Thursday June 5.
I woke up to a sunny, 80 degree day to travel north from Freeport towards Acadia and thought it was a good day to find a place to paddle.
I bought Steve an inflatable paddleboard at Lehighton Outdoor Center in May to use at our trip to Kentucky and packed it with me for this trip. Its a big sturdy board and has a removable seat so you can either stand up and paddle or sit and paddle it like a kayak. So on my way north, when I was in the cute town of Brunswick trying to find the Androscoggin suspension bridge I stopped in at a kayak outfitter stoe and inquired about places to paddle.
The first place they recommended was a small pond in Georgetown Maine. It sounded boring and I was looking for a place with rocks cliffs but not deadly tides.
So then they directed me to another outfitter who has a boat launch on the southern tip of Orr’s Island next to the Salt Cod Cafe. So I put the location in my GPS and was off.
It was a beautiful drive and I was excited to get out and paddle. The boat launch was easy to find and not crowded and even had porto johns.
I inflated the boat and was soon in the water which was a cove in the Casco Bay.
The bridge from Orr’s Island to Bailey Island in Harpswell Maine was made of slabs of rectangular rocks that appeared to be stacked. Its hard to describe but reminded me of a kid trying to build a bridge with blocks. Its called the Cribstone Bridge.
It was built in 1928 and is the only one in the world. It is made of open split granite cribwork that are stacked with nothing between to hold it together. It was designed to withstand the strong tidal currents, salt water and ice flow.
After paddling for a few miles I returned to the van and hopped on my bike. I had met a woman who was training a group to be kayak guides. She too was a bicyclist and suggested that I would enjoy a ride around Bailey Isand and an told me an area to stop for a hike.
The ride was nice and the hike took me to a place called “Giant Stairs”. It was an easy hike to a rock outcropping.The rocks sparkled as they had some mica in them.
The photos just dont do it justice.
I continued riding and found another trail called Devil’s Back. It looked like it went along a cliff by the water but appeared to be too difficult to bike and I was tired.
I cleaned up the best I could back at the van and headed to a local seafood restaurant called “Ericas.”
It was a cute little take-out place with picnic tables by a fishing warf.
It was popular spot so I hoped that meant that the food was good it certainly had a nice view.
I had a lobster roll $25(minus the roll) and some of the best homemade onion rings. (Yes they have gluten). I also had a whoopie pie which seems to be a thing here. It wasnt my favorite as the icing was too sugary.
I drove to almost Acadia where I was meeting a group of gals from ADC for a camping weekend.
I did not have a camping spot for the night but found a park and ride lot and slept there.
It was dark and I had no idea what exactly the park and ride was for.
It wasnt until I woke up the next day(to the sound of gardening trucks beeping while backing up) that i discovered I was in a bus lot.
They are building a complex near Acadia that offers bus routes for free to the park. L.L.Bean is a sponsor and it’s called The Island Explorer Shuttle. They are propane fueled busses.
Well I didn’t get the knock so it was a good spot.