September 13, 2018

The sun was shining this morning, just a few clouds near the horizon and the temperature was 18°C, when we went for breakfast. We cruised, before sunrise, from the Gulf of Maine into Frenchman Bay, where the ship was anchored off Mount Desert Island close to the townsite of Bar Harbor, Maine. From the ship’s deck the evergreen forested islands looked beautiful and you can see the distant 466 meters high Cadillac Mountain in the center of Mount Desert Island.

Our tour started with boarding the tender boat for the ten minute ride to the pier on Bar Harbor’s West Street. There was a lovely view of Frenchman Bay islands. There were three other ship scattered in the bay – Aida luna and American Constitution which we had seen yesterday and the Norwegian Dawn, which we had seen on TV six days ago, was rerouted to Nova Scotia from its original destination of Bermuda, due to Hurricane Florence, (which was predicted to hit the Carolinas within the next few hours). The first wharf was built in 1857 by Tobias Roberts for the steamboats that had started to make regular stops at Eden.

The walking tour group gathered on West Street for our 19^thcentury costumed guide, Catherine, impersonating a Vanderbilt family servant to tell us some of Bar Harbor’s history and to take us through the old Victorian section of the town. Frenchman Bay was discovered by the French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, in 1604. The village was established in 1796 and named Eden and was part of Massachusetts until the state of Maine was formed in 1820. Bar Harbor has a permanent population of 4,000 and the whole Mount Desert Island has 10,000 permanent residents. By 1844, the American artist, Thomas Cole, a founder of the Hudson River School of artists, owned property on the island and invited fellow artists to visit. His friend, Frederic Church, exhibited paintings of the area in New York City in 1850 and 1852, which started the interest of the wealthy city dwellers in going to Eden. The town changed its name to Bar Harbor in 1918 since the sand bar connected to Bar Island was a well-known feature of the harbor at Eden. The Agamont House Hotel was built in 1857 and burned in 1888, but it was an introduction to the natural beauty of Eden to the wealthy and influential families of the northern New England states, especially, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts wishing to escape the bustle of the big cities. They liked the natural beauty so much that they decided to build 4,000 square foot or bigger Victorian style “cottages”. Anywhere else they would be considered mansions. The families with their household servants, carriages and horses would arrive in late June and stay until mid-August, swelling the town’s population. Because they were in a “rustic” location they called themselves the “Rusticators”. The Rusticators along with president of Harvard University, Charles Elliot, who had camped on nearby Cap Island in the 1880s with his young sons for seven summers, were instrumental in creating Acadia National Park in 1916.

As we walked along West Street, we viewed the huge mid to late 19^thcentury “cottages” of the wealthy. The Veasy house, several thousand square feet with white clapboards and black trim, was originally located about a kilometer away from 1870 to 1879 near the wharfs and was a private men’s club, where the wealthy men would go to socialize, play cards, read, drink and women were not allowed. In 1851 Maine passed Prohibition laws that you could not make buy or sell alcohol. Having rich men’s club members initiated a plan to buy liquor from the British colonies to the north, later the Canadian maritime provinces, and have the boats deliver the goods to a small nearby island. The locals later referred to it as Rum Island. From there it would be transferred to the club. Eventually membership grew and the club house was too small. One winter, over log rollers, the house was transported to its present location and became a home. In its place, a bigger building was constructed which now is the Bar Harbour Inn. The members named the new building the Reading Room.

The massive homes could be frame built starting in September and be completed for the occupant’s arrival in late June. One of the first buildings we passed was a private club which was built in the 1890s. Here women were allowed and they eventually persuaded their husbands to frequent the newer club. We caught a glimpse of the sand bar at low tide which is covered later in the day when the tide is high. There was a brown shingle house, a typical Victorian colour (to blend with the scenery) called the “Westview”. The houses on West Street are all designated historical buildings and have restrictions on how they can be renovated. About half are bed & breakfasts. At Holland Street we climbed a gentle hill for two blocks, admiring some inns, smaller mansions and 1950s motels. At the corner with Mount Desert Street was the big yellow Holbrook House that had been partly destroyed in the 1947 Bar Harbor Fire which consumed about a third of the town.

Along Mount Desert Street was a white building with white columns that had once been a church and was bought in the 1980s and had a second floor created within the structure and is called the White Columns Inn. Next was the lovely yellow Thornhedge Inn which had once been the summer home of the publisher of Louisa May Alcott’s books starting with her first book, “Little Women”. The Bradford house next door is beginning to be renovated, after many years of disrepair.

