Hello, Porcupines!
(Left to Right: Sheep, Burnt, Long, and Bald Porcupine Islands)
10 June 2023
This was our seventh stay at the Bar Harbor Inn. Ocean view rooms don't come cheap. I always plan to make the most of it. That starts with a handful of photos as soon as we arrive.
The Margaret Todd was already well on her way for the evening sail.
Bald Porcupine Island is my favorite of the Porcupines, probably because it's the closest and looks the most porcupine-y from this angle.
The tide was up. We caught the sunset from the harbor pier.
I turned around to see the moon already well up. I took a few photos without a tripod, a freehand moon.
We had dinner reservations for shortly after sunset. Walking through Agamont Park, on the hill above the pier, we came across a little jazz band performing Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." They wore Hawaiian shirts, khaki pants, and blue hats that read "Blue Hill Band." Jack dropped some money into their hat.
Across the street, the Geddy's moose was sporting upgraded purple antlers. They used to be red.
After dinner and ice cream, we walked back through town, stopping into some of the shops. I was on a quest for a biking friend I met recently, a woman who has spent decades coming to Bar Harbor for vacation. She had broken a mug she liked, from the Acadia National Park gift shop at Jordan Pond. My job was to find the exact mug and get her a couple. I'd suggested she contact the National Park shops directly because souvenirs come and go, but by the time I left for vacation, she hadn't done that.
Locating her mug was proving to be a challenge. I'd never paid attention to the mugs the souvenir shops sell. I'd always focused on moose keychains. They're cheap, they don't take up much space, and they make good zipper pulls on backpacks and suitcases. Over the years, the supply of moose keychains has dwindled. Other creatures, like lobsters, are in.
I have a large collection of moose socks as well. I wear the socks. I wear holes in them. My drawer is full of moose socks; I wasn't looking for more. I have a handful of moose-themed nightshirts as well. Those also appeared to be out of fashion this year.
Mugs, though, are all over. They all say "Bar Harbor" or "Maine" on them somewhere. About half of them feature moose. I have a cupboard full of generic moose mugs already; I really don't need more. While I didn't see the mug Elaine wanted that night, I did come across one that appealed to my map geekiness.
The outside had a drawing of the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse, from the angle that everyone knows because everyone who goes there takes this picture, and everyone else sees this picture everywhere else. On the inside was a detailed map of Mount Desert Island, very much like the one I have on my wall at home. I looked at the mug with amused interest, but I didn't buy it.
When we got back to the hotel, I checked the balcony for spiders. I'd done the same in Ogunquit. The ones I found were clearly babies, of the same unidentifiable colors I've seen for years in Bar Harbor. I'd posted a photo on iNaturalist with a guess, and received a response that the critters were too young to be identified. On the Bar Harbor Inn balcony, there were more of these kids. I took a few photos and called it a night.
I got Janice ready for her big ride up the mountain, and then I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m.
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