Mainely Food (Part 3)

So as our trip wound down, we took a nice easy hike along Long Pond (which is much bigger than what I would classify as a "pond").  The day started out a little overcast, but cleared up a bit as we started the walk along the shoreline. 



Looking down Long Pond.



The water is incredibly clear and still.  We got to a point further down the shore and Jake's young eyes spied a loon in the middle of the water.  He started making loon sounds ("Listen!  I'm communicating with the loon!") 

Fog over Long Pond.

After sitting for a while, we started back toward the car and the fog came rolling over the mountains, hovering over the water.  It was an almost surreal feeling.  The sounds of the loons calling, the low fog, bald eagles flying through the low clouds.  It was really cool.  Jake continued to make his loon calls, which resulted in a 2-second delayed echo.  He though that was pretty neat.  We did too.

Our last morning came (or what we thought was going to be our last morning) and we went for breakfast at Breakfast at Grumpy's in Southwest Harbor.  We didn't know anything about it, but it looked good.  And it was.

A beautiful setting right on the harbor (complete with yet another loon having breakfast).  It's a family-run place where everything is made from scratch.  Big portions (see the picture of the blueberry pancakes!), too.  Grumpy, by the way, is a really nice guy who has been in the food biz for almost 30 years. 

Plate-sized blueberry pancakes and
a 3-egg omeletat Grumpy's.

It was a good thing that we had this hearty breakfast, because the rest of the day was going to leave no time for lunch.  Soon after, we noticed the smoke coming out from under the hood and our 2 day stranding in Bar Harbor began.

Oh, sure.  We didn't need the added expense of the repair and the motel and the rental car.  But we did get a couple other good breakfasts at Cafe This Way and Grumpy's again.  And we got to spend another day and a half in Acadia--Jake back swimming in the 57 degree water at Sand Beach.

And we found a new casual dinner place in Bar Harbor.  The Side Street Cafe is a relatively new place (opened in '09) that is family-friendly and is known for their yummy burgers and macaroni and cheese.  You can "build your own" burgers and mac-and-cheese by adding your choice from a list of ingredients.  MB got mac-and-cheese with spinach and mushrooms.  I had a burger with goat cheese, bean sprouts, olive tapenade on a ciabatta roll.  Really tasty.  Jake loved the kid-sized burger, too. 



From burgers to fried seafood, from fresh steamed lobsters to trail mix while hiking, from Cafe This Way to Grumpy's--it was another great food adventure in Maine.  (Not to mention all the other great non-food stuff!)  Jake's already asking about when we'll be heading back.