Monday, July 1

Hadley's Point campground in Bar Harbor, Maine is where we landed today and where we will be for the next two nights. We were able to check into our campground early, eat lunch and hop on the bus system that runs throughout the Bar Harbor area. The system is free and makes stops at several campgrounds in the area, along with the Acadia National Park area, downtown Bar Harbor and the airport. Riding the bus was convenient and definitely gave us a solid introduction to the rough roads in the area! Our first ride on the bus was into the downtown Bar Harbor area. Since it was low tide, we walked down to Bridge street where we could access the land bridge formed out to Bar Island. It was a cool setting where we could see water on both sides and walk along this temporary dry land out to an island that is part of the Acadia National Park system. Next, we walked up and down the streets of downtown stopping into a few shops. We stopped in at an old school “soda fountain shop” in the Rex-all Pharmacy where we experienced our first true sodas—raspberry, root beer and cotton candy were the flavors of choice and they did not disappoint! Jake and Jason were particularly fond of “The Man Store” where Brooke and I were able cozy up in a nice chair while the boys shopped. After our touristy shopping excursion we hopped onto the bus system to take care of some serious business...lobster dinner! We stopped at a true seafood shack where Jason and I ordered lobster dinners, Jake a lobster roll and Brooke was real adventurous with chicken nuggets. This was Jason's first experience with eating a whole lobster and he enjoyed it despite the hard work that is involved—the “green stuff” on the inside of the lobster was less than appetizing, but we all got past it and enjoyed the treat. Jake was happy he went with the lobster roll, as he got to enjoy the yummy lobster flavors without the mess and effort of the full lobster meal! And sadly, Brooke learned the hard way that when you go to a seafood shack you best get seafood, because the chicken tenders were disgusting...even Jake turned his nose up to them after he tried a bite—oh well, live and learn! The bus ride back to the campground was uneventful and once we got home we spent some time at the pool. The kids enjoyed a swim and Jason and I enjoyed conversation with some fellow campers. Eventually the bugs won the battle and we turned in for the night. The day was wrapped up with a family game of “Apples to Apples” and lots of laughs!! We may have woken up some of our neighbors because we got to laughing so hard!