Bar Harbor, Maine

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We had some turbulence during the night's cruise from St. John to Bar Harbor, Maine and woke up to heavy skies and rain. We dropped anchor in the Bay and took the tender into the port where we met our tour guide and jumped on the bus for a 6 hour Grand Tour of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We went into the Park and headed to Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak in the area. Unfortunately, the fog/clouds limited our visibility to our immediate surroundings. We all took photos of ourselves with the sign to prove that we had been there. We then drove to Hulls Cove where we met a second busload from the ship at the Bar Harbor Lobster Bakes restaurant. This restaurant specializes in feeding groups of over 35 during the off season and regular folks but with specific starting times during full summer season. They have extremely large steamers into which they first place red potatoes which need to cook for a longer time, then mussels in a separate area, then whole lobsters and corn on the cob. They first bring us each a bowl of mussels (not the ones that we just saw in the steamer) and steamed butter. The tables are lined with large bowls for the empty shells. The owner allows pictures of the steamer contents first and then while we are eating the mussels, they also cook steaks for Rob and a few others who cannot tolerate shellfish. When the steamers are opened, we all line up with plates and get our lobsters, corn, potatoes and more mussels if we want as well as good bread and butter, coleslaw and pickles. The staff circulate around the tables showing everyone how to break open the lobsters and clearing away the bowls full of shells. Everything was absolutely fresh, grown locally or pulled out of the bay the previous afternoon. For dessert, they served blueberry cake as Maine is also known for its wild blueberries.

After lunch, we headed back into the Park, hoping for clearing of the skies. Our second pass at Cadillac Mountain didn't provide any better conditions than the first, so we moved on to Thunder Hole (where the waves explode through a hole which was naturally formed in the rocks), Sieur des Monts Springs (where they have a wildflower/plant garden) and Jordan Pond House (where they obviously have a pond, which we did not see because of the stronger rain.) Even with the poor weather, we had a good day, a good tour guide and bus driver combo. At one of our stops we noticed that one of Regent's ships was also anchored in the bay and tendering their guests in to shore. Both Regent and Oceania are owned by the same company some of the crew knew others from the Regent ship. We packed a significant group into the tender and headed for the ship. Our tender pilot was an officer from the ship, rather than just the usual worker. As we left the dock, the fog dropped down tight and visibility was zero. The tender threaded its way through the lobster pots and other anchored ships and platforms and before we knew it...we were right back in the harbor. There was a compass on the tender and they were in contact with the ship by radio. We started out again and a little later, we met the other tender going into port. Both tenders were lost in the fog. One of the crew on the opposing tender was standing on the roof trying to see and did a crazy dance when he saw us. Some time later we slowly pulled up alongside the ship and everyone broke into applause. ( The story of the lost tender has become part of the ship's lore and is repeated among the passengers and anyone we meet.) On this evening, we had been invited by the ship to participate in a dinner for passengers in the better grade cabins. We have been to this dinner before and it is historically held outside on an area of the deck and is called Dinner on the Patio. On the larger ship, there is a separate dining room they can use, but on the smaller ship, we are outside with either fans or heaters depending on the time of year. This time, we had heaters and then had to contend with the strong winds. The six course menu included more lobster (or roast veal loin for Rob) and matching wines. We sat with a couple from Arcadia who we had seen on a number of bus tours and another couple from Brussels, Belgium, so conversation was interesting.