Acadia National Park has many wonders, but topping most lists is the famous but deadly Thunder Hole.  A stop along the Park Loop Road, it is a place to see ocean waves funneled into a narrow chasm where they crash and rise to spectacular heights.  On August 23, 2009, 3 people were swept out to sea and one seven year old girl from New York tragically drowned before rescuers could reach her, 45 minutes after being swept away.  Another 20 people were slammed by the waves that day, and 11 required hospital visits for broken bones. The extraordinary waves were from Hurricane Bill.  The walkway was roped off but as many as 10,000 people had come to see the combination of high tide and seventeen foot waves.  Park officials eventually had to close the Park Loop Road in order to prevent people from putting themselves in danger.

On most days Thunder Hole is a great place to visit, but hurricane driven waves are not to be messed with on the open ocean. These photos were taken on an ordinary day! If you stay at SeaCat’s Rest in Lamoine, you will be about 1/2 hour away from Thunder Hole.  Come back wet, but come back!

Butterflies hatching here in Acadia, and Lamoine, Maine will find their way south and meet up with millions in Mexico.   These high flying migrations begin here in September, right after the equinox.

We’ve grown plants which the caterpillars feed on (milkweed family) so that we could watch this fascinating journey from here at SeaCat’s Rest.    Migrating animals are amazing.   The monarchs travel south and gather just over the Texas border in Mexico.   There they spend the winter months.   Come spring they migrate into Texas and follow little by little the blooming of the milkweed family of plants.   They lay eggs on the young plants, the caterpillars consume the leaves, the toxins of which accumulate in the adult, making it a nasty treat for predators.    The adults thus can live to migrate ever northward and repeat the cycle 4-5 times during the summer season.     Here in Maine, we are at the end of the loop.    Our monarchs here begin the journey south again, living a very long time, until the spring comes again, there to lay eggs and have another year’s generation repeat the never ending cycle.

In 2007-2008 winter there was devastating weather in the mountains of Mexico and as a result we saw few monarchs make it up north this far.   However, now in 2009, we have seen a few return.    Hopefully that increases in future years.

Guests at SeaCat’s Rest in Lamoine in August and September have only to ask and we will be glad to find a few of these special migratory critters for them to observe up close and personal. If you reserve a week in that time period with children let us know and we can work to let them observe the hatching process if the timing is right.

Few visitors to Acadia National Park know about the big bowl of cranberries waiting for them around the first of October.  After all, most tourists don’t come here for a … swamp, right? (Well, actually it’s a bog).  Across the water from SeaCat’s Rest is a bridge over Northeast Creek on the north edge of the island, on Rt 3.  At high tide it is possible to go under the bridge, thereby reaching the cranberry bog without getting out of the kayak you entered on our shore.   We lend out the kayaks for free to our guests.   The mile or so of paddling from the bridge will take you through crimson maples,  abundant waterfowl, like the great blue heron on the left, and tea colored water filled with tiny fish to the spongy open area where  cranberries lay at your feet.  The buzz and hum of tourist traffic is far away as you gather your fill.  Some years, when the water is high, it’s easiest to pick right from the kayak but most times you’ll want to pull the boats onto the bog mats and set out on (rubber booted) foot.

Raw cranberries are too sour to snack on but they’ll keep for months in the fridge and certainly last until Thanksgiving.  Besides sauce, they’re great in muffins and bread. They can be lightly boiled with sugar and dried in the oven for a Maine memory which will last a year or more.  They are rich in antioxidants and are a perfect twin to our other blockbuster fruit, the blueberry.  To find the launching spot by car, start at the light at the island side of Rt. 3 causeway and drive toward Bar Harbor. Look for the parking area in 1-3/4 miles on your right.

Maine Blueberries can be found growing wild in and around Bar Harbor.   It’s one of my favorite snacks while biking along Acadia National Park’s carriage trails.  Wild berries are a free treat.  However, they can be found in many value added products as well.

New companies are springing up promoting the health effects of our natural nutrition filled small local fruit.    You can find blueberry syrups, jams and jellies, but that’s just the beginning.   Frozen in your grocery case, blueberries can be available all year round for your breakfast and baking adventures.

