Fall Foliage in New England

Wow! Did we ever time the Fall Foliage right here in Maine. Change is in the air as the long summer days transition into fall where the days in Maine are perfect – sunny and warm! After a few days of resting up and getting the truck and trailer washed and cleaned, we decided to head over to Bar Harbor, a popular resort town with bustling boutiques. Bar Harbor is both a town and a village. The town occupies approximately one-third of Mount Desert Island. The cruise ships dock in Frenchman’s Bay and within minutes after their arrival, the streets are flooded with tourists. After a few hours looking at the shops and making a couple of purchases (McKenzie decided she definitely needed an Acadia National Park T-shirt as we were planning on grooming her in the next day and she would need a t-shirt to avoid getting sunburned), we had lobster bisque and clam chowder at one of the outdoor restaurants. We then took a scenic drive thru Acadia National Park via the Park Loop Road. This road provides the best introduction to the park and though it can be driven in an hour, we spent several hours exploring the many sites along the way.

Acadia National Park protects more than 47,000 acres of granite-domed mountains, woodlands, lakes and ponds, and ocean shoreline. For hikers, naturalists, or just someone wanting to commute with nature, ANP is a wonderful place to go. There are more than 100 miles of hiking trails, and you can bike or walk the 50 or so miles of carriage roads as they meander thru the park. These roads were conceived and designed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and are closed to automobiles. It is a wonderful opportunity to see all types of wildlife – deer, raccoon, squirrels, chipmunks, porcupine, beaver, fox, eagle, osprey, and hawks.

The scenic Park Loop Road led us to Sand Beach which is a popular ocean beach located in ANP. The arctic current controls the water temperature here and at the time we visited, the ocean temperature was a chilly 50 degrees. McKenzie and George strolled along the sand (dogs are allowed on the beach after September 15th) enjoying the spot where the sea meets the land. As is typical this time of year, the weather is very changeable and the sunny morning we had experienced quickly changed to cloudy, drizzling, windy cold temperatures. Though it was getting late and the weather was certainly more blustery, we took the short hike to Cadillac Mountain. At 1,532 feet it is the highest elevation in the park and also the highest point on the United States Atlantic Coast. It began as a molten magma that intruded into older, overlying rock. As it cooled, it hardened and crystallized. It glistens with quartz crystal and pink feldspar gives this granite its pink hue. From the smooth summit, there is an awesome 360 degree view of the jagged coastline that runs around the island.

We had been told that Bar Harbor had some of the best lobster around so we just had to try some. Several folks had recommended that we try the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound and it was quite a treat, in more ways than one. We walked into the small building and the first thing we had to do, was choose our lobster from a large holding pen. The price was based on the weight of the lobster. We decided a two pounder would be just about right for each of us. The lobsters were then taken outside to the large boiling pots to be cooked. We ordered corn on the cob and cole slaw, which was extra and were told to find a spot to sit til our number was called. The tables were fairly large, so you just introduced yourself and sat down at any available chair. When your number was called, you went up and got your tray with the whole cooked lobster and the sides you had ordered. Though we felt it was pretty expensive, it was definitely the best lobster we had ever tasted, very sweet and tender. An hour later, our tummies were filled and we were ready to head back to the trailer.

The next day, we drove to Freeport, Maine to visit the LL Bean flagship store and were we ever glad we did. We both found numerous items we didn’t even know we needed! There are actually several LL Bean stores there. The flagship store, the outlet store, a biking and camping store, and boating and hunting store, and these are just LL Bean’s. Freeport’s Main Street is an outlet shoppers paradise with stores such as GAP, Coach, Timberland, Leatherman, Yankee Candles, etc. We spent all day there and made several trips back to the truck. It was definitely worth the trip if for nothing else than to just say you have been there and seen it.

Before we left Wiscasset, Maine, we had to try Red’s Eats! It is just a small dive which is well known for serving the best lobster rolls around. Once again, it was a pricey sandwich ($18.00) but you got a whole pound of lobster on the roll. George ordered crabcakes as he is not as crazy about lobster as I am and he said they were delicious as well. McKenzie got a tidbit of lobster and decided that it was a pretty good treat!

