thefouramigosblog

Let me tell you a little about the weather in Maine.  You never know what you are going to get from one day to the next.   I have been really cold, bundled up with sweats and double layered shirts and sweaters one day and stripping down to shorts and a tank the next.  The problem is the weather reports aren’t always correct so I’ve learned, I think, to bring a change of clothes wherever we venture out to.

For example, Thursday we ventured out to Acadia National Park to do a bit of hiking.

On our way over we stopped at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge near Bucksport.   It’s quite an amazing bridge that is over 2,000 feet long connecting Verona Island to Prospect.  It opened in 2006 and has an observation tower.

This is the Penobscot River going into the bay.

I knew we’d start our venture at the top of Cadillac Mountain.  It was overcast, in fact it was fogged in.  We observed that on the drive up.

Bruce was wearing a heavy sweater but it was at least 75 degrees without any wind.  I had to take my jacket off because it was too hot.  I have never been that warm at the top of Cadillac, especially when the sun wasn’t out.

Usually we are in Maine in late July when things are dry.   At this time of the year, there were mini waterfalls by the roadside everywhere.

We couldn’t see the harbor from the top of the mountain the fog was so thick.  We could see the fog moving about over the area sometimes obscuring people not 100 yards in front of us.

Bruce’s dad’s favorite place in all the world was Acadia.  When he died in 2014, we brought some of his ashes up to Cadillac Mountain so he could remain in his beloved Acadia.   I think of this big rock as a monument to this great man.

The park was extremely crowded today so we decided to go over to Southwest Harbor hoping to avoid some of the crowds and I also wanted to go to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.  On our way we stopped at this very picturesque area.

The Somesville Library was built in 1905 and is located on this lovely pond.

When we reached the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse parking lot we couldn’t believe our eyes.  We had to wait on line to get a parking spot.  In all the years I’ve visited this Lighthouse, most often in July, I’d never seen these crowds.

I wanted to climb down the rocks to get a different shot of the Lighthouse.  Not only is it a little sketchy for this old lady to maneuver like that, but it was made worse due to avoiding all the people.  However, we did manage to get a selfie.

 

And then I climbed down a little further to get my final shot before our assent up and out of this area.

A little seagull was sitting on a sea wall just waiting for me to take its picture.

We stopped at Thompson Island on our way off the island and slogged in the mud flats with my sloggers.

 

We met Bruce’s brother Michael and his girlfriend Kathy for dinner at Jordan’s.  I forgot to take pictures but I had a clam roll and cole slaw and Bruce had a haddock sandwich.  Then we all had ice cream and Bruce and I had nearly a two hour drive back to Camp McWade.

Some mornings are just lazy mornings and Friday was just that!

We spent the afternoon with some new found friends and then had a very restful evening.

On Saturday we went in search of lighthouses.  There are so many in the state of Maine.  I was reading in one of our Maine guides about Squirrel Point Light and they suggested to begin there.  So that’s what we did.  I put it in my GPS and after a two hour car ride we ended up across the river from it.

It was a nice view, but according to what I read, we were supposed to be able to walk the grounds.  So we drove on in search of the actual lighthouse grounds.  And found this old Congregational Church.  It was built in 1802.

We drove for quite awhile not finding the lighthouse so we stopped for breakfast in this cute little restaurant, Mae’s Cafe and Bakery.  We both ordered blueberry pancakes and bacon.

 

Our tummies satisfied, we began our quest again to find the elusive Squirrel Point Lighthouse and others.  We were able to see a lighthouse out a bit in the ocean.

This was after trespassing on private property, but for those who know me, those signs don’t usually hold me back if I need to take a shot.  We also found Popham Beach State Park from the opposite side of the channel.  We did drive around trying to find it on the right side but never found it.   There are also two historical forts, Fort Baldwin from the American Revolution and Fort Popham from the Civil War.  We may take another trip down here to explore the forts further.

After much ado, we finally found Squirrel Lighthouse – sort of.  It was a mile walk from the parking lot, through mosquito and tick infested woods.  And also the white tailed moth which in caterpillar stage apparently is eating the leaves off of oak trees and causing skin rashes in the local population.

