Today started out foggy with very poor visibility. We
headed off around the western section of Mount Desert Island and the park and
before long we could at least see a mile or so ahead. The road took us
first through Southwest Harbor which is a nice little town…..narrow streets and
touristy businesses but not nearly as crowded as Bar Harbor.
Main Street, Southwest Harbor
The wild Rosa rugosa which is everywhere up here and grows
very large. We’ve seen wild roses in other places but nothing as big as
these. The rose hips are huge. Haven’t seen any damage on the fruit
so birds must not like them. The hips are edible and full of vitamin C.
They aren’t ripe yet so maybe that’s why we haven’t seen anyone picking them.
We stopped at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse at the end of the
peninsula. I couldn’t get in a better position to take its picture so
this will have to do. It’s the first lighthouse we’ve been to that actually
had a Coast Guard family living in it (according to the signs which request
that people respect the family’s privacy). This isn’t common since all
the lights are automated now.
Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in heavy fog. The bell
buoys were getting a workout.
We drove up the coast looking for a picnic spot.
Finally found an unoccupied table in a lovely quiet wooded area with no one
around. What a nice surprise!
The day had two highlights, the first of which was the Seal
Cove Auto Museum which is out in the middle of nowhere……a totally unexpected
gem. It’s the collection of one man (now deceased), mostly cars from 1900
to 1928, but also a few of the other many things he collected. Most of
the cars have been restored and they’re in beautiful condition. Some are
very rare, especially the 1915 F.R.P. which is the only known F.R.P. in the
world.
]
1915 F.R.P. – named for its designer/builder Finley
Robertson Porter.
Some of the cars are bigger than our dually. They all
have interesting histories so it took about two hours to go through the museum
since I had to read about every one of them (like I’m going to remember any of
it by next week).
The Stanley Steamer Mountain Wagon, a really big vehicle
designed to carry passengers from boats and railways to their final
destinations like luxury vacation hotels. Stanley Steamer made a lot of
different models and there are several in the museum. The Steamer was a
great vehicle which was very strong and reliable. It won a lot of races
and, in fact, beat the gas autos so badly at Daytona that the other auto
companies ganged up on it and got it banned from future Daytona races.
One can only wonder how different things would be if steamers had become the
favorites over gas engines. They use gas to heat water for steam but they
don’t cause the pollution problems of internal combustion engines. They
have their own set of problems (like carrying sufficient water for steam) but
pollution isn’t one of them.
Jim’s favorite was this 1912 Peugeot-type 150 Boat-tailed
skiff, a custom made vehicle with exquisite workmanship.
1911 Pierce Arrow 4 cylinder motorcycle. In the early
days motorcycles were really bicycles with various types of engines attached to
them. As they developed they lost their bicycle look. This one has
a very long wheelbase and must have been a bit challenging to ride.
One last car…….
This 1912 Crane was originally owned by one of the
wealthiest women in America, Helen Hartley Jenkins. It cost $15,000 –
almost 42 times the $360 price of a Ford Model T. It would be about
$350,000 today. Mrs. Jenkins was a noted philanthropist who did much good
in her work with charities so it’s surprising she would spend such an
outrageous amount for a car.
While we were in the museum the weather cleared and we came
out to blue skies and sun. We decided we’d go back up Cadillac Mountain
and see the views we missed on Saturday. It was well worth the trip and
was the second highlight of the day.
Quite the opposite of Saturday’s picture…….blue skies and a
great view!
The Porcupine Islands
from the summit of Cadillac Mountain.
View to the northwest with shimmering water instead of
fog. This is a very long-distance shot so it’s a bit hazy.
Tomorrow is our last day here. We’ll go back to the
park and try to get the things we missed on Saturday. There’s still a
mass of people here but maybe it won’t be as bad as the weekend was.
No comments:
Post a Comment