ACADIA NATIONAL PARK & THE STATES OF NH AND VT

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Can you see these people enjoying a vacation in the 1880s, hiking up mountains and  stomping through the woods to the Atlantic sea shore in dress suits and long gathered skirts?  I really can't, but they did come to Mt. Desert Island and were known as Rusticators.  The aim was to retreat to a simple existence (rustic) to relax and enjoy the views.  (It was at this time Mackinaw Island also evolved as a vacation destination.)

Current visitors can be much more active around Acadia by biking, kayaking, hiking, rock climbing,  horse back riding, and indulging in lobster and popovers.

Actually, we loved the popovers served with wild blueberry jam at this outdoor restaurant  in the Park.

Acadia Park has miles of these carriage roads which are used by only bikers or hikers.

However, the scenery is why everyone comes.  This is the view from from Cadillac Mt. at 1500 ft above sea level.

One of many lakes on the island.  This one supplies the water to Bar Harbor, ME.

 In 1947, a fire ravaged a large part of the island's forest and burned many of the homes of famous and wealthy vacationers.  Since then the trees have returned but only a few of the wealthy inhabitants.Rebuilding by these families was cost prohibitive.  

But in the early 1900's, the Rockefeller family established this area as a National Park to be enjoyed by any who wished to come.  And many people do just that swelling the Bar Harbor population from 3,000 to 25,000 in the summer.

Even in late September, ships arrived daily as well as tour buses.

The village of Bar Harbor sits adjacent to Acadia.

We could have stayed for another week biking on these fantastic trails but,.... the road calls.

THE WHITE MOUNTAINS, NEW HAMPSHIRE

October 1

We had the most exciting day visiting the top of Mt. Washington, VT which boasts having the worst weather in the United States.  It is 6,200 feet above sea level, with a weather station perched on the treeless and rocky top.  

We are above the clouds.

Specially equipped vans drive up a steep winding road in 30 minutes where the temperature drops from 60F to 20F wind chill.  Any given day it could snow at the top and when it does, weather people will know.  Weather observations have been issued every hour, every day since 1928 from this location by people stationed at the observatory.

Weather tower

A chilled tourist holds one of six chains that keeps this building anchored to the summit.

Before this was a weather station, the road was originally built as a vacation destination in the early 1800's!!  I really need to research vacationing in this time period, because I have assumed that life was sufficiently challenging without visiting a place like this.  However, the hotel accommodations have been recreated at the summit as you see below.

The stone building looks a little cave-like,

but the interior was actually inviting.

Mt. Washington, NH .. recording the worst weather in the country.

VERMONT

A few hours on the road westward, and we find ourselves in northern Vermont at Little River State Park.  State parks in Vermont are for hardy souls because they lack electricity hook ups.  We were back to real camping for the 2 nights we were there.

Everywhere you look, you see mountains with color.  We took a gondola up a 4200 ft. ski mountain, however today, people were not transporting skis, but had mountain bikes.  

The view from 4200 ft.

Another turn in the road, another colorful mountain.

The two main attractions at the top of RT. 100 are Stowe and Waterbury.  Stowe is a small town which grows in population on beautiful fall weekends.  The one place I really wanted to see in this area was the Von Trapp Family Lodge.  If any of you remember The Sound of Music, it is based on the experiences of the Von Trapp family in Salzburg, Austria just prior to WW ll.  We viewed a 45 minute film where the real Maria Von Trapp told her story.  The movie is about 90% accurate, but the story continues when the family escaped the Nazis and ended up in the United States to continue their singing and establish a livelihood.

Along with the lodge, the family added a brewery to the property.  I found this young gent enjoying a sampler.

The Von Trapp Family Lodge

All the family members physically worked to build this wonderful lodge and grow the business.  The original 7 children are buried here but 3 additional were born in the US and many grandchildren are working today at the Lodge.  They received no money from the film, however their name alone is famous.

Waterbuty's fame is due most to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.  We took the tour, ate the sample and crossed it off our bucket list.

We continued south on Rt. 100, seeing wonderful color, ski mountains, and farms.  The big surprise was finding Vermont Country Store in the small town of Weston.  Some might know of their catalog of hard to find and old, but practical products.  But we were shocked see what this place looked like.

The front of  Vermont Country Store, but don't be deceived...it is huge.

The interior looks much the same as when in was started in 1947.  We were there early, but by the time we left, it was very crowded.

Our last day in Vermont, October 5, was spent hiking in the area.  We are heading in a southernly direction, especially since campgrounds are closing for the season.

Hiking on Mt. Bald, 1500 ft. but we never saw the top.  Maybe next time.