The wild cranberry crop on Mount Desert Island is still awaiting harvest, except for the several pounds I collected on Sunday the 17th. What was different about this year was the high water level: you have to harvest from a boat and reach into the water. The berries can be seen under 3-8 inches of water. Sticking your hand into late October water sounds cold, but as you glide over 6″ of water in your kayak you realize that, if you’re lucky enough to have a sunny day, the shallow water heats up fast. I have to say that harvesting this way has it’s advantages. No need for rubber boots or waders, no wet knees, no balancing act getting out and in. Also, the submersion in cool water seems to preserve the crop and extend the harvest. All the berries seemed to be at the same point of ripeness. And the berries float, so if you lose your grip they pop to the surface.

This little trip is never crowded

There’s really no reason not to get out and harvest your own. There’s a huge supply; the Northeast Creek flooding is hundreds of acres and it can be accessed from Rt. 3 in 15 minutes by kayak or canoe. Just park by the bridge 2 miles east from the MDI side of the causeway to Trenton. Perhaps the water level has dropped since my outing, so you may have to end up using boots. It is a beautiful time of year but weather and wind can change quickly, so be prepared. I would have had difficulty getting back if I had soloed in my eighteen foot canoe; the headwinds were very strong. The kayak was just fine.

Turn right at the hummock in the distance

The meandering Northeast Creek has quite a few boulders just under the surface. You may find yourself suddenly high and dry. It takes five minutes of paddling to leave the roar of civilization behind. Bird life has dropped a bit with the colder weather. Still, I saw ducks, kingfishers and great blue herons as usual. After 10 to 15 minutes of paddling you will emerge into the great boggy area where trees are rare and the water spreads out. Bear right at the hummock (photo) and you will find yourself following a canal where berries can be gathered from either side. If you don’t see them, paddle a few more minutes and check again. You should see this under the water:

If the water level is the same as it was on Sunday, you can just push your kayak into the grassy vegetation and start picking. Otherwise, look for a slot to run your boat into and get out. I always set my paddle vertical so I can spot my boat from afar. Watch out for holes in the bog mat if you’re walking-I’ve gone up to my knee sometimes. Can’t make it this year? Make sure you plan for 2011. Come for Oktoberfest and cranberries starting the first Saturday in October. We can set you up with lodgings and kayaks. Share your favorite cranberry recipe in the comments below!

The back of the line.

The beer tent was packed to the gills! Attendance seemed to equal or exceed last year’s. Once again, the star of the show was Marshall Wharf of Belfast. The new procedure for the avid sampler is to get in the twenty-deep Marshall Wharf line, get your glass filled and then return to the back of the line for next time. Marshall Wharf had a unique strategy of offering 11 different beers, available three at a time throughout the day. Their sign is a giant chalkboard, so the current offerings are written and erased as needed. You could easily use up all your tickets just on this one brewery. Excitement was generated and a shout went up when they announced a switch to a new trio of beers.

While MW really seemed to have nailed the Oktoberfest popularity contest, it must be remembered that breweries which don’t put their brews into bottles don’t have the inertia and expense associated with a bottling line. I don’t know how many of Saturday’s offerings could be sampled at any given day at the brewpub. I do know that for all their effort, I still have to go to Belfast during open hours if I want to taste their beer again. While the chalkboard and changeover hoopla may seem like gimmickry, their beer was fantastic. It is obvious they produce beers dense with ingredients, and no corners are cut. I vote for Cant Dog IPA as best of show.

Marshall Wharf bartender Seth

Some brews deserved more attention!

There were other fine offerings from other breweries. Since my tastes run toward highly hopped brews, I sought out the IPAs (India Pale Ales). Legend has it that Ales sent to India during the British occupation were infused with a high level of hops in order to preserve them for the long voyage. I found Sebago’s Frye’s Leap IPA and Geary’s Imperial IPA to be very good and deserving of more attention. Maybe if they got a chalkboard….

Mark Twain, Feb 7, 1871

Mark Twain is celebrated as our first true American humorist, drawing on local color and speech and weaving stories which embody a unique American viewpoint. Among his early works was Roughing It, a rambling narrative about his directionless early years wandering the American West.

