Travel Journal
It seems that once a decade or so we end up back down in the Larchmont, NY area where I spent the first 17 years of my aging existence. We had a bit of free time in between our trifecta of experiences in NYC so why not revisit good old Larchmont?
As avid Mets fans seeing a Mets/Anyone game is always at the top of the bucket list but…..Ever since hearing the buzz about the Broadway show Hamilton, seeing it in person may have nudged a tad above a Mets game.
The day after our Broadway play experience we met childhood friend Larry at his place of employment in Whitestone, NY. From there it was only a few miles to Citi Field in Flushing, NY. Although the Mets were eliminated (go figure to all you Met fans out there) from post-season play a true Met fan routes for them until the bitter end. With a 3 game series against the Braves as their last games of the season, Pete Alonso, the Mets first baseman needed one more homerun to claim a share of the all time rookie home run record. We watched him hit number 52 and even got to record it for use in our blog.
The video is a bit long but it is one for the record books. Glad we were here to watch Pete tie the record of 52 homeruns in a rookie season. He did go on to hit number 53 the day after we were there. Amazing!
Although the blog has a title of “The Adventures Of Roy And Laurie” this hike on the precipice trail was precipitated by Sam, a friend of Karen Shapiro and now a friend of mine. He had done the hike over 40 years ago and wanted to reminisce a bit. I was up for the challenge so we headed out mid-morning to see if the trail was as Sam remembered it.
What a more natural thing to do on a carriage road than take a horse drawn carriage ride. Absolutely gorgeous creatures that were “retired” from work at Amish farms in the New England area.
As we have been camping/hiking around the Gorham, NH area for a while, it seemed appropriate to try and “bag a few peaks” in the area. We have already walked over some of the taller mountains in the Whites during other trips but, as we start to consider hiking all 48 of those peaks, it is time to redo some and find some new excitement at the same time. We had hiked Madison before as the AT goes right over the summit but Adams has only been walked around and never over.
The White Mountains have this persona that allows you to hike through many different climate zones in a single hike. These 2 shots are of the “rain forest” type climate a bit before hitting the Alpine Zone.
After I hiked both Madison and Adams we met our friends Scott and Kathy to hike those peaks again. They were the only 2 Four Thousand footers they had left to hike of the 48 in the state.
We decided to visit the crown jewel of Maine for a week or so. We had not been to Acadia together before and found it, maybe, to be the National Park with the most allure for us. The network of carriage roads that Rockefeller had constructed were absolutely perfect for wonderful bike rides on the tandem as well as linking together nice hikes throughout the park. The network of hiking paths was so diverse that the ranger told us there were no recommended hikes just a network that was clearly labeled so folks can piece together as many long or short hikes they choose. It is also home to some of what we can tell are the best kayaking places around. Next time we will have to bring ours (after we purchase them this fall). There were plenty of folks at Bar Harbor proper but the park is large enough to absorb the crowd while not feeling crowded at all.
Although we tired ourselves out during the day we managed to save up enough energy to try a little nightlife in Bar Harbor. The Improv Acadia had a number of good reviews so off we went. The show was hilarious and entertaining all at the same time.
We took many hikes during our week long stay in the park. One of our favorites was the Jordan Pond hike. This had a side hike up one of the “Bubbles” that added a half mile of vertical hiking up and then another half, albeit slower down.
Although the next few shots were not taken in Acadia proper, they were on Moosehead Lake in northern Maine. We will call that close enough for the same post. The video below is a 360 degree view of Moosehead Lake taken from the fire tower.
We took a number of bike rides in the area. We decided to do a 15 mile loop around Schoodic Peninsula and had a fabulous time. We even met a woman who owns a recumbent trike and she gave us a lesson and a test ride. Very cool.
The next day we swapped out the road tires on our tandem bike and put on the hybrid (slightly wider) tires so we could enjoy a ride on the gravel carriage roads. What a nice networks of well maintained biking roads!
During our weeklong stay we did find many times to simply wander the shoreline of this gem of a national park.
WE WILL BE BACK!!!