Bar Harbor and Acadia

Our next place were we were staying, and are staying now, was Bar Harbor, Maine, which is right near Acadia National Park. On the way there from Fundy National Park, we decided to visit Franklin Campabello International Park, where Franklin Delano Roosevelt summered as a child and adult, and where he contracted polio. This park is on a small Canadian island right on the border and the only bridge connected to it is in the United States. For that reason, and since it is so steeped with American history is why it is considered the world's only international park. All in all, we had crossed back and forth between Canada and America two times in two days, and spent an hour or so on the island visiting the home of FDR. It had a beautiful view out to the ocean, and surprisingly, for a house so big, they did seem to make it very cozy. I think my favorite part was the gigantic megaphone that Eleanor Roosevelt used to corral everyone while they stayed there. Interestingly, the part of the vacation has a connection to the TV show Sunday Morning, which we usually watch at home. Both the Franklin Campabello International Park and a roadside attraction that we passed on our way to Bar Harbor, this arena for some 'chainsaw artist', were on that show. At 7 PM, we arrived at our bed and breakfast, where we have three separate rooms, which was nice, seeing as we are a bit sick of one another by now. The person at the bed and breakfast recommended to eat at this restaurant in Bar Harbor, Cafe This Way. While the food turned out to be pretty good, the portions were small, the menu was a bit expensive and limited (despite my mom's protestations that she had seen sandwiches on an online menu), and our server was a bit snobby. I got a salad, but basically ate off of everyone else's plates.
Yesterday's plans were to go on this National Park Service Ranger-led tour of the many carriage roads of Acadia National Park. Yet, despite the fact we got up and got ready on time, we still managed to be late. This was partially because we got faulty directions from the people who run the bed and breakfast and partially because my mom missed the directions online, but when we finally found where we were supposed to be, we expected to have missed it. Luckily, they were still there, and we only missed a description on how the roads and bridges were made. After actually finding the tour, it was pretty informative. I learned why John D. Rockefeller built these roads - because he liked nature and riding his carriages without the noxious noise and smell of the newfangled cars, and that the coping stones on the side of the road, which were used to guide the horses, are affectionately called "Rockefeller's Teeth" and cleaning them out is called "flossing." More on that later. My favorite thing on the tour, though, were the bridges. There was one where the arch was built nonparallel to the face of the bridge, just so that it was a "frame" to the beauty of nature around it, particular the little waterfall behind. Apparently with these roads, Rockefeller tried to enhance the experience of nature to the carriage riders, as well as hikers and bikers.
From there, we started to drive the traditional Park Loop road, which goes around to all the most famous spots in the park. We have yet to finish it. The first stop in our tour was lunch - we had made reservations at Jordan Pond House, which, as its name suggests, right on Jordan Pond, one of the stops on the loop around Acadia. The food there was delicious, and since we had a reservation, we hardly had any wait. I got the vegetarian panini and a popover - their specialty - and for desert we all shared a brownie a la mode and a blueberry crisp a la mode. Everything, including my lemonade, which was unsweetened and you added as much sugar water as you wanted to sweeten, was quite tasty. After walking to Jordan Pond, the clearest body of water on the island, we restarted the tour and made it all the way to Sieur de Monts, and area where the original park stood, which is only about 1/3 the way through. We went back to do laundry, which everyone desperately needed, and then we went back out at sunset. At one stop, Schooner Head Overlook, we missed the turnoff on a one way street. My dad, seeing no one, turned around and went the wrong way for a few hundred feet. It just so happens that a park ranger comes barreling in with lights flashing at that exact moment, and caught us. Luckily, we were left off with a warning, but really, where did that car come from? Our lack of luck continued when I accidentally flung my brother's camera on the ground (my hand was swinging and hit it from his hand...) After that, everyone wasn't very happy, so if you see any pictures of us when we walked down to the rocky shore, it is not a happy picture. Also since Acadia has no smooth border, there was some private property with this monstrosity of a summer 'cottage' that broke up the beauty of the natural settings. None of us were really that hungry by this time at night, but to avoid another fainting spell, we went and ate at McKay's Public House, where I got the soup de jour, a sort of crust-less pot pie. The restaurant itself was a little slow, but that might have been because it was close to closing.
Finally onto today. Once again, the plan was to get up early, this time to volunteer with Friends of Acadia in the park. Once again, we were late, yet this time we had no excuse of getting lost. The ranger at the headquarters wasn't much help, only saying where they might be, but with help of maintenance crew on one of the carriage roads and sheer luck, we actually found them. What was really cool about this experience was that we, as volunteers, got to drive on the no-automobile carriage roads. Pretty nifty, huh? Our job was the previously mentioned 'flosing' of Rockefeller's Teeth, or weeding out the plants around the coping stones so water can drain. The job wasn't too bad, and it went quite quickly because there was this huge high school group from Maine there in addition to us. From there was a picnic on the grass at Sieur de Monts, from foods that my parents had bought from a grocery store yesterday. Though the food was simple - corn beef sandwich and fruit - it was just nice eating out in the open air, with the beauty of Acadia surrounding you. We probably could have gone to more picturesque places, but we were on a tight time schedule. Our next planned even started right after we finished eating -  a ranger/Diver Ed led boat tour around Frenchman's Bay. How it worked was, as we were going around the bay, the ranger would point out wildlife, tell about the history of the place , and the  like. Then we would anchor in one place, and Diver Ed would dive to the bottom with a video camera, live stream the wildlife down there to a TV on the boat, and his wife, 'Captain Evil' narrated. At first I thought it would be a bit childish, but I actually enjoyed it. Both the Ranger and the others were very knowledgeable about the wildlife in this area - above and below the water. Not only did I see a bald eagle (!), seal, lobster, starfish, and more in the wild, but the program was quite funny, if a bit cheesy. I don't know how it is without the ranger to level out the cheesiness a bit, but this tour was great! I even got to touch the animals brought up, including a starfish with only 2 legs that looked like a moustache :)
By the time the tour ended, it was low tide. So we decided to walk from Bar Harbor out on the sandbar to Bar Island, the closest island, which is connected by gravel and sand at low tide. You could go hike in that island, but we didn't want to be stranded, so only walked there and back, and looked for seashells for my sister along the way. Let me tell you, we collected a lot. Then, we went to eat dinner at Rosalie's Pizza, an informal pizza place that my brother found online and that had raving reviews. Not only was our meal great, but it was also very cheap, which never hurts. Finally, we went and looked around downtown Bar Harbor - a bookstore, a dog store called Bark Harbor, and finally got ice cream Bar Harbor Ice Cream, which is where President Obama went when he visited Acadia National Park a year or so ago. I got the same flavor he did - coconut - and it was pretty good. My other flavor, cookies and cream, was okay. I should have stuck with their more adventurous flavors, like peanut butter, or one called Girl Scouts (Gone Wild)...