After several days in Maine, we headed over to New Hampshire and stayed in a lovely little campground amidst all the trees with their lovely red, orange and yellow leaves. We visited Portsmouth and Concord. Portsmouth was founded in 1623 and was home to sea captains, beer barons and revolutionaries. Many of the old homes of the sea captains and merchants have been restored and are in beautiful condition. One of the ones we especially liked was the Moffatt-Ladd House. It is one of America’s finest urban Georgian merchant estates. The site includes the mansion, two outbuildings, and a terraced Colonial Revival garden. Commissioned by the merchant, John Moffatt in 1760-63, the house remained in the hands of his descendants until it became a museum in 1912. Signer of the Declaration of Independence, William Whipple and his wife Katharine Moffatt Whipple lived here throughout the Revolution. Moffatt’s great granddaughter, Maria Ladd and her husband Alexander Ladd took ownership of the house in 1819. We thoroughly enjoyed strolling through the town and visiting the small shops and could easily see why it was chosen as one of the Top 50 Best Walking Cities in America.

As we were in the prime week of Fall Foliage, we drove several of the roads just looking at the beautiful autumn colors. George was justifiably impressed with the colors, having spent most of his life in Texas. The sugar maples, sycamores, and aspens were definitely showing off their rich hues with pride.

Moving on to Vermont, we noticed that the trees were dropping their leaves very quickly. Upon arriving at the campground, we learned that they had had two nights of frost, which explained the knee-deep piles of leaves. Vermont’s hills and valleys are laced with an abundance of scenic roads and highways. It is also the home to more than 100 covered bridges, of which more than 50 have been extensively repaired or restored and many listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Staying outside Brattleboro we drove scenic Route 5, up to Hanover, stopping at the King Arthur Flour Mill in Norwich which claims to be the biggest, best baking store in Vermont. We also drove over the the Colony Mill Marketplace in Keene, NH. In 1838 the prominent Faulkner and Colony families constructed a large brick building to house their woolen mill. The mill produced the finest materials for the Union troops of the Civil War and for the Allied forces of World Wars I and II. In 1953 when it closed its doors, the mill was the second oldest textile mill in the U.S. to operate under the same management in the same location. In 1983, the mill building was restored and transformed into a regional marketplace with wonderful, unusual shops inside.

Winter seems to have set in. It is barely 40 degrees today, cold, windy and drizzling, but it is just temporary. Tomorrow will be a beautiful fall day once again with temperatures in the 50’s. We stayed at home today and just relaxed and were thankful that we didn’t have to get out in the weather. Tomorrow we will head for Connecticut for a week. We are thoroughly enjoying taking our time and moving much slower than we have for the past four months. Life is definitely good!

Back to New Brunswick One More Time!

The next morning found us heading down the Fundy Coastal Drive in New Brunswick. There was a small area of the Province that we had missed when we came thru originally and we wanted to catch it on the way out.

It was a windy, drizzly day but we decided to drive up to Moncton, New Brunswick to experience Magnetic Hill. We were able to drive our truck and fifth-wheel to the foot of the hill, shift the truck into neutral, and sat tight while we coasted uphill on Mountain Road. It was quite an experience but we must admit that the magnetic hill that we enjoyed with Betty and Al, was just as good, if not better. Is it really magnetic, or magic?
McKenzie, George and I got out to look around a bit though most of the shops were already closed for the season. McKenzie enjoyed sitting in one of the chairs in the outside restaurant and seemed disappointed when no one brought her any treats.

From there, we drove over to the Hopewell Rocks for a chance to walk on the ocean floor! When we arrived, it was almost high tide and the water was coming in so we just walked around and looked a bit. Although the flower pot rocks come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, they have all been formed over millions of years by the dynamic movements of the earth and erosion from glaciers, tides, snow, ice and winds. The story of the rocks began approximately 300 million years ago when fast-flowing streams deposited thick layers of sand and gravel at Hopewell Cape from nearby Caledonia Mountains. Over time the sand and gravel compacted into layers of conglomerate rock and sandstone. Forces within the earth thrust and tilted the rock layers, creating large vertical and horizontal fractures. From this point on the flower pots began to evolve into their unique shapes. We took a few pictures of the flower pots while the tide was in. The ranger told us that once the tide is completely in, there would be just enough room to kayak under the Lover’s Arch.

