Crew Log for Monday, September 5th to Thursday, September 8th, 2022
Northeast Harbor is a well protected anchorage tucked behind the Cranberry Islands on the south side of Mount Desert Island. According to the Guide Book, Samuel de Champlain, named the island L’Isle de Mont Desert in 1604. It is not clear whether the name referred to the bare, desert-like mountaintops or it’s deserted appearance.
The Northeast Harbor Marina is a beautiful full service facility within a short walking distance to the village. The village is a typical tourist town, with quaint, upscale shops and a few nice restaurants. There is also a well stocked food and liquor market. The Land and Garden Preserve is on the other side of the harbor, which has a series of forest trails and the Thuya Gardens.
The harbor hosts every conceivable boat from lobster boats to mega yachts. There is a Hinckley boatyard next to the marina, so Hinckley motor and sail boats are everywhere. They truly are beautiful works of art.
Aside from being a favorite cruising spot for the rich and famous, Mt. Desert Island, according to Maine residents, is the most visited National Park in the US. We visited Acadia National Park about 4 years ago and can understand it’s draw. The Park has miles of well maintained hiking paths and an amazing network of Carriage Trails featuring dozens of beautiful stone arch bridges.
Bar Harbor, located on the northeast side of Mt. Desert, is a busy tourist center, and the landing spot for cruise ships and “The Cat”, the ferry from Yarmouth. We avoided Bar Harbor this trip. Altho, late fall is the best time to visit if you wanted to avoid the crowds. There is a free bus that links all the communities on Mt. Desert. The trip from Northeast Harbor to Bar Harbor takes about 45 minutes.
We spent our first day on the boat: checking in; catching up on news from home; providing some updates to the blog site; and of course, recovering from the 30 hour passage. The next morning we made our way ashore to enjoy a long, hot shower and did a bit of laundry. We took a walk around the village and stopped for lunch and picked up some provisions before heading back to boat for sundowners with the crew from Adanaco.
Wednesday was a beautiful day so we dinghied over to the Thuya Landing Boat Dock and hiked up the trail to the Thuya Gardens. A blend of native woodland gardens and formal border gardens, the site was beautifully maintained and dated back to the 1950’s. The garden and surrounding trails were the main features of the 1,000 Land and Garden Preserve, a gift from the John D. Rockefeller Family. The trail up to the gardens was spectacular and offered great views of Northeast Harbor.
We made our way down another trail to the Asticou Azalea / Japanese Garden. And while it wasn’t the best time of year to appreciate the azaleas, the grounds and landscaping were amazing. The garden featured a number of partially hidden spots, to sit and relax in quiet reflection. The sign at the entrance of the garden even reminded visitors to refrain from cell phone use, while enjoying the gardens. Again, the care of the gardens and attention to detail was obvious everywhere you looked.
The highlight of our stay in Northeast Harbor was connecting with dear friends from our windsurfing days, who now live in Bangor. We hadn’t seen Andy and Maura for over 25 years, however, we quickly picked up right where we left off, catching each other up on kids, life, health and future plans. Andy and Maura are wonderfully kind people who went above and beyond and we are certainly grateful for their friendship and generosity. We are already looking forward to the return trip next spring and getting to spend more time with our friends.
I will admit, I am somewhat “lazy” when it comes to staying in contact with people from the past, altho social media does make that easier now. However, both Judy and I have commented several times during this trip, that one of the most unexpected surprises, has been how fun it is to connect with friends and family, as well as meeting new friends along the way.
If I have learned anything from this experience so far, it is that people from our past have had a big influence on how we have arrived here. And while memories of our friendships fade a bit with time and old age, it doesn’t take long to pick up right where we left off.
We have certainly enjoyed our stay in Northeast Harbor. We are headed to Vinalhaven Island in the morning.
More about that, next time.
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