travel tangent: acadia national park (plus niagara falls and autumn leaves) 2019

Day 1 – Buffalo, NY to Niagara Falls, ON

The last US National Park that MAC and I visited together was Acadia in Maine in October 2019.  After finishing a meditation retreat in upstate New York around noon, I drove up to the Arrivals area of the nearby Buffalo Niagara International Airport and MAC, having just landed from Atlanta, GA, threw her duffle bag onto the backseat and hopped in.  We were together again for another adventure!  Our first destination was Niagara Falls on the American side.  Walking around the state park, I talked MAC’s ears off because I hadn’t seen her in over a year and … I had just finished a four-day silent retreat.

Next, it was on to the Canadian side of the falls where we stayed two nights at the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel.  We had no issues crossing the border, but it was the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and the hotel and downtown were packed.  I mean, pre-pandemic packed.  We had a long wait to check in at the hotel and, stressed out with the traffic and parking situation, I gave MAC (an experienced NY driver) the car key and got her to deal with the nearby parking garage.  Walking along the riverside promenade that day and the next, we were part of a huge wave of humanity enjoying a holiday weekend.  It was incredibly jarring for me so soon after the retreat but made for great people-watching while MAC was focused on photographing the falls.

For our dinner the first night, we opted for the nearby Hard Rock Café.  We’d had great meals in Las Vegas at this franchise before and after desert hiking trips, but the food this time was mediocre and very overpriced.  The next day, after doing some online research, we travelled just a few blocks away from the downtown to the Kasbah Restaurant where I had some of the best Mediterranean food of my life for half the price of the uninspired Hard Rock Café fare. 

Day 2 – Niagara Falls, ON

In the morning, we wanted to enjoy the fantastic view from the hotel’s restaurant but were unsure whether there would be enough options for us at the breakfast buffet—until we saw lots of Indian veg cuisine.  I was very happy to switch out my usual oatmeal for curried chickpeas, dahl, rice, and naan. 

After breakfast, we got in the car to see what the area offered further afield and did a hike in Niagara Glen provincial park, which gave a very different perspective of the Niagara River.  Then, at the recommendation of a cousin, we visited the Butterfly Conservatory, a large glass-enclosed tropical oasis with coloUrful butterflies flying all around.  I admit I was a little leery because of the spectacle in the downtown, but this magical conservatory is part of the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture and the real deal.  I had a smile on my face the entire time. 

Of course, the downtown isn’t entirely a circus.  I enjoyed seeing the historic power plant structures and walking the Oakes Garden Theatre which was near our hotel—the beautiful architecture, gardens, and sculptures offered a bit of relief from the promenade gridlock.  So why Niagara Falls in the first place?  Neither of us had been there since the 1980’s, photographing waterfalls is one of MAC’s hobbies, and it is next door to the Buffalo airport where we were meeting to go to Acadia National Park.  Since I figured this was the last time I’d be staying in the city, I went big by booking a great room with a view. 

Day 3 – Niagara Falls, ON to Brattleboro, VT

After the breakfast-buffet-with-a-view again the next morning, we crossed the border back into the US.  OK, so this was the spontaneous part of the trip—we hadn’t determined a definitive route or made hotel reservations, but had given ourselves three days and two nights to drive to Acadia National Park (where we did have reservations) through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

I was still sitting on the fence about going to Ithaca, NY, but MAC supported my pilgrimage to eat there at the (famous-to-vegetarians) Moosewood Restaurant.  I’d owned Moosewood cookbooks since the early 1990’s when it seemed there was only a handful of vegetarian cookbooks in print.  MAC and I were both all in for an incredible lunch of soup, entrée, fruit smoothie, and dessert.

This was a long day of driving and we got the last available room (blame the leaf-viewing bus tours) past dark at the Hampton Inn in Brattleboro, Vermont.  It was late so before getting comfy, we got in the car again to pick up a quick dinner from SubWay (the four-course lunch had held us over).

Day 4 – Brattleboro, VT to Freeport, ME

After a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we were ready to start our full day of looking at leaves.  The drive through Vermont’s Green Mountains and New Hampshire’s White Mountains was lovely though coloUrs had probably peaked the week before.  We enjoyed a stroll through The Vermont Country Store in Rockingham and had an excellent lunch at Soulfully Good restaurant in the cute town of Woodstock, VT (it looked like a movie set).  And with me driving, MAC could research and choose popular New England photo op locations like farms, red barns, and covered bridges. 