In addition, try some of the dried berry products.   Maine Munchies has a new process where they minimize the extra corn syrup added to many dried blueberry products.  Begun by Mount Desert Island’s Otter Creek residents, Maine Munchies now has a production facility in Ellsworth, and  their products are featured at many businesses in downtown Bar Harbor.

Blueberry dog biscuits are another unique and interesting development.   Called Bite O’Blue the natural, organic dog biscuit has been a hit in the dog treat world.   Produced by Peaked Mountain Farm in Dedham Maine.

The second Saturday in October is when the “Quietside” of Mt. Desert Island braces for more than 3000 enthusiastic beer lovers rushing to our 14th annual Oktoberfest.  They will be converging at Smuggler’s Den campground, just north of Southwest Harbor on Rt. 102, from 11:30 AM  to 6:00 PM.  The free Island Explorer buses will still be running,  so why drive? Just find out where to hop on here. There will be 85 types of beer from 23 Maine microbreweries including several from the island, along with a smattering of wines from Maine’s fledgling wine industry.  $25 gets you admission, a souvenir glass and ten tickets for samples.  Tents provide shelter in all weather.

The neighboring tent has live music and food from 15 vendors. You will find quite a selection: German sausage, crab rolls, Thai food, curly fries and Brazilian cuisine.    In yet another tent find Maine artisans selling their unique wares.

In 1974 I toured Europe as a 20 year old.  I ended up as a bartender on a small Scottish island in the Hebrides for the month of August. When I returned to the U.S. I knew I had to brew my own beer because the imported stuff was too expensive and the domestic beer was just too thin and weak.  As years went by I saw the homebrewing movement spawn hundreds of microbreweries, and the results have been spectacular! Come celebrate the great spectrum of brews available in the state of Maine right here in Acadia,  at what New England Brewer’s Magazine calls “an event not to miss”.

You will be bedazzled by Acadia’s beauty. The colors have arrived. Driving around yesterday I couldn’t believe the brilliant changes around Bar Harbor.   Somes Sound pictured above was my favorite.

Right on schedule – the coast turns colors last in the state, but to me it is the best of all. I like the beginning where I see lots of green and the occasional spot of color, shimmering brightly in the field.

Drives in the area that feature beautiful landscape and wonderful colors  include Sargent drive, on the east side of Somes Sound, and all around Acadia’s small roads.  You could venture off island and tour Tunk Lake and the Schoodic area of Acadia National park too.

Sunlight is especially brilliant in the fall and the crispness of the weather – low humidity and clear skies makes it easy to hike, bike or just stroll around Acadia. Don’t forget your camera.  For especially stunning photos, wait until the sun’s rays are almost horizontal at sunset. SeaCat’s Rest often has vacancies this time of year. Why, we can’t imagine!

Maine’s fledgling wine industry is finally up and running.  How in the name of Pinot Noir can wine grapes survive the Maine climate?  The answer is as complex as a fine wine.  First of all, there is the percentage of Maine wine which, by pure snobbery definition, is not “real” wine; the non-grape fruit wines.  Blueberry, pear, apple, elderberry, cranberry  and even rhubarb contribute to Maine’s fermentable fruits. An excellent producer of this type of wine is the Bartlett Winery in Gouldsboro, 25 miles east of Acadia.  Second, many wineries actually get most of their grapes from elsewhere.  This is the case (pardon the pun) with Cellardoor Winery near Camden, about 70 miles west of Acadia. Their grapes come from California, New York and other states. Right here on Acadia we have Bar Harbor Cellars at 854 Rt. 3. Owner Doug Maffucci gets most of his grapes from family back in Italy.  Finally, and most importantly, most Maine wineries including the two just mentioned, are trying hard to grow Maine tolerant grape varieties locally, some of which have made it into their products.