As we head into another fall and winter in Maine it is useful to hear from Twain’s impressions of New England as it relates to the changing seasons. After several years in Nevada and California he had this to say (chapter 56):

One of the queerest things I know of, is to hear tourists from “the States” go into ecstasies over the loveliness of “ever-blooming California.” And they always do go into that sort of ecstasies. But  perhaps they would modify them if they knew how old Californians, with the memory full upon them of the dust-covered and questionable summer greens of Californian “verdure,” stand astonished, and filled with worshiping admiration, in the presence of the lavish richness, the brilliant green, the infinite freshness, the spend-thrift variety of form and species and foliage that make an Eastern landscape a vision of Paradise itself. The idea of a man falling into raptures over grave and sombre California, when that man has seen New England’s meadow-expanses and her maples, oaks and cathedral-windowed elms decked in summer attire, or the opaline splendors of autumn descending upon her forests, comes very near being funny–would be, in fact, but that it is so pathetic.

Although a tropical landscape seems especially inviting to New Englanders in about February, it’s nice to hear Twain’s warning:

No land with an unvarying climate can be very beautiful. The tropics are  not, for all the sentiment that is wasted on them. They seem beautiful  at first, but sameness impairs the charm by and by. Change is the  handmaiden Nature requires to do her miracles with. The land that has  four well-defined seasons, cannot lack beauty, or pall with monotony.  Each season brings a world of enjoyment and interest in the watching of  its unfolding, its gradual, harmonious development, its culminating  graces–and just as one begins to tire of it, it passes away and a  radical change comes, with new witcheries and new glories in its train.  And I think that to one in sympathy with nature, each season, in its turn, seems the loveliest.

Right now in the Acadia area of Maine we have one of those seasons. A nip of frost, rapidly reddening leaves, low autumn sun and sudden weather changes awaken new (old) instincts as our human animal prepares for the coming challenges. It’s a great time to visit as lodgings are cheaper and restaurants and other attractions are still open. It is an especially great time for Californians to visit if they want to see the “opaline splendors of autumn”.

"Opaline Splendors of Autumn"

Read the full book as well as many others of Twain’s at http://www.mtwain.com

Here is a page which features my distant cousin, actor  William Hooker Gillette, giving his (audio) impression of  his friend and neighbor Mark Twain. This is the closest thing we have to Twain’s voice.

It’s almost time again for residents and visitors to the Acadia area to taste the full spectrum of Maine brewing expertise. On Saturday, October 9 from 12 noon to six pm Smuggler’s Den in Southwest Harbor will be alive with hundreds of beer lovers in three huge tents. Last year, 4000 people attended and with good weather 2010 should equal that. This is not to say that rain and  cold should affect anyone’s decision, the tents keep things dry and sheltered, at least until you have to make a run to the port-a-john (bring an umbrella just in case).  This year’s list of brewers include the following:

1. Belfast Bay Brewing Co.
2. Allagash Brewing Company
3. Black Bear Brewery
4. Marshall Wharf Brewing Co.
5. Gritty’s
6. Maine Beer Company
7. Sea Dog Brewing Co.
8. The Shipyard Brewing Co.
9. Sunday River Brewing Co.
10. Atlantic Brewing Co./Bar Harbor Cellars/Bar Harbor Brewing Co.
11. Kennebec River Brewery
12. Geary’s
13. Sheepscot Valley Brewing Company
14. The Liberal Cup
15. Oak Pond Brewing Co.
16. Sebago Brewing Company
17. Peak Organic Brewing Company
18. Penobscot Bay Brewery/Winterport Winery
19. Blacksmith’s Winery
20. Fatty Bumpkin’s Maine Draft Cider
21. Andrew’s Brewing

$25 gets you into the brewtent with ten tickets for samples and a souvenir glass. Persons who want just to tag along for the music, food  and mayhem can get in for $10. This year, the wristbands you get with your admission can be used for discounts at local restaurants.

The food is not to be missed either. Among the standouts are SW Harbor’s Chow Maine, Bar Harbor’s Mainely Meat BBQ and Nostrano. The food tent features the live music of Mark Kanter & The Bluesboy Review and The Mainly Country Band, each trading one hour sets throughout the day.

Finally, the third tent features crafts and art from vendors throughout Maine. I will be focusing on the ultimate India Pale Ale. Current favorites include Marshall Wharf’s Cant Dog Imperial IPA, which is unavailable in bottles. In fact, my only visit to the brewpub in Belfast required such a long wait I had to give up. I had high hopes for  Allagash’s Hugh Malone IPA, which at over $16 a bottle should have been downright spiritual. The  folks at Allagash are mostly inspired by Belgian style ales, which I think is great, but I must confess that I can’t handle much of the yeast bite/sourness unique to the style. Hugh Malone sounded like an exception, but I should have known that “Belgian style IPA” meant cloudy and sour. Without wanting to sound too judgmental, the two styles just don’t belong together. Atlantic Brewing’s Special Old Bitter is good–if they bring it. Geary’s Hampshire Ale is my standard, though not called an IPA it is full bodied with nicely balanced boiling and finish hops.  I look forward to trying other highly hopped offerings from Marshall Wharf  (Big Twitch), The Liberal Cup (Old Hallow), Sebago (Fry’s Leap and Full Throttle), and Peak Organic (IPA). See you there! I’ll be the one with the smile.

