MaineTrip2018

Trip to Maine with Jim, Tom and Dave - July 2018

(Click on the photos to enlarge!)

Saturday, July 14 Our younger brother Tom flew out from Denver to go on a vacation with Dave and I to Maine. We picked him up at the Ithaca airport late in the evening.
Sunday I took Tom to Treman Park and hiked around the waterfalls with Scott. We had a nice visit.
Monday, Dave, Tom & I drove about 10 hours all the way to Bangor, Maine. We decided to take the minivan, and it was a wise choice for much more room, comfort, and a better view. We checked into our hotel; the Rodeway Inn, and headed to downtown Bangor to have dinner at the Sea Dog overlooking the Penobscot River. I had my first lobster roll, it was delicious. We had two queen beds in our hotel, but we wanted to sleep in separate beds, so Dave drew the short straw and slept on a mattress pad on the floor.

Tues. July 17:
It looked really foggy in the morning, but we drove the hour-long Drive to Acadia National Park. The mist was so dense we could only see about 5 feet in front of us. We stopped in the visitors center and read about the park. We drove over to Sand Beach, and hiked across the sand and up a little ways into the woods on a hiking trail.


Dave at Acadia Sand Beach	Tom & Dave at Acadia

We drove along the coastal loop road, and stopped at the Thunder Hole. This is a small cove where the water crashes in and makes a loud thunder-like sound. We then drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain. It was ridiculous how little we could see. The Mist was blowing in from the shore in huge waves, and we couldn't see a thing. Dave didn't even get out of the car. We drove to Bar Harbor, and found a good place for lunch. TripAdvisor had recommended this place, Galyn's, and we had a terrific lunch. Dave battled whole Maine lobster, while Tom and I had lobster tails and soup. We walked around Bar Harbor, and looked at the fancy Bar Harbor Inn down by the water.


Thunder Hole	Dave at Lunch at Galyn's	Bar Harbor

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped by Stephen King's house and took a couple of pictures. That evening we had dinner in Brewer, right across from Bangor, at the High Tide Restaurant.

Wed. July 18:
What a difference a day makes! Today was clear and cool. We drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, and had fantastic views all around. By the time we drove down from the overlook, the Rangers had closed the entrance to Cadillac Mountain, it was so crowded.


Jim, Tom & Dave on Cadillac Mt.	View from Cadillac Mt.	View from Cadillac Mt.

We drove over to The Beehive Trail hike, which I had done with my family years ago. It's a very steep climb, with iron rungs set into the rocks on the trail. There were lots of steep ledges to cross. As soon as we got near the foot of the hike, tom's fear of heights kicked in and we decided to hike up the backside of the Beehive Trail. It was much easier hiking, and we got to the top for spectacular views. The Beehive is a classic roche moutonnée, a geological feature that has a gradual slope to the north and a steep cliff to the south. As glaciers moved over the Beehive, melt water seeped into cracks on the south side and refroze. The glaciers slowly moved south plucking rock from the cliff side creating over time the rough and craggy south side of the mountain. We also hiked over to see the small Lake called The Bowl.


Tom & Dave atop Beehive Mt.	Sand Beach view from Beehive Mt.	The Bowl

We also hiked along the Ocean Path, and walked on the iconic giant red rocks. It was late in the afternoon by the time we got to a roadside place we read about on TripAdvisor for lunch. It was called the Travelin' Lobster, and was a small business owner take-out place that had big picnic tables in the shade. They catch their lobsters and crabs fresh each morning. Tom had a crab roll, and Dave and I had lobster rolls. They were the freshest, meatiest, tastiest lobster I've ever tasted. On our way back we stopped at a pirate's Adventure Cove mini golf place, where we played two different 18-hole courses. Dave had a hole-in-one a hole where an employee gave him a ticket for a free round of golf. He gave it to a happily surprised customer coming in when we left.


Tom on the Ocean Path at Acadia	Lobster Rolls and a Crab Roll at the Travelin' Lobster in Bar Harbor. Mmmmm!	Tom & Dave at Pirate's Cove MiniGolf

We ate at a Ground Round Grill for dinner near our Hotel.

Thurs. July 19:
In the morning, Tom and I went on a Stephen King guided tour. We were picked up by the tour van at our hotel, and with about four other people, we were driven around Bangor to see and hear about the inspirations for many of Stephen King's stories. We also heard a lot about his philanthropic life, all he has done for the city of Bangor.