It must be said that the above discussion is somewhat sensitive to the extent that 1) wine tourists usually shun fruit wines, 2) wine tourists abhor non-locality for their grapes, believing that they can “taste the soil” at the winery location and that, 3) wine tourists believe non-traditional grape varieties adapted to extreme climates produce inferior wines.  I come from Michigan, where on the Leelanau  penninsula I witnessed the birth and flowering of northern Michigan’s wine industry. There the climate is just barely able to produce a few “traditional” (pure vinifera, or European) varieties which are made into familiar wine types like Riesling,  Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc.  Here in Maine, these varieties are even harder if not impossible to grow. Our “growing degree days” are fewer, rainfall is too abundant and the season is short.   What that leaves us with are the so-called hybrid varieties.  The newest ones like Marquette and Vignoles grow robustly, require fewer applications of fungicides, have higher yields and produce fine wines. Unfortunately, they can’t go into wines called Pinot or Zinfandel.  They don’t fit into the categories at the wine shop, and they’re often rejected by wine tourists.  This is a shame. It is a shame that earlier hybrids and native American varieties produced unarguably inferior wines.  It is also a shame that Maine wineries sometimes hide the fact that they import most of their grapes, or produce wines from local hybrid grapes with variety-hiding names like “Maine Red”.

I’m optimistic about the future of the Maine wine industry.  The University of Minnesota is producing ever better hybrids, often backcrossed so many times with vinifera varieties that true wine snobs can’t tell the difference.  It may take another few years, but your next wine tour in Maine may feature fine wines so local you can taste the soil.  In the mean time, check out the pear wine and imported/hybrid grape wines, remembering that these wineries are honing their skills for the future as well as producing good vino.

Bar Harbor Maine has lots of blue skies and plenty of sunshine and The Maine Solar Tour proves that.   Each year you can tour many of the local homes that feature solar water and power generation in October as part of the national solar tour.    This year it happened on October 3rd.

Right here in Lamoine too we get plenty of sun, at Latitude 45 (the same as the Riviera).   So it was no surprise that there were 6 featured home on the Maine Solar tour in our neighborhood.

SeaCat’s Rest has 100 square feet of solar collectors which help us heat our water for both showers in the summer and our heating system in the winter.

For those of you looking to construct a dwelling on land you have purchased – that includes solar panels for both electric and heating check out the brightbuilt barn project in Rockland, Maine. Called a net zero energy project the house should produce more electricity than it uses right here in Maine. It comes pre-fabricated and in two or three designs.

I see there is an open house in Somesville this Saturday from 1pm to 4pm with energy-efficient affordable homes.   Look for Farnhams Way off Beech Hill Road.   Phone 288-4496 for more information.

Off shore wind power will also prove to be productive in this area as well.   Check out Susan Collins’ website as she just managed to get new funding for the off shore wind pilot project in the senate last week.

In addition, there will be future tidal power efforts studied.   Historically Maine has always utilized it’s water power for renewable power generation.   Stay tuned for more information on tidal power as well as historical information on water power in and around Acadia National Park.

What does a 1867, a sailboat, Bar Harbor and a squall have to do with modern Art?   Ask College of the Atlantic professor Dru Colbert.    There will be performance art piece done called “Flotsam”.   Billed as a “plein-air” production from 4:30pm to 6:30 pm at Otter Cove in Acadia National Park on October 16, 17 and 18th.

Here is an excerpt about the piece:

FLOTSAM

This site specific shadow play and installation explores a shipwreck that occurred in Frenchman Bay in 1867. It honors lives that are intertwined with the sea, and lives that have been lost to it.

LOCATION -  Otter Cove, Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island, Maine

DIRECTIONS AND PARKING -  Take the Park Loop Road from any entry point. Go past Thunder Hole and Otter Cliffs toward Otter Cove. Park at Fabbri Picnic Area, off of the Park Loop Road (and take a short walk further downhill on the Loop Road to the performance) or drive further and park along the Causeway where the Loop Road crosses Otter Cove. The installation will be open for exploration at 4:30.  The shadow play performance begins at the onset of darkness…around 5:20. Please dress warmly, wear sturdy shoes, bring a flashlight, and something to sit on if desired.

FREE ADMISSION -  All donations benefit the Otter Creek Aid Association.  The Association will use a portion of the proceeds to make an anonymous gift to a community member in need.

Come experience Art and History mingling together on MDI. Tragedy at Sea, the 1867 capsize of a sailboat on route from Bar Harbor to Southwest Harbor is the event that inspired this modern piece.      For  more information call 288-5015.