Wanderlusting: Bass Harbor and Sailing

It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage. George William Curtis

Sunday

Sunday morning dawned with plans of an early morning sail. Alas it was sold out, so we decided to brave the colder temps and do the later one at sunset which worked out much better. After all: “The cold never bothered us anyway.” 

After we got ourselves picture perfect ready, we headed to Southwest Harbor to grab some grub, and explore.

Somesville Bridge

On our way there we stopped at the most photographed bridge in Maine. And right away I could see why.

Oh my gosh you guys it was so quintessential New England, I about died. I loved it and we of course had to have a photo shoot.

Located in Somesville, the first established village on MDI, the whole town, cute bridge included, is a historical landmark. I felt like I had stepped into a different era and I LOVED it.

Eat A Pita

After our quick early morning shoot, we went to one of Tiffany’s favorite cafe’s Eat a Pita. The name alone had me falling in love. And finding out that they served bowls of cappuccino? SOLD!

So my one complaint about MDI was that aside from an abundance of Dunkins (which I abhor) their are not many cafes. Not even a Starbucks! And guys this girl can not live without her coffee! Surprisingly many of the restaurants we went too did serve decent coffee including lattes and cappuccinos so it kind of made up for it (UNTIL we found a coffee shop…But more on that later).

I settled on a breakfast fav the rancheros and Tiffany had a bagel and lox (which was ALL her!) I am not sure if i have said it before, but Tiffany is such a foodie and literally every place she took me too was a home run. We did not go to ONE single bad place the whole trip! Everything was so yummy and I literally had to be rolled onto the airplane.

Bass Harbor Lighthouse

Afterwards we drove to Bass Harbor to see the lighthouse and for another photo-op…because we can never take enough pictures!

I was in love! It was different from many of the light houses I had been too, as it was much smaller and resembled more of a house. Yet it still had that rustic New England charm I love so much and that is such a staple of Maine.

The idea for a light house was first thought up in 1855 and in 1876 construction was completed. While it is on the historical landmark registry, the actual house part is a private residence where a Coast Guard member and their family live. (Sorry Doctor Merman you need to change professions asap!)

Side note: Have I mentioned that it is my DREAM to live in a light house? Maybe? Well just to reiterate it is seriously my life goal! Who needs degrees or published books when you can live in an actual flipping lighthouse! Seriously #lifegoals peeps #lifegoals.

Also channeling my inner light house nerdist, the light house has a Fresnel lense that was put in place in 1902 and is still in use today.

Another difference is that it is located in Acadia National Park and hidden by woods. Taking a small narrow path, it feels like you have stumbled on gold at the end of the rainbow, or in this case light at the beginning of the harbor.

There are several other woodsy paths, including stairs that will lead you to another Maine staple; millions of year old rocks that now resemble drift-wood. It was a woodsy haven at the heart of the ocean and my happy place!

The Afternoon

After spending a couple hours there and taking just a “couple” pictures. We made a stop at seal cove (which had no seals to be had) as well as did a very quick clothing change on the side of the road which resulted in us literally keeling over laughing so hard.

We then went to the Seafood Ketch, the restaurant that Dakota (Tiffany’s man) had worked at for several years. Oh my seafood! It was sooo yummy! And the views were incredible! Once again we lucked out with weather, because it rained when we got to the restaurant and once we finished eating it cleared up.

In need of coffee, a place to charge my phone and a few hours to waste before our sail, we decided to look for a place to find coffee and lord did we find the holy grail of coffee places. Located off the road behind some shops was the Village Green Coffee House and the place I had been looking for all weekend. It was a true coffee shop, offering different latte combinations,  and not just comfy seats but outdoor seating. I could picture myself spending long hours writing there. MDI you won me over!

We hung out there until it was time for our sail.

Sail Acadia

I do not know how we lucked out, but somehow Tiffany and I always end up with our own private sail. This boat was technically not a Schooner, but a Friendship Sloop which was originally used for lobster hauling. Much smaller then the Schooner, but no less historic, we sailed on the Alice E which was built in 1899. Despite the size, I liked ol’ Alice better, and she was extremely luxurious (except the bathrooms…but hey we can;t all have everything!)

I was incredibly excited because I was going to see my island! Yup I have an island named after uh me…Kinda. Its’ name is Sutton island so of course we had to sail past it, which we did!

Alas it was foggy, but still isn’t she a beauty?

Our captain was incredibly informative, and had years of sailing experience. He had even been to Greece and I was picking his brain as I really want to go there. He gave me all the ins and outs and I now can not WAIT to go!

Aside from tidbits about Greece, he was also incredibly knowledgeable about the history surrounding MDI, and I was soaking it up. It didn’t seem like it, but we were sailing in water close to two hundred feet deep, and during the settling and colonization, ships, including British warships would replenish water at some of the falls we could see from water.

On many of the sails, you are allowed to bring wine, which Tiffany and I did.

And we of course had to indulge.

About half way through, I had to cry uncle and grab blankets because it was freezing.

While it stopped our photo-ops, The views and history alone are why I love Maine so much. I could almost ALMOST move there.

Alas our three hour sail had to come to an end. But wait…

We had to grab a selfie with our captain.

And for all of my Harry Potter obsessed friends out there, I had to snag a picture of this boat! I will be being that…Some day. Actually I might name mine the Firebolt.