July 3, 2023 We had steady rain all day yesterday, so when we woke up to cloudy skies this morning, but no rain, we were overjoyed. We had our usual special Sunday breakfast and made plans to take a drive to Southwest Harbor. We wouldn’t leave until 12:30 to give the fog a chance to lift. We had to make a run to Walmart to pick up our prescriptions and as long as we were there, we grabbed a few other items. We were back by noon and ready to go. We picked up Mary and John and were on our way. We took Highway 3 to 198 to 102. There seemed to be a lot of hikers going up to Acadia Mountain today as we passed by the parking area filled with lots of cars. We entered the town of Southwest Harbor. The majority of the old historic buildings were white with black shutters. It was very noticeable. This was a pretty display for July 4th.
The town was busy with shoppers as it started to rain lightly.
We headed for Great Harbor Marina.
We could see many boats in the marina from the top of the hill. Once we got down to the harbor, we parked and took a good look at all the boats there. There were big ones and small ones–boats of all makes and models.
Some were moored out in the harbor on buoys.
What we really came to see were the Hinckley Yachts and the Boatyard where they build and repair the boats.
It was pretty quiet in the yard today, but we drove around the yard to see what we could see. This ferry was sitting on the land there.
Leaving the Hinckley yard, we finally encountered some wildlife. A huge doe stepped out of the woods in front of us.
Our drive took us to Seawall–an area where powerful ocean storms created a massive seawall.
We ducked into the Seawall Campground, but would have to pay to enter, so we turned around and headed out. We entered the picnic area across the street to use the restrooms and take a look at the shoreline. Some of the shoreline was still obscured by fog.
We passed through Ship Harbor on our way to Bass Harbor Head Light. The Bass Harbor Head Light marks the entrance to Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay. It is one of the three lights managed by Acadia National Park.
We knew what to expect as Bob and I had been here before and sure enough, we weren’t surprised. The line to get into the lighthouse parking lot was LONG, maybe as many as 30 cars in the line there.
There was no place along the side of the road to park, so it was decided that Mary and I would walk down to the lighthouse while the guys hung back with the Jeep. Mary and I walked in the rain in the oncoming lane of traffic down to the lighthouse. There were really no cars coming out of the parking lot anyways. There is currently a family residing in the lighthouse keeper’s house so we had to be respectful of their privacy. We got a close-up look at the lighthouse from where we were standing.
It was built in 1876 and is 32 feet tall. It was constructed with a fog bell and tower, that has since been removed. A larger bell was placed inside the tower in 1898.
It was foggy over the water, but I could hear a boat motor and see the boat wakes. I could also hear the bell buoy ringing from the boat wakes.
The old bell was on display outside.
Back up near the parking lot, I could see the 4th order Fresnel lens through the trees. The lens remains in service today.
Mary and I walked back to find the guys parked down a side street waiting for us. By this time, the rain had stopped and the sun started to peek out. We took Highway 102 back through Bass Harbor and stopped to look in the harbor there.
Sitting on a dock were stacks and stacks of lobster traps.
Most of the boats in the harbor there were commercial fishing boats. Two of the boats were on the move heading out to open water to go fishing.
We moved around to the other end of the harbor to watch the fog bank roll in. It was beautiful to watch.
From way off in the distance, we could see this boat enter the harbor from being out at sea.
We left there and headed back on Highway 102 to return to the campground. We got back around 3:00 and took advantage of the cloudy skies, but no rain. Auggie enjoyed his time outside seeing all the other dogs pass by our campsite. It was quiet for the most part, with an occasional RV arriving throughout the afternoon. We made plans for our 4th of July festivities tomorrow and enjoyed cocktails outside before dinner. After dinner, we took our walk and for the first time in a week we saw a partial sunset.
