Maine 2019: Days 5-7

7/27/2019

The Father of Acadia

George B. Dorr is widely acknowledged as the Father of Acadia National Park. He oversaw the creation of the park, donated all of his own land purchased with his personal fortune, convinced other wealthy landowners to do the same, and served as the park's superintendent from its inception in 1919 until his death in 1944.

Sadly, the home he lived in his entire adult life fell into disrepair after his death and was razed in 1951. Curiously, John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated $5,000 to pay to have the home demolished, but did not donate the $30,000 it would have taken to perform all of the designated structural repairs. Today, all that remains of the home is its stone foundation, brick patio and granite staircases down to Compass Harbor, along with a disconcertingly small sign (for the father of Acadia, after all) denoting the presence of the ruins.

Photos: Day 5

Day 5 featured a trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in both Acadia National Park and the surrounding area. It was named after Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, a French explorer and relentless self-promoter.

Photos: Day 6

Day 6 featured a trip to Thunder Hole, offering some impressive crashing waves at high tide; dinner at Jordan Pond House, offering decent food and a spectacular view; and sunset over Eagle Lake, as viewed from Acadia's Park Loop Road.

Day 7

Day 7 featured multiple long walks: an early morning walk for Alison and Liesl, a mid-morning walk along the coastal path for me, and a hike for Alison, John and Becca. Oddly enough, no photos were taken today. Sorry about that.

Tomorrow, however, the group will start to expand as the first guests arrive in advance of Friday's wedding celebration. I expect that many photo opportunities will present themselves.

Tidbit

Have you ever heard of Edward Abbey? I had not. Right now, I find myself in the curious position of reading two of his books simultaneously: Desert Solitaire, which I managed to leave back in Richmond; and Abbey's Road, which I found on a bookshelf in our rental home here in Bar Harbor.

Abbey was quite a character, to say the least. I'll reserve my own judgment until I've finished these two books. Until then, here is just one jewel of his:

To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question.

3 Comments

McBride Janet

7/28/2019 06:07:15 pm

Fabulous! 👍. Keep the photos coming and most importantly your enjoyment! Love you guys! ! 😘❤️🙏

Jennifer Payne

7/29/2019 09:47:44 am

I’d love an explanation of why the dog is always in a stroller and never walking. Is he a dog with a disability? Are dogs prohibited from the parks and you’re holding him out as a napping baby at check points? My dog would leap out of that thing in 2 seconds. Yours seems completely at home in there.

Joshua Golub link

7/30/2019 11:05:45 am

Well, Sophie Grace, although she is only 5 years old (her birthday was yesterday, in fact), has bad knees. After she walks about 50-75 yards, her kneecaps pop into a weird position and she resorts to a bunny hop for another 20 yards, after which she stops dead in her tracks.

The downside is that we can't take her for long walks, unless we've got the dog stroller with us. On the upside, she can't go far on on the odd occasion that she escapes from our yard.

All in all, I suspect that these types of problems are ones that will continue to pop up in purebred (read: inbred) dogs. Better to find a cute little mutt from the pound.