Around the World with Hardy(T)Around the World with Hardy(T)
...from Bar Harbor (1)
"Beautifying America one TV at a time. If PBS doesn't
do it, who will?"
PBS TV commercial. 21.5.96
Day Two in Bar Harbor and, after a filling blueberry pancake (Bar Harbor is the blueberry capital of America) for breakfast, I return to the kayak shop where I hire a mountain bike and set off to explore the island.
Mt Desert Island
is the perfect place for cycling. The Rockerfellers' legacy is a system
of carriage roads which criss-cross the island. These roads are open only
to hiker, cyclists, horse riders and cross-country skiers and are the ideal
way to explore the place. I went for a ride around Eagle Lake and then up
to Jordan Lake, Bubble Lake and Witches Hole. It's quite hard work, especially
since it's a very humid day, and every time I stop I get eaten alive by
blackflies. But it's all worthwhile for the spectacular views of this glacial
valley.
All that cycling is thirsty work, and in the evening I taken in something else for which this part of America is famous - microbreweries. Joshua, our kayak guide, also works behind the bar at the Lompoc Brew Pub, and I am soon sampling the delights of Bar Harbor Real Ale, Ginger Wheat Beer, Blueberry Ale and the wonderfully named Gritty MacDuff's.
Day Three is a lazy day, as I take my hangover and jump on a bus tour of the National Park. Unfortunately I have to suffer a plague of overweight American tourists on the bus, but they're soon forgotten as we make the long climb to the summit of Mt Cadillac. From the top the view extends some 50 miles in each direction down the Maine Coast. We also head down to Thunder Hole, which is a big blowhole on the island's rugged Atlantic Coast.
The evening's cultural diversion provided by the tap room of the Maine Brewery Co. The "Red" has a strange cinnamon taste and the "Stout" has a distinct chocolate flavour. My cue to leave is when a bizarre cross-dressing stag party arrives, so I head off to get some shut-eye before my 6am bus down to Boston.