It was after dark again before we got a hotel room, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport, ME, home of the LL Bean flagship store.  Fortunately, we didn’t have to rely on SubWay for a late meal again but ate a surprisingly good meal (with a hummus appetizer!) from the hotel bar. 

Day 5 – Freeport to Acadia National Park, ME

We didn’t notice much noise in the hotel room, but a Nor’Easter went through during the night in Freeport.  The hotel was unaffected and we had breakfast there, but the power being out in part of the town delayed the opening of LL Bean in the morning.  We weren’t in any rush though.  I did a load of laundry there as I’d already been on the road 1.5 weeks at that point.  We enjoyed a leisurely big shop in the LL Bean stores and visited a couple other outlets.  At one point, we were astounded to see a snow plow pushing wet leaves along the street.  After lunch in nearby Brunswick at the Broadway Deli, it was time to head north-east to Acadia National Park.

We had reservations at Gallagher’s Travels for three nights and this family-run motel, next to the park and just ~5km / 3 miles north of downtown Bar Harbor, worked out well for us.  When checking in, MAC got lots of great recommendations from the owner that we used throughout our stay.  Dinner that first night was in the downtown at the very popular Side Street Café where we shared an excellent Hummus and Olive Tapenade Plate to start (yes, 3+ years later, I remember the food).

Acadia National Park was established in 1929 and, according to the NPS site, is one of the top 10 most visited US national parks!  The park is on the land of the indigenous Wabanaki—the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot.  Most of the park is on Mount Desert Island but it also includes Isle au Haut, Schoodic Peninsula, and many other coastal islands.  The park’s Cadillac Mountain is the tallest mountain on the eastern US seaboard at 1530 feet above sea level.  There are 72km / 45 miles of historic Carriage Roads in the park—stone roads and bridges that were specifically built for non-automobile traffic.  This was the first visit for both MAC and me and, three days later, we didn’t want to leave—there was still so much we wanted to do! 

Day 6 – Acadia National Park, ME

MAC had been reading online comments about photographing the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain and decided we needed to leave at some ridiculously early hour.  I assumed because it was almost mid-October and the park was closing in a week that crowds would not be an issue but I went along with her plan.  We put on lots of layers, including our new LL Bean clothes.  There weren’t many other cars when we got there (but we weren’t the first) and as we stood outside in the dark and cold, the parking lot filled up quickly.  The sunrise was magnificent, we needed all our layers, and I was astounded by the number of cars overflowing from the lot as we drove away.  Afterwards, we went to Café This Way for an excellent breakfast (I had a tofu scramble and A LOT of hot coffee) and to debrief on our early-morning adventure.  Waiting for the sunrise (at that time, the first view of sunrise on the US east coast), I looked at the other people waiting.  MAC looked at other people’s camera gear.

In the afternoon, we hiked the pretty pine-needle softened Jordan’s Trail around Jordan Pond.  Lunch at Jordan Pond House looked like a must-do for the “famous” pop-overs but the view from the restaurant was the best part.  After a long wait for a table in the massive dining room, my order for the “Veggie Stew” turned out to be disappointingly like Campbell’s Vegetable Soup.  That day, we stuck to the more popular east side of the island and drove the Park Loop Road, stopping at most attractions.  MAC checked out Thunder Hole, a rocky inlet where tidal waves cause a loud reverberation, but I needed a break from the crowds and traffic by that point so I stayed in the car introverting.

Late in the afternoon, we drove north a bit to Hadley Point to bookend our day with a view of sunset from the beach there (and with few other people).  For dinner that evening, we drove back to that area to a lovely small spot with a focus on local and seasonal ingredients called Sweet Pea’s Café where we ate delicious wood-fired pizza at the bar. 

Day 7 – Acadia National Park, ME

MAC wanted to have another go at photographing sunrise the next morning.  She planned to leave a little later and go on her own but I wasn’t having that.  I bundled up to experience a spectacular sunrise on Cadillac Mountain all over again.  After, we went to Jeannie’s Great Maine Breakfast, a popular spot for sunrise-viewers, where I was beyond excited to find vegan oatmeal walnut pancakes. 

I was happy to drive the quieter western side of the island that day, enjoying the coast, mountains, and lakes.  We had a lengthy stop at the Bass Harbor Head Light Station, built in 1858, which is at the southernmost point of the island.  I basked (not unlike a seal, having eaten a lot of vegan oatmeal walnut pancakes) in the October sunshine on the quiet rocks below the lighthouse while MAC took photos.