 

Finally the lighthouse.

The once lighthouse keepers house and of course our selfie.

 

On our hike back I could see the Congregational Church across the river.

Next stop was a cute little lighthouse called Doubling Point Lighthouse.  It was up the river from Squirrel and well marked.

In order to get to this Lighthouse you have to walk across private property.  I am not sure if the people who live here are the Lighthouse keepers.

And of course I can’t forget the selfie! Or the blackberry bushes! Or the view!

We were on a roll now so we headed to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.  This is the Lighthouse that is on the back of the Maine quarter.

We were fortunate enough to get here just in time to be able to climb to the top of the Lighthouse.  It was a spiral staircase with the last few feet a regular ladder.

There was a nice view from the top.

The light or lamp was interesting as well.

The rock formations around the Lighthouse were different then we have seen around other lighthouses.  The bedrock is hundreds of millions of years old and is studied by geologists.

It was a beautiful area to walk around and photograph.

And as always I love the lupine!

It was getting late and time to head back.  A lobster sure sounded good.  We found a little place called Captains Fresh Idea Restaurant.

The reviews on TripAdvisor were good so we figured we’d give it a try.  They do have 1 lb. lobsters but the bare naked lobster roll is 2-1 lb lobsters served on a buttered roll.  There is no mayo on it.  Just butter on the side.  So I figured I’d give it a try.  It was great.  Their cucumber salad was delicious as well.

Becky and Gary have owned the restaurant for 31 years.  Becky was friendly, the place was clean and food was good.  One bad thing – we were too full for dessert.

We arrived back at Camp McWade just in time to see some pretty twilight sky over the pond.

What a wondrous life!

 

#CaptainsFreshIdeaRestaurant  #PemaquidPointLighthouse

#SquirrelPointLight #MaesCafe&Bakery #DoublingPointLighthouse

#BassHarborHeadLighthouse  #AcadiaNationalPark

 

Spending time in the mid coast of Maine has given us the opportunity to explore new places in Maine. On Wednesday, we ventured out after a relaxing, slow paced morning, onto country roads with brilliant rhododendrons blooming everywhere. Our first stop was to be a hike in the Lincolnville area.

When I looked up the trail on my All Trails app, it said a moderate hike of 1.5 miles. No problem. I didn’t take into consideration the word mountain and the trail was all up hill. Not necessarily steep but definitely up!

All around were blackberry bushes, flowers in bloom. Next month there should be mouthwatering blackberries if the birds and wildlife don’t get there first.

Pretty daisies lined the trail as well.

We found interesting rock. Bruce and I were wondering if there was a lot of iron in it due to the reddish color.

It was hard at times hiking over it and I was glad I wore my hiking boots. The weather was cool but by halfway up we were both pretty hot. There were lots of mosquitoes and we found ticks on us later. But finally we did get to see a pretty view.

Now a moment for a selfie before our descent.

We meandered down the trail and checked each other for ticks before we got into the car. Unfortunately one made its way under Bruce’s pant leg and we found it that night. Hopefully, he will be ok.

We passed a lovely little area where canoes and kayaks were stacked. The weather was warm and sunny and I would have loved to go out on the water.

But nobody was there so they were not for rent and these days I’m not prone to taking and using things that aren’t mine. So onward to Camden where we had coffee in Zoots. For my vegan friends they would have loved this place because it was all vegan.

Down by the harbor their were many beautiful sailing ships.

One female crew was hoisted up in a bosun’s chair to work on the mast.

The weather was beautiful but we could see the fog coming in towards the harbor.

We found a restaurant overlooking the harbor to have some tasty lobster bisque.

A little outside of town was a place to see the Curtis Lighthouse. Although we had directions it was quite difficult to find. A gentleman walking by assisted us. We parked the car and walked the path. As we got to the overlook the fog was coming in.

It was very eerie how the fog rolls in off the ocean. A few minutes more and we would not have been able to see it.

