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July 3, 2019

Today we had to begin a little earlier than normal since we had tickets for the Horse Drawn Carriage Ride at Wildwood Stables (operated by Carriages of Acadia).  One very important note is that you can only book these tours over the phone.  Our tickets were for 9 AM which meant that we had to be there at 8:30, which meant that we had to leave the house at 8.

We hit all of those goal times and it was a nice relaxing morning.  The carriage ride itself was excellent!  Our team was Mike and Katie.  Mike provided all of the commentary as we ambled through the trail system that was created by the Rockefellers, and it was fantastic.  This was one of the activities that Liam asked for and both kids enjoyed it.  The ride even lasted longer than the advertised hour (about 1:10).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the carriage ride we tried Jordan Pond House again hoping for some popovers.  We arrived at the parking lot at 10:30 and both lots were completely full.  Instead, we targeted Bass Harbor Light House for our next stop hoping it would be a good place for a picnic.

When we arrived the lot was very busy, but we got the last spot (about 11:15).  We looked at the building (and forgot about the path to the shore) but didn’t see a good spot for a picnic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we didn’t have a good spot for a picnic, we decided to try Maine-ly Delights for lunch.  Our lunch was good and the views of the harbor made it even better.

Once we were fed, we stopped at Seawall Picnic area (which would have been perfect for our lunch!) and explored the vast natural Seawall.  The children absolutely loved it (especially all of the creatures they saw in the small pools).  The restroom also was clean.  When we finished exploring we took a brief drive through Manset village for a peak at the harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we made our way to the Ship Harbor Nature Trail for try another easy hike.  It was another hit and the children did really well.  We managed 50 minutes of walking this time and some of the views opened up on the walk were beautiful.  Unfortunately we were cut short because someone need a toilet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the car, we wandered along the coast a bit more before heading home.  We made a brief stop at the IGA grocery store north of Southwest Harbor and returned to the house for the evening.  This was probably our best day so far!

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