The group stopped and went inside the St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church which was built in 1876 and expanded in 1881 to its present size. It has many stained glass windows, 11 of which were created in Tiffany glass by Louis Comfort having been commissioned by different families (keeping up with the Jones). The glass used is the thicker coloured bottle glass that has brighter colours and is held in place by copper foil rather than lead. In the neighbouring Burying Ground (cemetery) are grave dating back over 150 years. There is a central memorial to the young men of the town who fought in the American Civil War 1860-1864. The final stop of the 90 minute walking tour was the Village Green at the corner of Mount Desert Street and Main Street.

We walked along Main Street passing shops and restaurants deciding where to buy the famous Maine Lobster rolls for lunch. It is made with a hot dog bun with mayonnaise spread inside and a cold cooked lobster tail within, rather than a wiener. We were glad to have tried it. We found the Downeast Deli & Box Lunch Co. where we ordered the US $16 roll and ate in the Agamount Park overlooking the harbour. The temperature had warmed to 28°C and the sun felt warm. We each had a two scoop ice cream cup for dessert, before for our 12:15 walking tour and harbour cruise.

There were 26 people in the afternoon tour, which took a walk in the opposite direction from the morning walk. We followed the scenic Shore Path around Agamont Park and over to the Bar Harbour Inn, where the men’s club had once occupied. Our guide, Lynn, told us of the native American legend about the five islands close by. The deity, Bluecap, had five pet porcupines. One hot summer day, he decided to go hunting and told the porcupines to stay on Cadillac Mountainwhile he hunted. He was gone for a long time so the boldest porcupine convinced the others to go down to the water to cool off. They were having so much fun, that they forgot to return to the mountain and Bluecap returned to find no sign of them. He heard faint laughter and saw the porcupines in the water. He was so angry that he roared at them to come and threw a huge rock at the water. It is a big waterside boulder named “Balance Rock”. They were scared and could hear the call of a fairy who said she would help them. They turned to the fairy and she turned them into the five islands which are known as Bar Island, Sheep Porcupine Island, Burst Porcupines Island, Long Porcupines Island and Bold Porcupine Island. In the distance on the horizon the 1875 lighthouse on Egg Island can be seen. It was named because it is a place where many birds lay their eggs. The pathway was right on the water’s edge as the tide was starting to come in. At Grant Park, we took another path to a street of Victorian homes that are now Bed & Breakfast inns. We reached the Village Green and decided not to continue to St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church since we had already seen it. Steps 9,954 We walked along part of Main Street where we had not been and bought a blueberry soda to share. Blueberries are very abundant in Maine.

We rejoined the group for an hour and 45 minute Frenchman Bay tour on the 40 meter, four masted sailing schooner, the “Margaret Todd”. There were about 90 other passengers already aboard. The sailing ship crew allowed some of the passengers to assist with the raising of the reddish brown canvas sails, Larry took part in the task. The temperature dropped by about five degrees out on the water. When we started the cruise, the waves were about half a meter high, an hour later the waves were over one meter high. The schooner’s route took us between hundreds of lobster trap buoys floating in the water. There was a good view of Cadillac Mountain. We heard references to Charles Elliot’s camping with his sons in the 1870s, sailed past the Porcupineislands and the “Rum Island”, where the Reading Room members stashed the liquor. Some of the PorcupineIslands are part of the 36,000 acre Acadia National Park. The park ranger on board gave information about the park and pointed the eagles over the islands. On the way back to shore were a pair of harbour porpoises arching above the air. The schooner returned to its wharf and passengers needed to walk the 500 meters to the town wharf where the last tender boat waited to return to the Summit.

All of the passengers were given Canadian Customs forms to complete by the day before we arrive at Quebec City, since it will be the first port in Canada. The ship needs to give the information to Border Services in order to clear the ship for the passengers to enter Canada.

At dinner we were seated with Americans Shelby and Sue, one of our morning breakfast partners, David and Audrey and a new American couple Carol and Eldon. We chose Beef Bourgogne for dinner and a coffee flavoured mousse for dessert. Tonight’s show in the Celebrity Theater was songstress, Savannah Smith.

The band, Dancing Town, was playing good dance music in the Rendez-vous Lounge after dinner. Daily step count. 16,111