Day Eleven

We had breakfast with Bob at the Fairgrounds Cafe again this morning. We almost started to feel like regulars after 3 mornings. Then we headed off towards the big city.

We stopped for lunch at a place I had seen on Diners Drive ins and Dives called Crazy Burger. The burgers were good, but I will be honest I was a little disappointed with the Milkshake and Fries that I ordered as well as the total $36 with a lousy tip since the service was also less than stellar.

Then we drove to see what Rhode Islanders call a beach. It was beautiful, below is some pictures:

We made it to our hotel about 6:30 and got settled in and then decided to venture into the city. We headed for the famous Gray's Papaya which also did not live up to my expectations. We had the recession special 2 hot dogs and a drink for $4.45. I have to say the Papaya juice was way better than the hot dogs, and Deb agreed. Below are some of the photos we took while wondering around.

Day Nine

If you are ever in Brunswick Maine, you should have my uncle take you around. He drove us all over today. The best things to see are always known by the locals, and though Bob only lives in Maine 6 months out of the year, he grew up in Brunswick Maine and his family has ties going back as far as 1763. We took lots of pictures and they are pretty, but trust me when I say that the view here is way better than the photos. Our first stop was a bridge stretching from Brunswick to Topsham. A fun fact about this bridge is that it is the same bridge that was here when my uncle Bob was a child. This is a picture of the bridge and one of me and Bob on the bridge.

Up next was a cribstone bridge. Apparently there are only 2 of these in existence, and this is the only one on the North American continent and this one is being repaired. It is made by stacking granite pillars. It looks "like a game of pick up sticks" according to Deb.

Next stop was Mackerel Cove. There was a cute tire swing here along the water that some kids were playing on when we got here. There were several boats in the cove when we arrived, it was totally picturesque.

We then went to Land's End. It was beautiful. The rocks looked like petrified wood. There was quartz and iron running through them. The rocks were so pretty I grabbed a few of them to bring home. Some are quartz and others have Micah in them so they sparkle. There was a gift shop there that we got some Salt Water Taffy, postcards and Deb got a magnet.

We had lunch at Danny's on the park. A hot dog trailer that is hauled into the park daily by the owner's sons. Danny's has been a staple in Brunswick for over 40 years, and you can tell the dogs are good by the line. We stood in line for a good 30 minutes for our dogs and they were well worth the wait.

After Danny's we came back to my Uncle's and I have to admit that I fell asleep too. For dinner we went to the New China Super Buffet, it was fabulous. I didn't actually eat any Chinese food, they had Crab Legs on the buffet and they were the best Crab Legs I have ever eaten. Deb said that the Chinese food was good too.

Day Eight

Today we went back to beautiful Acadia National Park and climbed the beehive trail, pictured below.

The precipice trail was closed due to nesting falcons, so we settled for the beehive which was shorter and probably better suited to us as it is still quite a hike. There are several patches of the trail where the cliff is exposed and there are other portions with only rungs to climb up. Some guys passed us as we were climbing and offered to take a picture of the 2 of us in exchange for one of the three of them. This picture was taken about half way up the trail.

At one point I reached for the rung and scraped my finger on the mountain. It was bleeding pretty badly and we had not thought to bring bandaids. Luckily Deb thought quickly and gave me the label from her water bottle and guess what it worked.

The trail was a lot of fun. There is a video of me climbing a small portion of the trail to give you an idea of what it was like.

After tackling the beehive, we drove around Acadia and saw some more of the sights jumping out at most of the pull offs and snapping a few pictures. Deb wanted to look for the pebbled beach that she kept seeing in the postcards, and we found it.

On the way to visit my Uncle we stopped for dinner at the A1 diner in Gardnier, Maine and had the famouse Onion Rings. They were fabulous. We took out almost an entire take-out container full though and we ate quite a bit. I suggested just eating onion rings and mint patty cheesecake for dinner, but Deb talked me into ordering some real food, so I had the Mac and Cheese with Ham. It was very good, but I was too full to order the cheesecake. In retrospect I should have ordered it to go, but I think I will live without it.

We are staying with my uncle for a few nights. He is going to take us around tomorrow, and don't tell Deb, but I am actually looking forward to a day free of driving. She has offered, but I am being overly protective of my car especially after the mirror incident.

Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.