Escapees July-August 2023

evergreen trees, and stopped to admire the artfully crafted century old stone bridges. Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse Located about 16 miles southwest of Bar Harbor, the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is featured in lots of Maine tourist literature and on souvenir wall calendars. There’s a short path through the woods to get out to the rocks where the lighthouse stands, and then a bit of a scramble to get out far enough on the rocks for a good view of it. We visited on a drizzly day and the boulders were slick from the rain. However, seeing this famous lighthouse was well worth the slipping and sliding to get there! Moisture and fog and general drippiness are frequent on the Maine coast, but we found there is a special mystical aura that takes hold of the landscape when it is enveloped in mist. Beal & Bunker Mail Boat and Ferry On sunny days, one of the best ways to experience the fl avor of Downeast Maine is to be on a boat, out on the ocean. There are plenty of excursions for tourists, from whale watching tours to sunset cruises. We

wanted to try something different, however, so we hopped aboard the Beal & Bunker Ferry which doubles as a Mail Boat and takes passengers, mail and packages to the nearby Cranberry Islands! Early one morning, in Northeast Harbor, we boarded the small ferry that resembled the many lobster boats at anchor, and we soon found ourselves surrounded by men with lunch pails who were heading to a day of work on Cranberry Island. We stayed on the boat after the workers disembarked at our fi rst stop and were delighted to see a group of school kids coming down the docks towards the ferry, all carrying backpacks. They were heading from their homes on Cranberry Island for a day of school on the tiny island of Islesford! Each wore a lifejacket, and the ticket taker assured me that he had the phone numbers of all the parents “just in case.” As they boarded, we discovered the adults around us were all teachers headed to that school too, and the kids and their teachers chatted together as we rode the waves. The lovely late spring weather was sunny and breezy, but this sturdy little boat ferries students,

Bar Harbor is the gateway to Acadia National Park, and its streets are lined with charming boutiques and eateries.

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ESCAPEES Magazine July/August 2023