Your Royall Blogness: July 24-26: Mt. Desert Island, Maine

Day 1:

We got on the island in the late afternoon. The houses here are much nicer and there are resorts bed and breakfasts everywhere. MDI is beautiful. The town of Bar Harbor, or as the locals say. “Bah Habah” is the biggest town on the island. It was busy and full of people as we drove through. We got to the campsite and set up camp in what looked like The Shire. The ground was covered in pine needles and moss. The trees were all covered in moss. Everything was green. It was beautiful. Jess ran back into Bar Harbor to grab some supplies. (Local beer and firewood.) He got back just after sundown and we made hobo dinners together. We made a fire and sat reading our books till bedtime.

Day 2:

MDI is known for their hiking trails, so we woke up that morning in the mood to go on a hike. So Jess made a quick breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast and we headed out. We parked our car at the base of the trail and the three of us headed up. Just as we started we saw a group just finishing the hike. They all looked so happy and invigorated. The trail started off easy enough. A slight slope, a little wooden bridge that crossed a dry creek. Beyond that, this was the most difficult hike either of us had ever been on. 3/4 of a mile straight up. With a dog. Along the way there were blue dots that were on trees and rocks. We had to follow these because there was no trail. We had to take a few breaks to collect ourselves. Leon is a natural climber. He had no trouble at all making it up the hike. We were out of breath and tired when we turned around and got our first glimpse of what the view from the top was going to be. We got a burst of energy and pushed our way to the top. This was the most beautiful view Jess has ever seen. For Lane it was just after Tahiti. There were 2 lakes surrounding the mountain and ocean on the other side. The panoramic views were worth the hike. We could see why the people who had just finished were so happy. This place is like a fairytale. We hung out on top of the world for a while. The hike down was much easier than the way up. Especially easy because Leon knew the way back down without use of the blue dots. We got back to the campsite and had some lunch. Pork and Pork and Beans. Always delicious. We needed to cool off so we headed to the beach. It was about 5 miles away from our site. We left Leon in a shady spot, (No dogs on the beach), and relaxed in the sun for a few hours. We threw the Bee for a little while, had a few beers and tried to get in. The water was freezing, so we did not get in too deep. The only people getting in were kids who were daring each other. We had our fill of the beach so we went to the site. Lane laid in the hammock and Jess laid in the shade while we had a few more local beers. When we got hungry again, we cleaned up a little and went into Bar Harbor for dinner. Leon stayed in the car and took a nap. We first went to a place called the Thirsty Whale. Lane got fried clams with the bellies and Jess got a lobster roll. This roll was the 2nd best after Portland Lobster. Lane loved the clams. We found a place that had some well known lobster mac and cheese so we wanted to check that out. We grabbed Leon and headed to Mckay’s Public House . We had a nice walk through Bar Harbor. The mac and cheese was a bit of a let down and we were a little drunk to be in public. When we got back, the hike had begun to catch up to both of us. We were sore, tired and tipsy. We slept good that night.

We had a long drive ahead of us the next morning, so we decided to pack in a hurry and get some miles behind us.

We headed west. WEST! We have come to the turning point in the journey. The road home. It has gone by so fast.

We were on the open road by about 9 am. We stopped one last time on MDI and grabbed a last lobster roll at Gateway Lunts Lobster Pond. Lane got fish and chips that are made with a different kind of fish local to Maine called Haddock. We made good time through New Hampshire and into Vermont.