Et in Acadia ego (part 1)

(I think Kendra was the one who suggested the pun I'm using as the title of this entry, shortly after we arrived in Acadia.)

Here's part one of what I've been up to this past week (broken into two parts to avoid overlong entry):

Sunday I mostly just relaxed 'til midafternoon. Ventured out to get food, ran into Jim M, discovered he was embarking on an excursion, joined him. Walked across the sandbar at low tide, then wandered up along Bar Island. Saw ruins, deer, and many dragonflies. Evening: group dinner back at the cabins.

Monday: Biked around Eagle Lake with Kendra and Jere7my. Fun, with some lovely scenery. A bit tiring for me in places, but only because I'm kind of out of shape. In the evening, had dinner with various folks at a tapas place (our third or fourth choice, after the other places were packed full) that turned out to have very slow service. Which was fine, because it was pouring down rain and we were hoping to wait 'til the rain went away before venturing outside.

Tuesday: Mostly a relaxaday at first, but then heard folks were driving up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, so I tagged along. Nifty. I love watching birds soar. Evening: Dinner with various folks at Cafe This Way. My crabcake entree was a little more crab-focused than I had hoped (I prefer crabcakes to have more stuff mixed with the crab), but the side-dish vegetables were tasty, and the raspberry-chocolate flourless cake was totally amazing. Best food item I've had in ages. Rapture in every bite.

We interrupted dinner before dessert to run outside to the parking lot to see an Iridium flare. Which was super cool. Thanks to Elliott for suggesting it, and Jim for figuring out when and where to look! And to our waitress for not freaking out when we told her we were going out to the parking lot but not to worry, we'd be back. (She wanted to come along, but somehow didn't.)

Afterward, Michael and Lisa were giving me a ride back to the cabins when they had the idea of driving up to the top of Cadillac Mountain in the dark. So we did that; that was also lovely, in a different way from the daytime trip. Stars! I pointed to a particularly bright one and mentioned that my astronomy app, SkyVoyager (which rotates to match where you're pointing the iPhone), said it was Arcturus. Lisa used their nifty star-identifier device, which said it was Jupiter. I tried again; my app said it was Venus. Lisa tried again, and said it was Jupiter. I tried yet again, and this time my app correctly identified it as Jupiter. I don't know what was up—it's a super-sophisticated app, so it may well have been pilot error on my part, but it was kinda annoying. I then went on to misidentify two or three other things.

(Which reminds me to mention something another passenger said on the boat today (completely seriously): "The sun is heavenly today!")

Wednesday I accompanied Fred and Laura and Kendra on a walk from Otter Cliff to Thunder Hole, where we met up with Jere7my. We continued on to Sand Beach, then back to Thunder Hole. The others went on to hike the Gorham Mountain trail, but I had realized that I'd reached the point where walking was no longer fun, so it seemed like a bad idea for me to set out on a new hike, so I hopped on the free bus home.

(Along the way, the bus stopped in Otter Creek, where I saw a sign for Miller & Wilson's Theater of Marvels. Neglected to Google it until Friday night, though. Turns out they only perform on Saturday evenings, so we'd have missed it anyway. But it sounds like fun: medicine show + magic + Middle Eastern dance + assorted other stuff.)

That evening, had dinner with Annie in town, at the Parkside restaurant. Food was okay; nothing special.

Thursday we went whale-watching, but I'll cover that next entry.

2 Responses to “Et in Acadia ego (part 1)”

  1. Kendra

    I’d love to take credit for that title, but it wasn’t me. I wouldn’t put it past Jim or Fred.

    reply
  2. Jed

    Whoever it was said it in English—something like “I, too, am in Acadia,” shortly after we arrived.

    reply

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