Imagine 100 billion tons of water moving in and out of a bay twice every 25 hours. Powered by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun, Fundy’s tides are among the highest in the world and vary daily with the changing positions of these celestial bodies. Because the Bay of Fundy is funnel shaped – wide and deep at one end and shallow at the other, tides are pushed increasingly higher as they move up the Bay. By the time they reach “the Rocks”, the tides are over four stories high.

Big Cove and Castle Rock boast two of Hopewell’s largest and most interesting sea caves. The vertical cliffs in this area are nearly 100 feet high.

When we came back the next day at low tide, we were able to walk down on the ocean floor and look closely at the flower pots and caves. We had a window of approximately three hours to do our looking before the water returned. It was very amazing to sit on the rocks and watch the tide start coming back in. Also, a lot of fun to walk around and look at all the different carved formations.

The Bay of Fundy is a refueling stop for thousands of sandpipers on their trip south. In late summer, thousands fly from their nesting sites in the Artic. Each shorebird stops to rest and gorge constantly for about two weeks during early to mid August. From “the Rocks” the Sandpipers will fly three days and four nights non-stop to their winter home on the northern coast of South America. During their stopover, they will eat enough mud shrimp which live in the nutrient rich mud flats, to double their weight. The extra fat gives them the energy to complete their journey.

The next morning found us at Saint John, New Brunswick. We had wanted to go the City Market which houses Canada’s oldest continuing farmers’ market. The roof of the building was built like a ship's inverted hull and inside has colorful stalls displaying local produce, meat, seafood, and just about anything you want to eat. It was fun to walk thru all the displays. Once we were finished there, we walked down to the old cemetery which was established shortly after the landing of the United Empire Loyalists in 1783.

Our final stop in New Brunswick was at the Reversing Falls. Once again, we saw it at low tide and again at high tide. As the tide in Saint John Harbor rises, the downward flow in the St. John River slows and stops. The push of the Bay’s tides continues to high tide, causing the river to create rapids upstream. This happens twice in 24 hours. We have to say that this was a big disappointment. I thought we were actually going to see waterfalls reverse themselves, but it was just small rapids in the water. So, if you are short on time and need to skip something, this would probably be a good one.

We left and drove through the small villages of St. George and St. Martins and on to St. Stephen where we crossed the border into Maine. The border crossing was pretty uneventful this time. They had us pull our rig into a huge garage and x-rayed it and we were on our way. It is good to be back in the old US of A. Now we have to get reoriented to all the things we have been missing these past four months such as television, internet, US currency, etc. We thoroughly enjoyed our Canada tour this summer and can’t say enough good things about Newfoundland, but it is always nice to get back to family and friends. We’re arriving in Maine just at the fall foliage time so hopefully, we’ll be able to get some good pictures to share with you as we travel around the New England area. Love and hugs to all of you!!

Leaving Newfoundland - Back to Nova Scotia!

Though a tropical storm was hitting New Brunswick and parts of Nova Scotia, our ferry was scheduled to leave Port aux Basques on time. We noticed that there were not nearly as many of us in line waiting to go back to Nova Scotia as there had been when we were coming to Newfoundland. The ship was on time and we loaded and made our way up to the deck where we would be for the next six hours. By the time we were ready to leave port, the captain announced that we would be sitting for a while til the wind died down. About two hours later, we finally left Port aux Basques and had a pretty uneventful trip across the water, though it was quite rocky at times. We spent the night at the Arms of Gold campground in North Sydney and left early the next morning to drive to Baddeck to see the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Along the way, we noticed that the colors of the leaves are just starting to change.

The Alexander Graham Bell Museum explores the life of a very remarkable person whose achievements have touched all of us. Artifacts, audio-visual programs and photographs tell the story of Alexander Graham Bell, a story filled with family, friends, associates and a magnificent family home still privately owned by his descendants. As a teacher, inventor and most of all a humanitarian, Bell bridged the world between sound and silence, teaching deaf people to speak and pursue ideas from transmitting sound on light to treadle-powered graphophones.
Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1847. He grew up in a family where speech and hearing were very important. His mother was an accomplished pianist, despite severe and growing deafness. Bell had just started his teaching career when tragedy struck. In 1867, his younger brother died from tuberculosis. In 1870, his older brother also died from the same disease and soon Alex was in poor health. His father decided to move the family to Ontario for a better climate.

