‘Acadia‘ has the WONDERFUL, FREE, ‘Island Explorer‘ bus service — part funded by Park Entrance Fees.
Providing a bus service to the summit of ‘Cadillac‘ — should be THEIR EXCLUSIVE prerogative. This shuttle to Cadillac does NOT have to be FREE. People will gladly pay.
It is wrong that a private company is allowed to profit from this.
This should be a Park Service initiative — that they get money for.
This makes me mad & sad.
Looks like there was some ‘insider’ trading — if you know what I mean.
I, as I am prone to do IF I have the time, stopped at ‘1A Relics‘, on Rte 1A, just outside of ‘Ellsworth‘, Maine, on my way to ‘Acadia‘, last week. ‘Motocar’ is next door. What is the ‘1A Relics’ building was their SHOWROOM. I have walk around the old cars too.
Saw the Rolls from far — & was immediately drawn to it.
It is in bad shape — PLUS my days of buying ol’ British cars is DONE. Well & truly done. So, I was NOT interested.
‘Terrance Pinkham‘, the owner (who is my age), came out to chat. Very, very NICE gentleman. In future I am going to make a point to STOP just to say ‘Hello’ to him.
He is hoping somebody will buy it for the parts. That makes sense. I checked Rolls Royce GRILL and HOOD ORNAMENT prices on eBay. You can get them for CHEAPER than you might realize. So, to make it worthwhile you will have to sell more than just the grill and chrome.
Alas, the transmission is NOT original. It is a ‘new’ GM transmission.
But, I wanted to share this with YOU. Plus, I told Terrance I will do a post. SMILE.
My first encounter with them, which was enormously uplifting was in 2016. I felt an immediate, deep & profound connection — & their mission resonated with me. I think every town in the U.S. should have a ‘Common Good’. I RAVED about them just last week ahead of my latest trip to ‘Acadia’ because I was hoping to make it to their (now) weekly Wednesday night dinner.
I made it & it made MY WEEK.
The meal was outstanding, the company outstanding & the ambiance divine. So much goodwill, caring and camaraderie. We need more of this. I really, really enjoyed it.
This is such a great inspiration. I want a ‘Common Good’ NEAR ME. I am trying to work out how I can make it happen.
What the ‘Common Good‘ is all about by Bill Morrison (the co-founder).
THE MAN himself, ‘Larry Stettner‘. As is my luck I got to meet him, chat with him and he was kind enough to go and find a sheet (reproduced ABOVE) that spelled out what his ‘Goodness’ was all about. Larry, alas, passed away. aged 79, in May 2017 — 8-months after this picture.
A wholesome, modern-day, year-round ‘soup kitchen’ with heart, in Southwest Harbor, Maine, (adjacent to ‘Acadia National Park‘) that used to raise money with ‘As Good As Jordan Pond‘ Popovers, for breakfast, on a donation basis c. 2016.
They are still going STRONG in 2024 — & still open year-round.
Every community should have a ‘Common Good’ — along these lines.
This (though the YouTube video is NEW) is a redux of a September 2016 post from my now shuttered ‘Old Blog‘.
We happened to serendipitously stumble upon this heartwarming ‘Common Good‘ cause, on Facebook, just before we headed up to Acadia — in September 2016. Since we like popovers and always stop at ‘Jordan Pond House‘ for some (with me even making a v. rare exception to my low-carb diet) we decided instead to give this ‘Cause‘ a try on Sunday morning. And aren’t we glad we did so.
It was the BEST birthday I have had in years! Everything, starting with the music provided by the Band, was just so uplifting, collegial and bonhomous. Everybody was bending over backwards to be nice, friendly and helpful. The popovers, with maple butter and blueberry jam, were excellent. As good, if not better, than the exorbitantly expensive ones ‘Jordan Pond House’.
Wonderful experience. Getting to meet and chat with founder Larry Stettner was a treat. What a nice person. met some other nice folks too.
This will definitely be a fixture on our future visits to Acadia. I would like to do something sustainable for them. I have some ideas.
In the meantime please make sure that you pay them a visit.
I stopped by last month when I visited Acadia. I hope to stop by AGAIN this week. That is what prompted this post. SMILE.
‘Mount Desert Island‘ (MDI), which houses much of Acadia, has a huge — & apparently thriving — deer population. On my last few trips I have been seeing lots of them — including, alas, a second accident with a car.
On my quick, 2-day trip earlier this week I saw a total of 7 — though I didn’t go looking for them. One was an impressive, large buck with a magnificent set of antlers. Alas, I could not get a picture of him.
These show above, were all near ‘Bass Harbor’, on ‘Seawall Road’. I invariably see deer on that road — in the afternoons. They are incredibly TAME. I saw three going up and standing, tamely, next to a householder as if they belonged to him. I am sure he doesn’t feed them. They have just got used to seeing him. Amazing.
I went to Acadia, this Sunday, for a quick 2-day jaunt, in the main to see this shipwreck. I knew that the second storm we had broke up the remains further, BUT due to other commitments I could not get there prior to the Sunday. I wasn’t sure whether there would be anything visible. There was.
It was now badly broken up — in TWO separate sections — on either side of the famous, concrete steps leading down to ‘Sand Beach‘. One set is very close to the right hand side (as you come down).
Unless you knew about the wreck you could easily just think that it was random driftwood washed up. Yes, you can see the BIG, TALL nails but they are so rusted that they don’t look like nails. There are also some neatly drilled holes. You can see them in two of the pictures.
Well, I am glad to see what I saw. Not sure how long the timbers will stay there. Definitely a safety hazard for kids. So, most likely, the Park will remove the remains before the Summer.
I grew up during the time Ceylon had STRICT import restrictions (due to the lack of foreign currency). Only essential items could be imported — & comic books sure did not count as essential.
I was, however, lucky. We had ‘contacts’. SMILE. I had a steady supply of American comic books — many ‘Archie’.
Archie was MY HERO. I thought that he represented America.
40-years later I was lucky enough to meet & interact with two of the daughters of ‘Bob Montana’, the gifted artist who created Archie. He, like his daughters, lived in Meredith. Hence the statue — opposite where his studio was.
IF I am in Meredith (as I was today), I invariably stop at the train station. That railway & I go back to 1996 — 27-years. I lived in a house, in Meredith, that abutted the line.
I visit as one who visits Acadia in February when much of the main ‘Loop Road’ is closed.
Acadia is eminently accessible outside of the Loop Road.
I doubt whether they can legally stop foot traffic from entering the Park. Even if they put signs up at the main entrances there are too many ways you can wander into the Park on foot. Plus, much of the Park is OPEN — & directly accessible from Public Roads. These can’t be closed. So, they can block the Loop Road — & most likely that will happen. The Visitor Center will get closed too.
But, I am sure the intrepid will still be able to ENJOY the Park. Added bonus NO CARS & much less people! Just like February.
We got a lot of rain. Towards the end we had like 9-days of rain on the trot. It was relentless. I much prefer ambling in the snow rather than rain. Rain just gets me down.
Plus, for a rare change I did NOT have any multi-day trips to Maine — just a quick trip to ‘Kittery’, Maine on Father’s Day. So, getting in all the steps to make sure that my now multiyear streak of always exceeding 500,000 steps/month was not broken was a bit hard. But I kept at it. I knew what I had to do each day. SMILE. It is NOT easy being I. Smile.
