36

12 hours left. Sunday morning was bright and fine. We slept in a little bit and woke refreshed for the day--and for breakfast!  The Bass Cottage Inn is renowned for their gourmet breakfasts, and this day was no different.  Fresh, Maine blueberry waffles with vanilla whipped cream and chicken apple sausage or potato pancake with eggs and roasted tomatoes.  All served alongside fresh strawberry yogurt, banana bread, and rich, hot coffee.

We savored the sunshine together. We listened to the other guests enjoying themselves.  We didn't hurry or bustle.  Every breath was a delight.

11 hours. When we had finished eating, we got a pot of tea and planned out the rest of our day.  We wanted to spend as much time as we could in Acadia national park, since we had yet to see it in springtime.  Last time, Taylor did a 20 mile run around the park, but I only saw a small bit.

We brought our bicycles, so we planned a ride around Jordan Pond, and we definitely wanted to hike too (it's hard to take pictures while riding a bike). We picked Beehive Mountain--a relatively short but steep climb (iron rungs for portions of the trail!), but with fabulous views of Sand Beach.

10.  We packed up our things and checked out of the Inn.  I hope we get to go back, maybe just once, before we leave the east coast. Such fond memories deserve lots of remembering..

Loading everything into our trusty car (which has served us so well for so many mountain climbs and road trips and adventures!), we headed out of Bar Harbor toward Acadia.  The drive was lovely, the weather perfect.  We could not have asked for a better day!  We (very) briefly stopped at the "Wild Gardens of Acadia" and decided we should come back later--perhaps in 50 years.  The gardens are lovely, but they might be more fun if we had small toddling children, or when we are nearly toddling again ourselves :)

On to Sand Beach to our hike!  What fun it was--up and up and up the path until we got to the rocks, then climbing rung ladders and steep slopes of huge boulders.  I have never been rock climbing before (and this wasn't really rock climbing either), but honestly--it's amazing what your fingers can hold on to :) We had a great time and made it to the top in just 20  minutes (or so).

We followed the well-marked path down the other side of the mountain (I was glad we didn't have to climb down that steeper side with the rungs), to the car, and around the park to Jordan Pond.

8.  Off with the bikes!  Helmeted, watered, snacked, we rode off onto the carriage roads through the park.  This whole "riding in the woods" thing was new to me, too.  I've ridden on desert roads before, and I've ridden a fair amount in the city, but never with trees flanking either side of my path.  The air was so fresh and the light was all golden-green and lively.  Except for avoiding the occasional horse plop (it's a shared path, after all), our 9 mile loop ride was perfect.  I even (mostly) kept up with Taylor on the hills, too--than goodness for low gears!

6.  So--it's a 5 1/2 hour drive from Bar Harbor to Boston.  It was after 2 o'clock when we finished our ride and got back in the car, and we had dinner reservations at 8 pm at OM in Cambridge...

0.  Can you believe it? Not only did we get to the restaurant 5 minutes early, but we got a (free!) parking spot 50 feet from the front door.  We even had a chance to freshen up at a rest stop (t-shirts to wipe the grime off our arms and faces, I did my hair in the sink, we changed clothes and were on our way again!).  Incredible?  We thought so :)

So, that's our 36-hour getaway.  Dinner at OM was delicious and relaxing, the wine was flowing, and the popcorn (they had popcorn instead of bread for starters) was tasty! We even splurged a bit and each got dessert (which we shared, so it was like we both got two).  We drove home (got rockstar parking right in front of our building!) and locked up the bikes, took in the essentials, and were in bed before 11.

Marvelous?

Yes, oh yes.