By 1870, the race was on to improve the telegraph. Ambitious and needing money, Bell took up the challenge. Bell knew something about electricity and a lot about sound, speech and hearing. A daring idea formed in his mind: an electrical device, working much like the human ear that would transmit speech itself – a talking wire. By 1875, Bell had found a gifted assistant, Thomas Watson. On a hot day in June 1875, Watson accidentally plucked a transmitter reed on Bell’s apparatus. Bell in another room heard a sound. Watson had unexpectedly generated an electric current strong enough to activate Bell’s receiver. Could voice pulsations do the same? Bell quickly modified his apparatus and Watson could hear the muffled sound of Bell’s voice. The telephone was born! Bell received the telephone patent in February, 1876, but his apparatus had yet to transmit a clear intelligible sentence. Then on March 10, 1876, Bell’s call “Mr. Watson come here, I need you!” was clearly heard by Watson in another room. Bell’s invention was now a working reality.

While struggling with his experiments, Bell fell in love with his pupil, Mabel Hubbard. He had greatly improved her ability to speak. She helped Bell thru the many frustrations and disappointments that preceded his telephone triumph. On her 18th birthday Mabel, with her parents consent, agreed to marry Bell. They were married on July 11, 1877.

Rather than rest on his laurels, Bell was determined to show that his invention of the phone was not a fluke. In 1880, the government of France awarded Bell the prestigious Volta Prize. Now living in Washington, Bell used the prize money to establish the Volta Lab. Its purpose was to develop and market new inventions. While Bell’s mind explored the world, his heart was with the deaf. He worked hard to increase the number of qualified teachers of speech education and advocated day schools for the deaf, rather than segregated boarding schools. In 1890, Bell inspired and financed the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf. This organization merged with the Volta Bureau in 1908 and continues today as the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.

Following a visit in 1805, Alex and Mabel Bell decided to make Baddeck, Nova Scotia their second home and named it Beinn Bhreagh. The lakes and hills of Cape Breton reminded Bell of his native Scotland. He could pursue his scientific and humanitarian interests free of the formality, distraction and summer heat of Washington.

When Bell was 59, he met F.W. “Casey” Baldwin. Baldwin was only 24, a young engineering graduate from Toronto. Mrs. Bell arranged the meeting. She knew how much her husband needed partners with practical skills and fresh ideas. With no son of their own, the Bells virtually adopted Baldwin who made Beinn Bhreagh his home for the rest of his life. Casey was fascinated by airplanes and boats of all kinds. With Baldwin at his side, Bell was destined to explore yet another exciting world – hydrofoil speedboats.

As early as 1906, Bell and Baldwin were considering another way to get a seaplane into the air – hydrofoils. Hydrofoils could lift a hull right out of the water, thus decreasing water resistance and increasing speed. Bell and Baldwin started testing hydrofoil ideas in 1908. When the U.S. entered the war in April 1917, Bell thought his best contribution would be a high speed watercraft. The U.S. Navy needed a submarine chaser. Baldwin quickly designed an 18 meter craft called the HD-4. Launched in October 1918, the HD-4 had a short but impressive career. On September 9, 1919, she made her record run of 114 kilometers per hour, a new world water speed record! By the time the HD-4 set her speed record, the war was over. Interest soon waned and there were no commercial prospects for the HD-4. Bell had been intimately involved in the development of the HD-4. It was his last great achievement. By 1920, Bell was 73 years old and tired. He died in 1922. Baldwin carried on his hydrofoil development for over 20 years.

After leaving the museum, we drove down some very beautiful roads with the fall foliage just turning, toward the town of Pictou, the birthplace of New Scotland. Their museum on the wharf was very ingenious as it had tidbits of information on tiny sailboats. However, once we stepped on board the replica of the Ship Hector, we stepped into living history.