MAC picked out the Beehive Loop for a hike and, being out of practice by a few years, I was a little nervous with the exposure scrambling up to the view on the “rung and ladder” part of the trail.  Sitting there at the top of the cliff looking out at the Gulf of Maine and the beautiful fall foliage on a sunny day, we witnessed a young couple having a … spat.  The rest of us adults smiled knowingly at each other.  Then later MAC and I realized it was connected to something we’d seen in the morning.

At the restaurant where we ate breakfast, we had a lengthy wait outside for a table.  Parked at the curb was a very expensive sports car.  One of the other women who was waiting made a sarcastic comment about the car because it had a license plate identifying one of the Ivy League colleges.  Well, when we were back at the trailhead, we walked by that same car.  We worked out that this affluent young couple was having a get-away weekend from college at this beautiful park and instead filled it with drama.  Oh, I remember those years (without the affluence or sportscar).

For dinner, we chose the delightful Side Street Café again where we happily made the exact same menu choices.

Day 8 and Day 9 – Acadia National Park, ME to Nova Scotia via Saint John, NB

The name of this national park comes from L’Acadie, a French colony in the 17^th and 18^th centuries that included parts of what are today the Canadian Maritimes, Quebec, and Maine.  In other posts, I have referred to visiting the Grand-Pré National Historic Site which is close to where I live now, a park that is a monument to the Acadian people and their expulsion from the area.  I think of Acadians as people of French heritage who wanted to live peacefully in community and to farm (their dykes are still used by farmers in Grand-Pré today) and to avoid taking part in the British/French wars. 

Our last morning at the park, we had breakfast at 2 Cats where I was delighted to see a tofu scramble on the menu again (no need to settle for a bowl of oatmeal in Bar Harbor!).  Because it was busy, we sat outside at a sheltered table but it was still chilly.  I also felt a little sad.  We weren’t ready to leave the park but everything would be closed up for the season within the week. 

Our drive to Canada was along Maine’s State Route 9, known as the Airline Road, that I had travelled many times with my family on March Break shopping trips to Bangor, back in the days before all the US franchises moved in to Canada.  We stopped at one spot, wowed by an expanse of bright red wild blueberry fields.  We crossed the border at Calais into St. Stephen, New Brunswick and broke up the drive back to Nova Scotia by staying overnight in Saint John, NB.  The next day, we drove through New Brunswick’s Fundy National Park and stopped for MAC to see and photograph Hopewell Rocks, famous flowerpots (sea stacks) in the world’s highest tides. 

Wrap Up

MAC and I had another fantastic trip together to a US national park, bundled with lots of other fun destinations.  With Niagara Falls, I’m glad I went again but admit I hadn’t prepared myself for the heightened level of crowd and spectacle.  With Acadia National Park, we’re planning to return next year and considering taking the CAT (a high-speed catamaran car ferry between Bar Harbor, ME and Yarmouth, NS), including a visit to Baxter State Park (and Mount Kahtadin), and taking/renting bikes to ride the Carriage Roads.  I would also like to explore hiking trails on the quieter western side of the park.  When researching this post, I was so happy to see that all the Bar Harbor restaurants we enjoyed are still in business, three pandemic years later.

MAC and I are a good combo on road trips because I don’t mind the long hauls on the highway and she’s excellent with city driving (and parallel parking).  Although also an introvert, she’s more likely to chat up people for recommendations.  She’s also used to more spontaneous travel (whereas I prefer to plan everything) so this trip had a spontaneous element from NY to ME that I tried my best to roll with.  But with the national parks becoming more and more popular, spontaneity will be more difficult: You now need a RESERVATION May through October to drive up Cadillac Mountain to view the sunrise!

Extra: At one of the restaurants on this trip (I won’t say which), I had a memorable OCish and moral dilemma.  In the tiny bathroom, I knocked over the only roll of TP which went careening across the floor.  CAREENING.  The entire surface of the roll touched the floor.  What was I going to do with it?  Take off the outer sheets and leave it for the next person?  And wasn’t the next person waiting outside MAC? 

References and related links:

• MAC: Mon Amie Caroline.
• OC: obsessive-compulsive.
• vacation bundle (post #126)
• Acadia National Park (NPS site)
• Butterfly Conservatory (Niagara Parks site)