Day 4 - Maine!

This was Sunday, so we started out by attending Sacrament Meeting at the local branch. It was a very small branch - but they did have a chapel! Only 6 rows of pews, and the fact that they were all sparsely filled meant that this was an amazingly big crowd! A far cry from our large Utah ward, and the kids were surprised. They had to ask for help from any visiting priesthood holders to get the sacrament blessed & passed to the "large" crowd (I'd estimate 50-75 people, max. The branch president cornered us in the hall & tried to recruit us to move into the branch, offering help finding land to build on and a job. Tempting, but we declined.

After church we drove into downtown Bar Harbor and found a park overlooking the boats. Had a picnic lunch in a gazebo there (or as Brynn said a "Zagbego") and watched the ships all around. One really caught Kyra's eye - the Margaret Todd, a large schooner with 4 masts. Kyra just read "Treasure Island" in school and is interested in all things relating to sailing ships and pirates right now.


There were some old cannons that used to be on an island defending the harbor. They'd been moved to this park, so now they looked like they were attacking the harbor. Quite the switch. The kids enjoyed playing on the cannons.

We walked down to the rocky beach at the harbor and let the kids explore. They found two dead, intact crabs, pretty rocks, and lots of mussel shells. We were able to walk under the pier used for the Margaret Todd.

After a while, we decided to drive into Acadia National Park. We went first to aplace called "Sand Beach" because it is the only beach with actual sand in the whole area. The fog was bad when we were there.

That's Darrin & the girls out there, just so you know. We were there for a few hours, the fog moved out, then in, then out. Kyra found a rock that was perfect for sunbathing:

Not to be outdone, Brynn had to get in the act and find her own "laying rock"


When we were finally tired of Sand Beach, we went to Thunder Hole. This is a narrow neck of water in a very rocky area. When the waves come in, they make a large BOOM! that can be heard way off. We were there when the tide was at its lowest. I thought it was pretty impressive, Darrin said it was nothing compared to how he has seen it. We walked dow right next to it (on the left in this picture) and looked down into it. Kyra used up nearly a whole roll of film trying to catch the perfect picture of the spray. Darrin said we should try & come back when the tide was higher to really see it.

That night we ate at a waterside restaurant called the "Chart Room" Darrin ordered 2 pounds of "steamers" - steamed clams with butter in them. He'd thought they would be a meal, but really they were an appetizer and came with just 2 pounds of clams. He liked them, but it was a bit of an overdose. I had a delicious Maine Scampi, with lobster, scallops, shrimp, veggies and pasta. The girls each had clam chowder and shared crab cakes. Brynn ordered mac & cheese but wouldn't eat it. She started acting sick so Darrin took her back to the car early.

Brynn's ears were clearly starting to bother her, and the congestion and runny nose were much worse. We were starting to worry about her flying home with a full-blown ear infection. We went back to the hotel and Darrin took the girls swimming in the (cold!) hotel pool.