This was last year's sign! Dates are wrong!

from http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/viewReport.cfm

Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park and the storied towns of Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor, enjoyed a 19% increase in park visits over July of 2009. The Bar Harbor Chamber’s downtown welcome center saw a 108% increase in visits over last summer so far this year. The reasons are assumed to be weather related, the Presidential visit and the improving economy.

While the rest of the country was baking in triple digit heat and humidity, our Maine coast was mostly in the 80s during the day and 60s at night. But we weren’t socked in fog, our skies were sunny. Rain–just enough–came at night or in a quick daytime shower. No one delayed or canceled their Maine visit due to the weather this summer. In fact, they were in a hurry to get here and reluctant to return home. We did have 5 days of ninety degree weather at the end of August, but the nights cooled down into the 60s. Some store owners complained about how rainy days make for more shoppers and how this factor was in short supply, but I can’t believe those rainy day shoppers wouldn’t go somewhere else next time.

The quick visit of President Obama and his family in mid July put Mount Desert Island into everyone’s consciousness. Reports of the family eating ice cream, hiking, biking and boating made everyone want to get in on the action. Some folks grumbled about the short notice, inconvenience of rerouted traffic and restricted access, but it was over quickly and the buzz has lasted. If this visit had the effect it seems to have had, we should be paying for presidential visits!

The economy is also said to be a factor contributing to our banner year. A combination of value and nearness makes Acadia a sensible choice for those moving just a little beyond a “staycation”. While the early summer optimism about the economy seems to have hit a snag, it may be resolved just in time for next summer. I think it will be a long time before Americans feel flush enough to be flying to Paris and London for their summer vacations. Our local list of things to do does not require a big bank roll and lodgings a little off the beaten track can stretch your dollar more. We are after all, Affordable Acadia!

High tide view from Seacat's Rest shore

Acadia means more than our local Maine coast and Acadia National Park. I have been remiss, some would say sloppy, to have used the word in this limited way in previous posts. The real meaning of “Acadia” is an area containing all of the original maritime French colonial lands of eastern North America. This includes parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, eastern Quebec and Maine. Colonial Acadia was populated with a certain group of French immigrants who to this day distinguish themselves from the Quebecois. There are differences in culture, language and politics from both France and Quebec. The Acadians even have their own flag, but alas, no province.  The areas under French colonial control were always shifting, so the original Acadia grew and shrank over time. Today, besides our Acadia National Park area, it’s best to think of Acadia as those areas in northeastern North America where Acadian culture and language continue to hold sway. In my limited travels I have encountered Acadian enclaves in northern Maine, eastern New Brunswick, western Nova Scotia, western Cape Breton Island and eastern Quebec. Here on Mount Desert Island, our eastern half was granted to a granddaughter of Antoine La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac named Madame Maria Therese de la Mothe Cadillac de Gregoire by a grateful post-revolutionary America and as a result, many of our present day deeds were originally written in French. But it would be a stretch to say we are part of where present day Acadians live, even though we were for a time under French colonial administration.

The Acadian group Vishtèn from Prince Edward Island.

The history of Acadians in North America is difficult to condense into a few paragraphs, but by far the most noteworthy episode occurred 1755-1758, the Great Upheaval or the Great Expulsion. This was the start of what Americans refer to as the French and Indian War, known as the Seven Year’s War elsewhere. Between 6000 to 7000 Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia to France, New England or further south by the British. Many more fled into the woods or to New Brunswick and Quebec. The British burned farm houses and generally made for themselves hundreds of years of ill will. Those Acadians who fled to Louisiana eventually separated culturally and became Cajuns.

From http://www.erudit.org/revue/cgq/1967/v11/n24/020742ar.pdf

The war and other political changes (including importing English speaking colonists from New England) resulted in another 50 years of migration for the Acadians. Eventually, many returned to their Nova Scotia homeland and their descendants continue their culture and language to this day.

So how did Acadia National Park get its name? Originally (1919) it was named Lafayette National Park to honor the French general who helped us fight the British. But in a few years a large landowner offered to contribute the Schoodic Peninsula, thereby doubling the park, if only the name were changed to something less….French! So George Dorr, the park superintendent relented (actually, it took an act of Congress and a delay until 1929). The new name was Acadia National Park, the Greek-derived name originally given to the area by Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524.

