The one thing we wanted to do, but had not yet done, was to view a sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain. We kept putting it off until the sunrise was at a more respectable hour, say like 6:10 am, and that day was Thursday! In order to get a parking spot in the Cadillac Mountain parking lot we would need to arrive there at least 40-45 minutes before sunrise......so, about 5:30 am. Of course, you know me, right? In order for me to be anywhere at a specified time I need to be up at least two hours before, so that meant 3:30 am. I know, right? Is it really that popular? Yup, it certainly is. We were out the door by 5 am.....it was kind of eerie driving through downtown Southwest Harbor and not seeing one single car parked anywhere. The traffic was not bad at all driving over to Cadillac Mountain. In fact, we followed one car most of the way, and didn't see any other traffic. We began to think it wouldn't be too crowded at the top......WRONG! We arrived at the parking lot just before 5:30 am to find it full to overflowing already, except for one kind of narrow spot between to large pickups......a perfect fit for the Beetle. It was the last spot! Everyone who came after us would be parking illegally, and believe me, people were parked everywhere by the time the sun rose.
We found a good spot to sit facing east....by this time it was obvious where 'east' was....the sky was already beginning to glow in advance of the much anticipate event......
It was obvious which way was 'east'
There were hundreds of people scattered across the granite surface that is the summit of Cadillac Mountain. It was so quiet it almost felt like we were in a library, or church.
It's up!
What a show! Time to get warm!
.......from beginning to end we were there about 45 minutes. It was not too cold temp wise, but there was a breeze, as there always is, and that breeze was cold! TLE walked back to the car and got a blanket we always keep in the car for just such situations.
There is one quite noteworthy thing about this sunrise event.....it is the first time in 47 years of marriage that I have been able to get TLE to get up to see a sunrise. To be fair, she spent 20 years getting up around 3:30 am to be at work by 5:30......she has seen her fair share of sunrises. All that being said, it made me very happy we were able to share this experience together.....thank you TLE!
As we exited to parking area we found 100's of cars parked illegally.....I'm glad we found a legal parking spot and didn't have to find out if we would get a ticket. I hope no one got a ticket Thursday! We had decided earlier in the week that we would stop off in Bar Harbor for breakfast after the sunrise. We began checking on Yelp as the sun was rising for any breakfast places open before 7 am.....there was one....Jeannie's Great Maine Breakfast on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor. We got there just before 6:30 am, and were seated just before it got super crowded.....within minutes of our arrival there was a line out the door of people waiting their turn....perfect timing once again! Yelp gives them a solid four stars on 404 reviews, and it is a well deserved rating.....they only serve breakfast, and are only open til 1 pm each day.....
......we can now highly recommend them for breakfast if you are ever in Bar Harbor and find yourself in need of a good, hearty breakfast!
We were home just before 8 am. We still needed to get our haircuts, and Harbor Barber opens at 9 am, so we drove over about 8:50 am to get our names on the board, thus securing our place 'in line'. Within 30 minutes it was my turn for my last haircut by the amazing Tanya, then it was TLE's turn.....TLE says she did a wonderful job.....
......this is as short as it has been in over two years.....it's like being married to a new woman.....lol!
We were back home by 10 am with the rest of the day ahead of us.......the big event of the day was to get the trailer repositioned so we can drop it on the hitch of the Newell Friday morning.....
Where is was.....
....and where it is now
......Tony loaned me his GME Yukon SUV to move the trailer, and I had it repositioned within about 10 minutes.....ready to roll!
I spent time moving things to the front of the interior of the trailer in preparation for the insertion of the Beetle Friday morning, then coiled up our rope lights, removed all the wheel covers from the Newel, and finished servicing our 7.5 kilowatt, propane generator. She will get a lot of use over the next 5 weeks.
After Tony's wife got home from work (she is a teacher) we walked over to give them some parting gifts in appreciation for their wonderful hospitality.....a couple of bottles of Coppola Malbec, 2016 for Janet, and 2 six packs of Dos Equis, and a 4 pack of Guiness Stout for Tony. We spent about and hour talking, and sipping wine before we had our final 'until next time' hugs and headed back home to have dinner.
It is a bitter sweet time, as it always is when we say our 'until next times'......we will never forget Tony and Janet, and all the other friends we made during our 4 month sojourn in Southwest Harbor. Tomorrow, for the first time in 4 months I will be writing my blog from a location other than Southwest Harbor.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Kudos to Tony and Janet. They helped you when in need
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