Gravestone of "Carrie" King's 1st successful novel	The Standpipe from the novel "IT"	Stephen King's house in Bangor

It was very informative and fun. Meanwhile, Dave visited the Cole Land Transportation Museum, a depository of land transportation vehicles used on dirt roads as well as state and interstate highways in the U.S. state of Maine, where he said he could have spent all day. For lunch we stopped in Waterville Maine, at a restaurant called the Governor's.

We then continued our way across Maine to Kezar Lake, in Lovell, Maine, where our childhood next door neighbors the Beliveaus have a family camp on the lake. Mrs. Beliveau invites us to come visit every summer. It's a lovely place, very remote and quiet. They also happened to live next door to Stephen King's summer home, and his daughter's house as well on the other side. Joe Beliveau was my best friend growing up. He was there with his wife Julie and son Jordan. Dave was friends with Cathy Beliveau, who wasn't there, and Tom was a playmate with Terri Beliveau, who was there. Terri's younger sister Vicki was also there with her husband Steve and his son Derrick & his girlfriend Emily. Other friends and family were also there. Mrs. Beliveau stays at camp most of the summer, and is a wonderful hostess. They have the perfect location on the lake, with a small cove, white sand beach, dock, and floating raft. They have a pontoon boat, and Joe took us out for tours on the beautiful 7-mile long Lake. We also got to go canoeing and kayaking. It's a lovely rustic camp with about 10 cabins, a main lodge, no TV, quiet and peaceful. We had a marvelous time there. Tom and I would go for an early morning walk every morning in hopes of running into Stephen King walking his dog. Vicki and Jordan both ran into him, but Tom and I missed him by a matter of minutes. Vicki's husband Steve gave Tom and I some fly fishing lessons out on the raft. We were surprised by how quickly we picked it up, and did quite well. I'm ready to go fly fishing with my brother-in-law Ron Johnson in North Carolina! We played ping-pong in the other Lodge at camp with a bunch of people and had fun.


Camp Lodge and Parking lot	Joe giving a Pontoon boat Tour	Vicki, Dave, Steve & Derrick


Dave & Tom on Kezar Lake	S. King's house on Kezar Lake	Jim & Dave on Kezar Lake

Fri. July 20:
Terri, Jordan, Tom, Dave & I drove over to Sabbattus Mt. for a hike. It's a nice short hike up the mountain through the woods in the shade. Once at the summit, the southwest side provides several overlooks along immense cliffs that provide outstanding views with several memorial benches. At the summit, you can see Kezar Lake, the ski trails of Shawnee Peak, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and several other great natural features. In the afternoon Dave took a kayak and looked for shade, while tom and I took a canoe and went for a long paddle. We paddled over to Stephen King's dock, but didn't see him. It was a gorgeous sunny day out, and we had a wonderful time. We love visiting the Beliveau's camp, because the company and conversations are superior. Plus it's on one of the most remote, quietest lakes in Maine.


Tom & Terri on Sabattus Mt.	Tom, Lyn, Joe, Jim, Terri, Vicki, Dave

Sat. July 21:
We said our goodbyes, and drove west to Ticonderoga, NY to see the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour. Tom had never been, and we enjoyed the guided tour through the Transporter room, Sickbay, Kirk's quarters, hallways, the Conference Room, Engineering, and the Bridge. They do a fantastic job there recreating the set from the original blueprints.


Tom on the Transporter	Tom on the Enterprise	Tom on the Bridge

We had a nice dinner at the Fair Haven Inn. We stayed at the Bennington Motor Inn, Bennington Vermont.

Sun. July 22:
In the morning we drove up Mount Equinox, which Dave had told us about. It is a mountain in Bennington County, Vermont, in the town of Manchester. The mountain is the highest peak of the Taconic Range. It is one of thirteen peaks in Vermont with a topographic prominence over 2,000 feet, ranked third behind Mansfield and Killington. Equinox is the second highest peak in southern Vermont, after Stratton Mountain. But again, it was so foggy and raining hard, that we couldn't see a thing. There was a visitor's center at the top that told about The Charterhouse of the Transfiguration, the only Carthusian monastery in the United States. We then made the drive back to Ithaca.

We had a great time overall, despite the couple of foggy days. We got to see the beauty of Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, and Kezar Lake. We loved our visit with the Beliveaus on Kezar Lake, and hope to go back many future summers.