Amazing Grace 1977
In 1977 I spent two months driving from California to Maine in a Volkswagen van named Amazing Grace. “Gracie” and I left San Diego on March 1st, meandered across the country, and arrived on Mount Desert Island on April 30th. By April 31st I knew I had found my new home. I lived there for the next five months and returned nearly every year until 2013 when I moved here …
Walking On Water – Echo Lake
Echo Lake is located on the “quiet side” of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park. All winter it has been, and still is, covered with a thick layer of ice. Today the ice was covered with water. With temps this afternoon approaching 50° F, snow from earlier in the week is now water which is several inches deep in places. Janice and Emma and I drove down to the boat launch at Ikes …
Southwest Harbor Maine Panorama
Southwest Harbor, Maine is located in the southwest quadrant of Mount Desert Island. Aptly named, it’s area of 22.69 square miles and population of less than 2,000 people are nearly entirely surrounded by Acadia National Park and the Atlantic Ocean. In summer the harbor is full of boats small and large, from kayaks to multimillion dollar yachts. This time of year lobster boats are …
Mount Desert Island in Winter
Mount Desert Island is located on the coast of Maine, about five hours by car driving north from Boston. The most well known attraction is Acadia National Park which welcomes more than two million visitors each year. Nearly all of them come in July, August, and September. In Winter, most people you see live here year round. In summer the island is magical. In winter it is breathtaking, …
Southwest Harbor, Maine in February
Southwest Harbor is located on the “quiet side” of Mount Desert Island (MDI). “Quiet” is a term relative to the east side of the island where you’ll find Bar Harbor and some of the most popular spots in Acadia National Park. During the “high season” months of July and August, the east side is very busy and hoppin’ place. In summer, the west side has plenty of activity too, but many …
Southwest Harbor, Maine in January
The thermometer in my Southwest Harbor kitchen read -7° F when I left the house this morning to take pictures. Such cold weather is not uncommon here in January, but it’s rare enough that I wanted to capture these frigid scenes while I had the chance. Mount Desert Island is a much different place in the winter than in the summer, but the scenery is equally spectacular. For the those …
Saint Sauveur Mission on Christmas Day
In June 1613, French Jesuit missionaries attempted to establish a colony on Mount Desert Island. Convinced by Abnaki Chief Asticou that the current day Fernald Point would be an excellent location, they came ashore, celebrated mass, and named the place Saint Sauveur. Presumably the reference is to our holy savior Jesus Christ and not to an actual saint since, to the best of my knowledge, …
Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House
Our friends keep asking us for pictures of our home. Here’s what it looked like this morning after the second of two back-to-back snow storms. The house was built in 1931 and that’s about all we know of its history [see update below]. It does seem that every recent owner has done something to improve it and we are trying to keep up the tradition. Downstairs there’s a kitchen, dining room, …
Bitter Cold in Southwest Harbor Maine
Southwest Harbor, Maine on a cold December morning is the subject of this brief post. When I awoke today and saw the thermometer reading only 1°F I knew it would be a good time to get more pictures of sea smoke. After a quick cup of coffee, I jumped in the Subaru (which thankfully cranked over and started immediately) and drove down Clark Point road to the upper town dock which is just …
Little Long Pond Carriage Roads
Mount Desert Island has more than 50 miles of carriage roads, most of them located in Acadia National Park. The five mile loop that we snowshoed on this morning is on private land that the Rockefeller’s generously allow the public to use. From our house in Southwest Harbor, we drove 20 minutes to get to the parking area which, amazingly, was plowed. The temperature was in the mid teens, …