7. Day 4 TOUR de FR (Friends and Relatives)!!!! ... and Acadia National Park

Regretfully, it’s almost the end of our TOUR de FR. We left the Conneighton Compound and, after 6 hours or so driving through beautiful forest and mountain roads with changing fall colors everywhere, we made it to Brooklin, Maine, to the home of our dear friends Brewster and Jan Basset. 

On the way, we stopped at Freeport. ME to visit the L.L. Bean Headquarters. We misjudged the length of THAT pause in our journey. After two hours, we’d only begun to explore all the buildings on their campus. Time to hit the road again…Of course it was raining  during some of the trip, and began raining again later in the evening, but wow, were we glad to see our friends again! 

We’d all been friends in Palm Beach County many years ago, Brewster and I played in a bluegrass band together for 15(?) years and our families were very close. Work took Brewster & Jan to other parts of the country, we stayed behind, and  it just wasn't possible to stay physically connected. Until now! 

We toured their amazing self-designed home overlooking the water, had an awesome meal chef’d by Jan and Brewster, blabbed about everything that’s happened during the last 20 years since we saw each other, and just had a glorious time catching up. Sheldon got to be good friends with their sweetly patient Golden Retriever, Luna. Bedtime came, and we crashed in the cool garage apartment.  Big plans for seeing the area tomorrow. We slept like logs! 

Next morning, after breakfast, we hit the road, first stop being the Wooden Boat School main campus. BEAUTIFUL! It’s a renovated old estate facing Brooklin harbor, with a huge workshop area, waterfront boathouse (almost got blown off the dock there by the cold wind!), big bookshop/giftshop/charthouse, and on and on. 

Brewster & Jan came here years ago to build a boat during one of their classes, and fell in love with the Brooklin area, thus their retirement to Brooklin several year ago. It’s secluded, lots of space, and there’s a music scene Brewster has plugged into. Perfect (except for harsh winters, lots of snow, and weather stuff Florida-types are too fragile to handle!).

WHIMSICAL Artists' House...notice the spiral coming out of the chimney! 

We toured the roads and small towns near Brooklin, the Brooklin Boatyard, the Brooklin Post Office, and everywhere in between. This area is a hideaway for many artists, writers, musicians, and eccentric retirees. BUT you'd never know it, everybody seems to keep the “look at me” factor dialed down to zero.

We had to temporarily bid adieu, and go claim our campsite at Acadia National Park that afternoon. The plan is to get together again n a couple of days and play lots of music together, blab some more about everything that comes to mind, and make sure we don't wait another 20 years before connecting again. Thanks Jan and Brewster for a wonderful reunion! More music and fun together is planned...

We made it to Mt. Desert Campground, just outside Acadia, in about an hour’s drive, through beautiful Maine backroads…with rain the whole way, of course! We got set up on a beautiful site, overlooking the water just across the road. 

What a neat camp: They don’t allow big RV’s over 20 feet long, so most people here are using tents or small-size trailers similar to ours. We set up during the storm, then slept in until the next day. When it was dry, we finally set up our screen room & lawn chairs, and spread out to relax for a week. 

The first dry day in a long time was well spent by driving and hiking around Acadia NP. We got to see a LOT of unbelievable scenery, changing fall colors, ocean vistas, pink granite cliffs, ocean kayakers playing in the crashing water of Thunder Hole, AND (as recommended by everyone we know) we ate exquisite POPOVERS at the Asticou Inn, which was a fantastic location in its own right! 

More photos are at this link if you are interested: 
TRIP PHOTOS