For all the Acadians who may have been insulted by my incorrectly limited use of “Acadia”, I apologize. There is a lot more to Acadia than the downeast coast of Maine. For others, put the Canadian Martimes in your travel plans and see the Acadian Acadia.

It’s again that time of year again for knightly combat, suits of armour, authentic period costumes and Renaissance music as the The 8th Annual Medieval Tournament takes place again at Fort Knox near Bucksport, Maine on Saturday, September 11. Fort Knox is about a sixty minute trip from Bar Harbor. This event is put on by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) a world wide organization devoted to pretending it’s 500 years ago. You may think this is silly, and to be honest, there is a bit of goofiness about it all, but it is easy to lose one’s self in the illusion. All of the members are so good at it! Each member adopts the persona of a character from a specific historical era and works hard to become knowledgeable about the life and times of that character. Even the dress is authentic. If the character is a poor shepherd and the cost of wool is beyond his means, he will be dressed in tatters.

The Fort Knox website has posted the following schedule:

Tentative Day Schedule – On the Parade Ground
9:45-10:00     Opening Procession into Fort
10:00-11:00     Rapier Duels & Fencing Melees
11:00-12:00     Live Music & Dance Presentation
12:00–1:00     Pas d’Armes Tournament of Knightly Combat, opened by our youth fighters
1:00-1:30     Fashion Show on the Parade Grounds
1:30:-2:15     Rapier Duels & Fencing Melees
2:15-3:00     Live Music & Dance Presentation
3:00-4:00     Pas d’Armes Tournament of Knightly Combat, opened by our youth fighters
Around the Fort
10:00-4:00     Arts & Science Exhibits in the Gun Bays
Battery A – times will be listed on site
Thrown weapons demonstrations
Combat archery demonstrations

See displays of Medieval life

Don’t show up expecting lots of souvenirs and food vendors; this is not a commercial event! It does cost to get in, but it costs the same to get into Fort Knox regardless of what’s happening there. $3 will get you through the door, $1 if you were born in this century. Out-of-staters have to pay $1.50 more. This event is primarily for the members of SCA and “not a show for outsiders to watch, but a living play into which new people can insert themselves”. That doesn’t mean you have to dress up or risk being shunned, the event is a good time for all.  SCA has a great .pdf file with lots of cool photos and FAQ’s here. Fort Knox is not a pretender to America’s gold warehouse, it’s a real fort built in the early to mid 1800′s to protect us from the Canadians. Needless to say, it never saw action. It’s the perfect setting for the Medieval Tournament because it’s so castle-like. You can combine your trip with a climb to the observatory on the top of the new Penobscot Narrows bridge. This is a September event not to be missed!

For a while now I’ve wanted to direct potential visitors to a video about the Maine Acadia area they could view in the comfort of home. I believe that such a video would give folks a good reason to come and experience our beautiful area for themselves.  Acadia Always is a fairly new effort (released Jan, 2010) narrated by Acadia fan and former NBC reporter Jack Perkins. Besides Jack’s predictable stunning flyovers, the film adds a great historical section covering the glacial period all the way to present day. For those whose connection is too slow, the video can be purchased at Amazon for $19.95.

Acadia National Park from Maine Office of Tourism on Vimeo.

Maine is a special place for all visitors, but it can become wonderland for kids seven and younger.   A forest just is so much more wonderful when seen from small eyes.   Every tree, plant and creature becomes magical and special.  Bringing kids seven and younger on vacation can require some advance planning, but with an effort, it can become an unforgettable vacation for your family.

The woods.   Start with what’s around you: a forest of pine and oaks, maple and beech trees.   Maine’s woods present an exciting environment to explore.   We have a very good naturalist book for you to use when you explore the woods around us.   You don’t have to come with prior knowledge, just a willingness to learn and observe.

The shore: Watch the tides come and go, the waves that crash, the animals in the tidal zone.   Explored with a good book.   Searockets ,  sea pickle, sea heather and seaweed, are all interesting to identify and collect.    Eat a few seaweed products for the complete experience.     We have 11 foot tides here, so it is a wonderful thing to watch.   A lot of folks cannot believe it.

The water and the animals that live here:  Andre the Seal, the  movie, is a wonderful introduction to aquatic mammals of the area.   Just the other day when hiking on Great Head we saw two dolphins swimming about in the bay off Sand Beach.    If you know where to look, you will also see seals in our bay.   Of course, the more time you spend on the water, the more chance of seeing something.

The sky:  Study the stars at night.   A Park Ranger program is available.   Study the moon and planets, invest in a telescope, or use ours here at Seacat’s Rest.   It’s really dark around here with a big ocean without artificial lights.   In addition there is a “see like the animals” program at the park where you get to use night vision to walk through the woods.   It’s a very different place in the dark (your eyes see differently).