Just a little way up the road some young girls were playing on a raft out in the water. Boy that had to be cold.

Some beautiful old houses and Inns were around Camden.

We had coffee with friends in the late afternoon and then called it a day.

Today was a typical Maine day. Gray, cold and damp. We made plans to have lunch with Bruce’s brother Michael in Brewer. He had lovely peonies growing in front of his house.

We made it back to Camp McWade and had a hot bowl of tomato soup for supper.

I do hope this weather clears up before mushrooms start growing between my toes!

You may be thinking lobster – she’s in Maine, they are everywhere!  And you are right.  However, this lobster aficionado is a purist when it comes to lobster.  No lobster rolls mixing the delightful morsefuls of meat with slabs of greasy mayo that deflects the flavor of the crustaceans.  I eat mine whole and alive until just boiled before it lands on my plate.  In fact, I use very little of the melted butter because I prefer the full flavor of the lobster.

So we began our journey headed towards Boothbay Harbor.  Bruce, who is a native of Maine, had never been.  We started off with hiking boots on ready for a two mile hike to some waterfalls sans bug spray.  We made it 100 yards before the buzzing began and we were attacked by the little buggers.  Running for the car, we had to be quick to make sure we didn’t bring along some hitchhikers.

As we drove along we happened upon an Amish community.  I quickly googled Amish and found that there are three such communities in Maine.

According to the article, they live cohesively with the local farmers and have started some small businesses of their own.

We came across a field of old farm equipment.

And very old houses!

On our way through the Town of Wiscasset, we stopped at the old jailhouse.

Wild roses are in bloom!

A drydocked lobster boat!

 

Everywhere we looked there was something beautiful!  This was wildcat creek.

We finally arrived in Boothbay Harbor and found Mine Oyster Restaurant.

We had a nice little table from the upper deck with a view of the harbor.

The inside of the restaurant was so typical Maine, especially the great amount of chopped wood.

The oysters were delicious. Our waiter, Ben, told us which ones to order.  There were four or five varieties on the menu.

Our first lobsters were filled to the shell, sweet, and delicious, with little water.  Neither of us had trouble getting our hands fishy.

They even served on Bavarian China.

For an after lobster treat we went to the local ice cream place.  I had a kiddie pistachio nut cone and Bruce had a cup of Maine blueberry ice cream.

We even had a nice view while we ate our ice cream.

It was a fabulous day and time to head back to the cabin.  On the way we found this old church or what we think was an old church.

It was across the street from an old graveyard.

We made it back after a fun filled day to a little bit of sunshine.

 

#boothbayharbor #minesoysterrestaurant #amish #lobster

 

 

It seems as though the older I get the quicker time goes by.  I remember my mother saying that; now I know what that’s like.  Especially when I am enjoying myself.  The month has gone by so quickly and we did very little in traveling out of Antigua.

One morning Hernan, our favorite cab driver, drove Bruce, Adriana and I to Pastori, the little town famous for making boots.

Adriana bought a really cute pair of boots.

The town of Pastori was interesting to walk through and the main municipal building had a plaque with boots on it as its symbol.

Afterwards, Hernan dropped us off at Casa Jackson so we could do some volunteer work.  I was working with Axel helping him learn to walk.

Little Heidi, who’s mother was staying at the hospital with her baby sister, has been on her own at Casa Jackson.  She finally warmed up to me and she loved taking selfies.

I have really loved the volunteer work at Casa Jackson.  It may have been more for me than the little ones.

Bruce also had a few days when he finally got Montezuma’s Revenge.  He wasn’t a happy camper.  But it passed without the need to go to the medical clinic.

That’s after his first meal in two days- cheese omelette at Casa Comtessa.

We will miss our evenings in the park watching all the activity.  Vendors selling, children playing.  All seeming to have a wonderful time.

Life in Antigua is slow but steady.  A bustle and a hustle yet a peacefulness all the same.  For this Americano, the people are charming, endearing and filled with a vibrancy and life despite the hard lives they live.  They are filled with hope, love and courage.  Many seem to have unlimited and unboundless faith.

