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.

Day Seven

We mostly drove today. From The top part of Maine to Acadia National Park. It is beautiful here. We took lots of pictures, but I am afraid that the beauty is lost in translation. We had dinner at Geddy's a cute restaurant in Bar Harbor. We then took our time in some of the shops around Main street in Bar Harbor. Deb and I both bought sweatshirts and we decided to wear them as it was freezing on top of Cadillac Mountain. Once we got back to the hotel to load pictures, I noticed that my charger for my laptop is nowhere to be found. Luckily Deb let me use her computer while we watched Survivor tonight. I am going to try to get a new charger at Radio Shack tomorrow.

Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.

Day Six

So we left the hotel just before 9am. Deb drained the cooler and I packed the car and then we looked over and saw a McDonald's and a gas station selling ice. Now I am not normally one to eat fast food, but in the interest of curiosity I suggested that we check it out. Everything in Canada seems super expensive, so we wanted to test this theory using something that we know from the states, McDonald's just happened along our path at a moment of weakness. I was hungry and it was there so we decided why not. For 2 breakfast burritos, a hash brown and a juice cost me nearly $7 Canadian. I don't know what the cost of that meal at my local McDonald's would have been, but I can almost guarantee that if it was similar I would never again make such a purchase. The 4 lb bag of ice cost $2.59.

Fed, Iced and ready to go we headed towards Quebec City. It was a pleasant drive of about 2 hours to Montmorency Falls. It cost $9.50 Canadian to enter the park by car and I would have to say it was a fun excursion. Below is the sign and the mansion they use to house two or three restaurants, washrooms, and a souvenir shop.

Walking around the grounds we spotted a suspension bridge and a path to the bottom of the falls, so we decided to walk towards it. There was a little jut in the path to a look out point of the fall which is where the picture of me is taken and the picture of Deb was taken on that bridge.

The closer we got to that path to the base of the falls however the less excited we were to attempt it.

Fortunate for us there was another way to the base and we decided to take it. It cost $11 Canadian each for a round trip. Below is a picture of our transportation and some of us in said transportation.

I have to say I think that some of the best photos of the falls were taken from that cable car in the sky. Here is one below.

After leaving the falls, we headed to Quebec city. One of the fun things about driving in French Canada is you know that you can't read the signs and they know that you can't read the signs so a lot of the signs are pictorial. Below are two of our favorites.

Mine is the 4 way stop sign with little stop signs at each junction

and Deb's was the picture of 2 signs colliding on a sign.

We were hungry once we got to the walled portion of the city so the first order of business was securing lunch. Although it was around 3pm, we had not eaten since McDonald's that morning. Ok we had some snacks in the car, but nothing significant. Below is a picture of the restaurant and one of us at our table. The cost was a bit staggering for lunch, but I guess maybe if you drink alcohol it was a good deal, the meal included soup, entree, dessert and a beer or wine; we opted for apple juice, and my total with tip was $25 Canadian, which is still $24 and change US.

We must have selected a popular restaurant since after lunch, while walking around, I found a post card of the street that we walked with the restaurant in it. Below are a few pictures of us walking around and some of the city sights. I am climbing the stairs to the top of the wall that surrounds the city. It was really cool to walk on the wall and for a brief minute we imagined it similar to walking the great wall of China.

I like these pictures of us leaving the city wall as you can see how thick the walls are built. I can just imagine a gate and a soldier standing guard.

Once we left Quebec City we headed home. In the literal sense of the word. We headed back the the good old USA. We finally got to the boarder and for once there was no line. I was so excited I didn't even see that the light was apparently red. The customs officer was not to happy to see me, but he let us pass and We are back in America, this time with every intention to stay.

It was funny we saw lots of the sign above while driving in Canada, but never any actual Moose. That all changed once we hit Maine. On the road to the hotel we passed only 4 trucks in 10 miles, but we saw 5 Moose. Some on the side of the road, one crossing the road and another with no intention of moving out of our lane.

Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.

Day Five

So we started out the day with breakfast in Alexandria Bay at the North Star Restaurant. Deb had a kind of Eggs Benedict with cheese sauce instead of Hollandaise juice and extra bacon and I had 2 eggs with hash. The prices were reasonable and the portions a good size. All in all it was a great start to our day. Up next we boarded a ferry ($7.50 pp) to Hart Island to tour Boldt Castle.

Below is a picture of Deb and Me in front of our transportation to the Island.

These pictures were taken on the ferry:

Once we arrived on the island we paid $7 pp to see the castle. Apparently the man that built the castle never lived there. His wife died unexpectedly and he never stepped foot on the island again. Construction started in 1900 and it cost 2.5 million to build. Can you imagine what the equivalent of that today is? Staggering.

There are a lot of rooms that are unfinished, but there are many rooms that are furnished and finished and they are spectacular. Here is a picture of me on the grand stairwell. It leads from the 1st floor to the 2nd. Deb misunderstood when I said I wanted to take a picture of the stairs before taking the elevator. She thought that I said I wanted to take the stairs and so she left without me. The elevator is really cool too. It has a glass window in it so when you are taking it you can see through to the gardens and surrounding islands.

They are working on restoring the castle and the admission fees are funneled into that. If you are ever in the 1,000 Islands area of New York or Canada it is definitely not to be missed. After leaving Hart island we had lunch at Brass Tacks before leaving the US for Canada.

Can I just say this time driving in Canada was a whole new world. Ontario was nice all the signs were in both English and French, but when we crossed into Quebec the English translations went away and the signs are completely in French. We got lucky though we made it to the temple with plenty of time for our session which luckily was in English. Below are some pictures of the temple.

Once we left the temple, around 10pm we then had the task of finding a hotel. We drove around a bit and everyone seemed to be full. I don't know how, but there was no vacancy. So we decided to head towards Quebec City, tomorrow's destination. About 10 miles down the road we found a hotel and settled in for the night.

Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.