The birds. All around Acadia birds make a show.   Eagles, crows, gulls and cormorants, ducks and crows, thrushes and song birds.    All of these creatures are easy to find and listen to.   Loons, ducks, sea gulls and other water birds live all around the island.   They dive under the water to find food.    Others fly up overhead like  osprey, hawks and eagles.   Wading and water  birds like egrets, herons and  kingfishers prefer calm fresh or brackish waters.

The flowers and small plants.   Plants native to Maine are easy to find and can reinforce observing skills in your young ones.   Show them what a blueberry plant looks like, then try and find a whole field of blueberry plants.   In different seasons the blueberry fields in Maine have different colors.    In Spring there are the white flowers, later in July and August, the blueberries, and in the fall, the plants turn rosy red as the leaves shimmer in the sunshine.    Other places and plants to find include wintergreen– you can identify it by the smell, and don’t forget aromatic ferns, like the cinnimon fern with it’s stalk or the ostrich fern, where fiddleheads that you find in the supermarket here in Maine come from.    Seasonal flowers like lupine in late june, or wild raspberries or strawberry flowers.    Lilacs and poppies.    For very young folks, focus on just the colors in the plants.   How many red or pink flowers can we find today….how about blue ones,   white ones.

FDR's birch bark canoe

A History Tour, The Mystery Tour.   The carriage trails, history of the Native Americans and others who lived here in past times.      If we didn’t have a car, how would we get around.   Water is easy to move on, but we could also walk, or ride a horse around.   It took a long time to get from one place to another, explore just like you were here 100 or 200 years ago.   How far would you get in one day.    Would it take you two days to get from one side of the island to another?

Need to get away from the daily grind.   Would you like to communicate better with your teen?   How about a three day journey with sun, tides, water and wind.   Whether you bring your spouse, your child (over 4’8 inches) or a good friend, I can’t imagine a better adventure for this summer.   This article is about two ideas, taking a 3 day trip with a registered Maine guide or creating your own 3 day trip for those who own their own kayak and envision a personal excursion among the ocean islands of Maine.   There is no better way to get out, way out on those small islands that line Maine’s shore than with a personal small boat.   It’s only a day’s drive from New York and a half day’s drive from Boston.

The kayak is just perfect for traveling, it carries your gear and yourself in an efficient way.    As I have said in previous articles, a kayak is very different from other boats.   You are seated right at the water-line, so your body is much more stable.   You feel more like part of the water instead of on top of it.   It is difficult to tip a kayak in calm waters of Frenchman Bay.    However, with large waves or a lot of reaching, it is possible to turn a kayak over.   On the ocean we favor long skinny kayaks for their ability to go straight and to also handle waves.

You get out on the water for 3 days on a guided kayak tour in Maine, no experience necessary.   If you are taking your teen along with you,  the tandem kayak is one of the keys to the success as you have to work together to get somewhere.   Sharing a small island helps too, a tent, other people around, but not too many.    I’m describing one of the adventures that you can find here in Maine.   If you stay with us, we will be glad to help you store your stuff before or after your stay here at Sea Cat’s rest.

Those of you who are already experienced kayakers can create your own trip, but three days is an ideal start to a lifetime journey featuring water excursions.   We have an incredible resource here called the  Maine Island Trail Association.   This 40 year old organization has been working to create and preserve the many island that line the coast of Maine for everyone to enjoy.   If you love kayaking enough to own a boat, and you are coming to Maine consider joining this association.    By joining you get a map of the many islands that are open to those who wander among the islands of Maine.   Their website:   Maine Island Trail Association

Don’t forget these ideas when you paddle:

• Dress for the water, not the air, temperature.
• Wear a lifejacket at all times.
• Make sure somebody knows where you are and when you’ll return.
• Air Temp + Water Temp  < 110 = stay out of the water.
• Air Temp + Water Temp > 110 but < 140 = Wear a wetsuit!
• Paddle with a buddy.
• Check weather and tide conditions, and plan accordingly.    We have excellent climate here in the summer because of the cold water – but that does present some danger for those that get immersed in the water not expecting it.

For those visitors with little experience, a good place to start is with an experienced guided tour.  Here is a link to the non-profit association of Sea Kayak Guides.   They  offer various organized Kayak trips in and around Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park and other areas of Maine.    Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and instructors.    Most of them offer the three day kayak I explained above as well as half day (4 hour) guided tours.   A few also arrange private excursions.    All of them include the cost of kayak rental in the package.