In this church I watched a Mayan couple walk on their knees from the entrance to the alter and back, eyes closed, reciting prayer.

The churches are beautiful and in every little village it is the heart.  In Antigua, Antigua Guatemala Cathedral is where all the Santa Semana Celebratory parades end.

We ate lunch the other day at the Cafe Sky.  We had wonderful soup and sandwich.  The grilled cheese is thick with cheese.

The views are beautiful from the restaurant.

We had some beautiful sunsets.

Today I said goodbye to some of my amigas, Juana and Clara.

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My friend Adriana came over for a dip in the hot tub, and dinner at the rainbow.

Oh how I’m going to miss this place.  Until next year…..

It’s hard to explain the magical feeling I experience while spending time living in Antigua.  It feels like home, once I enter the city bouncing on the cobbled streets seeing the bright colors worn by the Mayan people.   This is our third year here and I never tire of walking the streets, sitting in the park, or talking to new friends.  For Valentine’s Day we had coffee with friends and then ate at dinner at Dona Luisas.  Walking into the restaurant, the smell of banana bread wafted through the air.  It is one of the breads they are famous for.

Bruce and I ordered pancakes for dinner.  I know, not a very interesting Valentines dinner but delicious nevertheless.

Much of our time is spent saying, “hola” or “buenos dias”or “buenos tardes”to people we know or don’t know.  We met a couple in the park from New Jersey who have been staying in Antigua during January and February for the past five years.  The park is a great place to make new friends.

On the weekends we have been volunteering at Casa Jackson.  Bruce has made good buddies with two year old Axel.  He is quite a character.

I spend a lot of time with Jacqueline.  She’s only two months old but as sweet as can be.  She smiles when I make funny noises.

I think this is the best kind of volunteer work.  Who doesn’t like to play with children or hold babies?

On Sunday night, Deet, an American woman who moved here 26 years ago, started organizing dinners, where woman meet on a street corner and go to dinner.  On Sunday night, there were quite a lot of us at the Rainbow Cafe.

Most of the women are in Antigua volunteering with an NGO.  Many of the women were from the US but they were also from Australia, Germany and Finland.

We found another cute little restaurant for lunch, sobermesa.  I had a sandwich and Bruce had soup.

We ate dinner one night at Micho’s.  I had tacos and Bruce had quesadillas.

We’ve tried a few new restaurants.  We ate at Roots one day for lunch and I had a delicious rice bowl.

Two days a week we’ve been taking Spanish lessons.  Carmen comes to our apartment and we spend two hours learning new nouns and verbs so we can make sentences.  Then we get 4 hours of homework.  And I’m still not a good student.

Bruce is the teacher’s pet!

And when it gets hot, we go to the pool!

What a life!

 

we have been coming to Antigua for three years yet never spent more then a night in a hotel in Guatemala City.  It was time to spend a little time in the capital although we had heard so many warnings about the dangers and perils of being in the city.  I am a New York City girl so very little scares me.  And my friend Adriana has traveled the world and has lived in LA.

We hired a local driver to take us in and we got an early start at 9. It took almost two hours getting into the city with the traffic.

I couldn’t believe how congested it was.  And for the most part, it looked rundown and not very impressive.  We decided to stay in one zone so we chose zone one where the National Palace is located.

It is located on a park.  We took a tour of the palace.  It was in Spanish and Adriana interpreted for us.

The palace’s architecture Spanish style but the ceiling on one floor is Arabic andthe chandeliers are European crystal.

The floors on each floor are different styles as well.

The murals depicted the beginning of the Mayan culture and the introduction of the Spanish into Guatemalan history as well as the battles that occurred.

The main entrance room houses the peace statue where the Peace Acoord was signed in 1996, after 36 years of Civil War.

After we left the palace we went to La Merced, Guatemala City, a Baroque style church built from 1780 to 1813.

The church is to the left of the palace on the Central Park.  The inside of the church was not overly interesting although it supposedly houses some of the artwork from its sister church La Merced in Antigua.

