Fall Foliage Cruise: Bar Harbor, Maine

12 October

Slept well again last night. Woke around 8:45 and met with the others at the entrance to the dining room on deck 5 where tender tickets were being distributed at 9:30. We were number 25 and had to wait for about a half hour before we were called.

Instead of using the ship's boats we used large boats that do whale watching tours during the summer season. The ride over was about 5 minutes but the whole loading/unloading process took about a half hour. We were in Bar Harbor by 10:30.

None of the ship's excursions really excited us so we decided to walk around, look at the downtown area, do some shopping, and have a good lunch.

In the nineteenth century Bar Harbor became the summer retreat for the mega-rich families like the Vanderbilts, Astors, and Rockefellers (Nelson Rockefeller was born here). It is located on Mount Desert Island. We were lucky as we had a beautiful day with temperatures in the mid-60s and a beautiful blue sky.

We shopped for about an hour and a half and then decided it was time for lunch. Barbara noticed a sign for a restaurant down the block from where we were, so we headed there. It was called "Route 66". Once again, we had found a really good restaurant.

Since I had vowed to try lobster in Maine (isn't it illegal to visit Maine and NOT eat lobster :)? ) I ordered the lobster wrap. It had bacon, tomato, lettuce and a very good lemon mayonnaise to complement the lobster. We started with onion rings and then four of us had the lobster wrap. Tommy had clam chowder, a lobster roll, and fries. The food was delicious and there were large chunks of lobster in our wraps.

We were really full but had to taste the fresh blueberry pie so we only ordered one piece and shared it. Barbara didn't think she liked blueberry pie but changed her mind after a couple of bites!

After lunch we resumed our shopping (after a quick stop at a Rite-Aid so I could get a shower cap). Our guide yesterday mentioned an ice cream store named Ben and Bills had lobster ice cream. Tommy and I tried it (they gave free samples) but were not impressed because the lobster bits in the ice cream were so frozen they were not really tasty. I had planned to get some blueberry ice cream but was too full to actually get any.

A little more shopping and then back to the tender. Took about a half hour to get back on the ship. I headed up to afternoon trivia. I played with the same couple as yesterday (Maureen and John) as well as a couple from Delaware and Tommy joined us.

The first trivia was a visual one on singers. The pictures were very small and slightly distorted so it was hard to see from across the room. The couple from Delaware knew quite a few of them and we ended with 18 out of 21 but the winning team had 19.

The General Knowledge trivia was at 4:45 and was a really tough one. We had 9 out of 15 but two teams tied with 11. There was a "sudden death" tie-breaker which both the teams missed but finally there was a winner with the second question.

Q1. When a burning cigarette is inhaled, what is the temperature of the tip?
Q2. What did Henry VII sleep with?
Q3. What are indoor particles mostly made of?
Q4. What are the holes is Swiss cheese called?

I then came back to get ready for dinner and the show. We were only able to get reservations for 7:45 so we went to the show first. Tonight's show was called, "The Comedy and Impressions of Mike Wilson". We rated the show only so-so.

It was then time to walk the length of the ship to dinner. Three of us had roast beef, Carolyn had a hot chicken salad, and Gary had chicken. Dessert was not very good because almost everything had either coffee or nuts in it. Everyone but me ordered the pecan butterscotch pie (which was not wonderful) and I had the English trifle which was mostly fruit jello. We decided to stop by Cafe Promenade and get cookies.

Back to my cabin to work on my blog. We lose an hour sleep tonight but don't dock until 11 so I can sleep in some. (More about why we dock so late tomorrow.)

Trivia answers....
Q1. 700C
Q2. an axe
Q3. skin
Q4. eyes