  We brought our appetites.

 A nice venue of food, drink, snacks, music and vendors. Not too crowded either.

 The Great International Lobster Crate Race

It was fun to watch the participants (kids on up to adults) run over the crates from one dock to the other without falling in.  The crates move so speed is essential to not ending up in the cold water.

 

We kind of grazed out way though.  We ate a few types of seafood including lobster and the guys couldn't resist the funnel cake with many types of toppings.

We walked around a bit and enjoyed the nice weather before driving back.

Do you see the big dingy in the back ;-)

The moon was rising and looked super big coming up over the horizon.

 

The next day we drove back to Bar Harbor for a loop drive and to hike around Cadillac Mountain.

 We passed by the nearby town of Ellsworth and their beautiful city hall.

 

Once in Bar Harbor we grabbed some info about a later hike and took a drive.

We still are lucky to have mostly sunny weather as much of the time it can be socked in with fog.

 Up on Cadillac Mountain you get fantastic views of the lakes and ocean below.

 

 

Up at the top we hiked around a bit and found the highest point on the mountain.

 

 A nice walking trail takes you to Thunder Hole, a popular spot in Acadia. 

It is a small inlet, naturally carved out of the rocks, where the waves roll into. At the end of the inlet, down low, is a small cavern where, when the rush of the wave arrives, air and water is forced out sounding like distant thunder. Water may spout as high as 40 feet. Unfortunately we were here at low tide so there wasn't any spouting going on.

We walked around the rocks and rested while enjoying the panoramic views of Otter Cliff and the Schoodic Peninsula.

Curt and Glenda up high.

Dinner, then a campfire and we called it a day.

Another day we drove in to Bangor to have lunch at Mason's Brewing Company in the nearby town of Brewer that Curt and Glenda had been to before we met up. 

Some great pizza!  One called Once Upon a Time in the West which had BBQ roasted chicken, candied bacon, roasted corn, red onion, white BBQ sauce and the Truffle Pig which had white sauce, candied bacon, wild mushrooms, sautéed kale and a drizzle of black truffle oil. The candied bacon was amazing and what really set these thin crust pizzas apart.  SO GOOD!

The back the patio overlooks the Penobscot River.

We took a nice walk on the trail that ran along the river to walk off our meal.

A drive through Bangor took us to the 31 foot tall Paul Bunyon statue which weights 3700 lbs and is supposedly the largest statue of Paul in the world.  He was once outfitted with a giant fez for a Shriner's Festival and a large bandana for a Willie Nelson concert.

Around the block a bit were some beautifully landscaped mansions.  Among them is one of Stephen King's homes.  Love the wrought iron work!  Bats, spiders, webs and dragons.

 And a K for King of course!

A full moon, how appropriate, for our drive home.

 

Next up, our crazy hike!