Maine Trip Volume 05

Well, we're here on our last day of our Maine vacation and every day it's felt like it was time to leave, but we still had so much time to go. We're so used to weekend vacations, this week and a half has seemed unbelievable. And even now that we're getting ready to leave tomorrow, I still can't believe we're here and all the wonderful things we've gotten to do.

Yesterday morning was another early day. At 8:30 we went out on the local lake, Michael and I on a canoe and Genevieve on a kayak. I was nervous getting into the canoe, and the first 15 minutes or so would get pretty panicky whenever the boat rocked from side to side. But after we got the hang of steering, I was pretty okay. By the end I _loved_ it. I would have stayed out all day if my legs and butt weren't achy from the uncomfortable seats (excellent upper body workout, though!). We made it all the way to the opposite side of the lake (about a mile) and back. And our way there we did so much zig zagging we probably added another half mile to the trip. It was _gorgeous_. The morning was slightly overcast for the first half and the sun came out for the second half. It was perfect. At times we were the only people in the lake. So peaceful.

Afterwards we came back to the house and made a delicious lunch - hot dogs, baked beans, chips, and sugar snap peas (which I've grown to like). We relaxed a bit after cleaning up and then headed out for another Bar Harbor trip. Genevieve and I browsed around for a few things and then we hung around the harbor area until our mini-sunset cruise on the Margaret Todd. It was breathtaking. We took a leisurely sail around the harbor and some of the islands. We saw many seals and the water was calm and crisp. There was a folk musician doing folk rock songs from the seventies the whole time we were there (significantly better than the pop versions of sea shanties we heard on the whale watch) which was very pleasant.

The cruise was about an hour and a half long, and I'm happy to report that my sea sickness must be due specifically to the harsh waves and speed of the whale watch boat, and I was not at all bothered while canoeing or on the Margaret Todd.

After the cruise (which ended really before the sun had set, but it was still beautiful) we went to dinner at Testa's, a restaurant that's a tradition for Michael's family when they get here. Well, this has, again, topped the best meal of the trip. We sat on the upper level facing out to view the street all lit up at night. They were having a special which was a cup of clam chowder, olive tapenade (which is _amazing_), rolls, salad with their vinaigrette dressing, steamed lobster with vegetable, and blueberry pie for dessert. Well! It was _incredible_. We also got fried blue cheese with a spicy sauce seasoning as an appetizer. I had never had a lobster before. I've eaten lobster; in fact I've been having it at least once a day since hitting Maine, but I've never eaten a whole steamed lobster before. They give you a bib, tools for ripping it apart, and a bowl to put carcass parts in. I wasn't going to get it and was going to instead get the "Lazy Man's Lobster" which is the same, just the meat's taken out of the lobster for you. See, Michael is completely creeped out by sea bugs (understandably), and I try not to put him through watching me eat them. But, as he reminded me, we're in Maine and it's the best place for it. And he told us that while here, he'd happily deal with whatever sea-things we decided to have. So I did.

Yes, there are pictures. And yes, it was so much fun! I got every bit of meat out that I could. The chowder was the best I've ever had. And the tapenade was so good! Michael's mom got us some to take home. The salad was completely enjoyable; I even ate all my veggies. And after spending an hour ripping apart my sea bug dinner, the blueberry pie came out with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (which I shared with Michael). Now, I'm not a _huge_ fan of blueberries. I like them just fine, but they're not an OMG! thing for me. However this pie could turn that around in a heartbeat for me. The crust was perfect, the blueberries more delicious than I've ever had, and the ice cream complimented perfectly. As satisfying a meal as I've ever had.

We took one last walk towards the car on the harbor and then headed back to the house. I took a nice long shower and promptly fell asleep.

This morning we slept in a bit, had a leisurely morning, and then headed out to Jordan's Pond for one more popover excursion. Genevieve and I got crab cakes and lobster quiche to share along we our popovers. (Has anyone else noticed how much I talk about the food? It's not _all_ about the food, it's just been so good it's hard not to describe that so much! Much of the rest is a lot of walking and views and nature, which looses something when it's not seen.) We also shared a pot of hot tea since it was nice and cool on the lake. And to end, we got popovers filled with ice cream to share. Hold crap. It was a nice long meal and the view was, again, gorgeous.

We did a bit more shopping and hanging around in that gift shop and in Bar Harbor and then headed back to the house. On our way, we decided to make reservations to do an evening kayak since we had so much fun yesterday. So, any minute I'm going to be heading out. Michael and I will be sharing a double kayak (instead of a canoe) and Genevieve will be on her own again (which she seems to prefer - she's much better at it anyway). We'll be doing that for about three hours and then come home for dinner and hopefully getting to bed early. Our current plan is to get up to see the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. We'll be the first ones in the country to see it and that will be around 5:00. Then it'll be time to gather our stuff and we'll be heading back south around 10:00. We've got some stops we'd like to make on the way and we'll be staying overnight in Massachusetts and making the rest of the trip on Sunday.

I have had a fantastic time here. I'm sad to leave, but I can't say it hasn't been completely perfect. I think we all needed it and nothing could have been better.

Now, off to kayaking!