Today, we packed up the trailer and went to the Acadia National Park Visitors Center. It was pretty cool, they allowed us to park the trailer in the huge parking lot while we toured the park. Why? It was too early to check-in at the campground we were scheduled for that night, AND they had a designated area for RV and trailer parking. We were allowed to leave the trailer there, as long as we picked it up before the Visitors' Center closed for the night.



After talking to a park ranger and picking up a park map, we headed out to explore Acadia. The park road was mostly one-way traffic and had two lanes. If there was something we wanted to see, we could stop in the right lane and others could still pass us. I was glad that I did not have the trailer behind me, as we were able to pull off into the many vista points without worry about the trailer blocking anyone.
 

 The color of the foliage was fantastic! We enjoyed a slow paced drive through the park. There were plenty of pull-offs also to view panoramic views of the coastline, off-shore islands and yachts that were anchored off-shore. The drive alone was well worth all the efforts to get here!   
 

There was evidence that the wildlife were busy preparing for the long winter. At one place, we saw where the beavers had been busily cutting down trees and hauling them to their dam.




Bar Harbor is a town on Mt. Desert Island, while the National Park takes up roughly half of the island. There are two sets of roads, the national park road (called carriage roads) and the state roads for tourists and those living in the towns on the island. Interestingly enough, the two roads almost never intersect. If the park road has to pass across a state road, the engineers constructed stone bridges. Because of this, anyone who hasn't paid the entrance fee cannot enter the park "down the road".

 

Thunder Hole is a natural formation where the sea creates loud thunderous roll when the right sized wave hit the rock formation. Here's proof we were actually there!!! :-)
The North Atlantic was relatively calm the day that we visited Acadia National Park. Click on the attached movie and wait...the camera is actually turned the correct way after a few frames of a sideways ocean.

One of the last things that we saw in the park before calling it a day was the old Bass Harbor Lighthouse. It was built in 1858. Purchase of the land cost $80 and the buildings cost $5,000 ~ pretty good deal by today's standards! As navigation of ships improved, so did the upgrades to the lighthouse. This information plaque gives all the details. On display is one of the old bells that used to warn ships when there was fog.

 
   
 To end the day, we decided to have dinner before picking up the trailer from the Visitors Center. We came across a little roadside stand which served fresh lobster in a "New England boil". The owner would pick out a lobster, show it to us for our approval, put it into a plastic bin, put in some clams and shrimp, a corn-on-the-cob for each of us. We waited outside while they were busy boiling our dinner. Out came the plastic bin with our dinner inside, bibs were put on and we got down to some serious eating!



We decided to take a little side trip and see a bit of Bar Harbor. There was a full marina with a beautiful sailing vessel tied up. The houses were mostly the turn-of-the-century style and well kept.

We finally reached our trailer in the Visitors Center and headed to our campground for a good night's sleep.