In the early 18th century, conditions varied from area to area across the Highlands. It was not uncommon to find people living in turf hovels, scratching out a meager existence. As opportunities for a reasonable life continued to diminish, the concept of emigration began to prove to be the one reasonable avenue for escape. The Highlanders who left Lock Broom in July of 1773, were not forced to leave Scotland. For the most part, the people of the Hector made a conscious decision to leave their native soil for Nova Scotia and in doing so, purchased their passage. It was not uncommon during this period for shipping agents to solicit passengers for emigration to North America. It is estimated that between 1763 and 1775, more than 20,000 people left from the Highlands for the colonies. In one year alone, it is known that 54 emigrant ships sailed from the western sea locks with local emigrants bound for new homes in new lands. John Pagen ran an ad in Glasgow and Edinburgh promising the first 20 families 150 acres of land for man and wife and 50 more acres for every member of the family at the low rate of six pence sterling for each acre. Pagen would allow the settlers a period of 2 years to pay for their land. Transportation would not be free, with settlers required to pay in cash in advance. The cost was reasonable enough with an adult ticket costing less than the price of a cow. Little did the settlers know that while Pagen stated the land included 20 miles of coastline with good fishing and excellent soil for raising crops and livestock, he had failed to mention that it was actually located far back from the shore and was covered with thick forest.

Bound together by a desire to start new lives, committed to the journey before them, the passengers of the Hector faced an uncertain future, but did so with the conviction that whatever the future held for them in the new land, it was a certain improvement over the lives that they were leaving behind. Little did this brave band know of the hardships that lay ahead.

The Hector was registered at 200 tons berthen, which was the weight of the cargo she could carry. Her hold measurements were approximately 85 feet long with a breadth of 33 feet and a depth of 11 feet 5 inches. It was in this hold that the people of Hector, close to 200 men, women, and children would live their daily lives for nearly twelve weeks during the voyage to Pictou, Nova Scotia. The passengers were herded down the walkway to the dark, stuffy cavern which was to be their home for many weeks. In the light of the open hatch and a few fish-oil lamps slung on the bulkheads, they were shown their beds- rough pine boards with two feet of space between the upper and lower tiers.

For the first leg of their journey, the weather was fine and the passengers were able to enjoy the fresh, clean air and sunshine on deck, away from the confines of the ill-smelling hold. Water was rationed to one Scotch pint of water per day to every full freight passenger. Food was also rationed to three pounds of salt beef, four pounds of bread and four pounds of oatmeal per week. The food seemed to be sufficient to cover their needs for the voyage, although little did they know that Pagen had not loaded any provisions for their first year in Pictou, nor had he loaded even sufficient food to last the voyage. No one could foresee the terrible storm that would blow the Hector so far off her course, nor the disease that would run rampant thru the emigrants crowded into the hold. While the rations were considered plentiful enough at first, the passengers complained about the moulding oatcakes and would throw them, half-eaten into the scuppers of the ship. Hugh MacLeod would gather up these discarded scraps and keep them in a bag, possibly sensing that in the days to come, they would be sorely needed as food.

The pilgrims kept up their spirits as best they could by song, pipe music, dancing, wrestling and other amusements, through the long and painful voyage. The ship was so rotten, that the passengers could pick the wood out of her sides with their fingers. They met with a severe gale off the coast of Newfoundland and were driven back so far that it took them 14 days to get back to the point at which the storm met them. The accommodations were wretched, small pox and dysentry broke out among the passengers. Eighteen of the children died and were committed to the deep. Their stock of provisions became almost exhausted, the water became scarce and bad, adding greatly to their suffering. On September 15, 1773, the battered ship made her way into Pictou Harbor. Aided by a few settlers who had come before them, they were able to erect shelters and camps of the crudest kind for themselves and their families. Their feelings of disappointment were most bitter when they compared the actual facts that stretched before them with the comfort and prosperity that had been promised. The few who had a little money bought whatever provisions they could from the agents; while others less fortunate exchanged their clothing and other personal belongings for food. The first winter was very cruel and passed with severity unequalled to those experienced in Scotland. A number of the settlers left, unable to cope with the extreme hardships. Those that stayed survived only by working the best they could and earning small amounts of money required to barely exist. Others worked as indentured servants in other settlements. Truro was the nearest town and was many days walk through the frozen, trackless wilderness. Those that did venture there to buy potatoes and flour had to then drag the heavy sacks back thru the snow and ice to their shacks were their ill-clad, famished families huddled.

Inevitably Spring arrived and the warmth of the sun brought forth new life in the forests and new crops sprang from the small clearings that had begun to dot the landscape. Renewed with hope after surviving the harsh winter, the settlers built new homes on the land that they had cleared. For those that remained, this was now indeed their new home. For the people of Hector, this was their land, paid for by their labor, their sweat, and their hardships. It was home, the New Scotland – Nova Scotia!