We were ready for lunch but it was really difficult finding a place to eat.  There was McDonals, KFC, Burger King! And Taco Bell.

Finally we found a little cafe inside a building.  I ordered chicken.

We had to drive about 25 minutes to the train museum, even though that was still in the same zone.  This was the highlight of the trip.

It was virtually a train graveyard but was so interesting how Guatemala had once had a fairly large train infrastructure in place.  It was baffling that it has all disappeared.

Does anyone remember this one?

The museum also had a large display of safes.

It was a lot of fun looking at these old trains but it was time to head out of Guatemala City.  Heading to our car, we passed this interesting idea of how they repurpose items.

Our ride back to Antigua took only an hour this afternoon.  We stopped to have an afternoon cup of coffee.  I had macadamia pie and Bruce and Adriana had a blackberry cake.  What a great way to end our day!

 

 

#GuatemalaCity#nationalpalace#lamerced#trainmuseum

 

 

 

After our friends left, we had coffee with some friends we knew from last year and met a few other old acquaintances in the park.  We had pizza at San Martin for dinner and called it a night.

Saturday morning we made our way over to Caoba Farms.  We bought lots of great produce.  It’s all organic, but I’m not always sure what I’m buying.  I thought I was buying onions and it turned out to be fennel.  Oops!

There are many vendors selling everything from paintings to lotions.  I ended up buying some green slime that’s supposed to keep the frizz at bay.  We will see.

We walked around the farm and looked at all the plants.  Neither of us was hungry for breakfast but really only came for the produce.

There were beautiful flowers everywhere.  I wish I knew all their names.

On our way back to our apartment, Caoba Farms offered a van service to take us part of the way.  That was great because we were lugging the veggies and a few other odds and ends.  We’ve been averaging about five or six miles a day walking, so when offered a ride, we took it.

We bought some tomatoes that were very different looking.  Someone said they were delicious, and I am game to try most anything.

I told Clara I would come and see her at the weaver’s market, so we walked up there after we dropped off the produce.  I met her adorable grandson.

Clara has very beautiful table runners and scarves that she sells.  Many of the items are made on the backstrap loom.

Bruce and I walked back to the Parque Central and a band was playing music.  On Saturdays, Antigua is very busy and alive with activity.

We stopped to have a bite to eat at Cafe Barista where I finally found a bag of decaf coffee.  I don’t usually drink decaf, but it was interesting to find it here.  We also stopped at the chocolate store for ice cream.

We made our way back home for a swim in the pool and a few minutes in the hot tub.  This has been a wonderful place to stay with it beautiful gardens and pool.

For dinner I made a large omelet using all the fresh produce from Caoba Farms.  It was delicious.

On Sunday we were meeting Adriana to go to lunch at Cerro San Cristobal. We walked down the avenue and took in the sights.

We took a bus up to the top of a mountain overlooking Antigua.  It was quite a ride up, one where our palms got a little sweaty.  Hairpin turns on single lane roads with no guardrails.  The driver beeped his horn to let anyone know we were coming.

It was worth the ride up.  The view was breathtaking.

We had a marvelous lunch overlooking the volcanoes.  I had shrimp quesadilla, Adriana had a salad and Bruce had nachos.

We stayed there quite awhile just enjoying the lovely day and our friendship.

We could see Fuego puffing away from up here.

We went through a greenhouse where they were growing some lovely orchids.

What a wonderful place to spend the afternoon.  Delicious food, spectacular views and warm friendships.

On Monday we went to Casa Jackson to sign up for volunteer work.  We ended up volunteering a few hours with the malnourished children.  Bruce had a good time playing with his new pal, Clyde.  That’s not his real name.

The school Nuestros Ahijados is the major part of the compound and Casa Jackson Hospital for Malnourished Children is part of that.  I have volunteered here before and it’s a wonderful program.  The campus is beautiful and it’s a great place for the children to attend school and for babies to recover from malnutrition.

We met with Juana in the park and checked out some neat things she was selling.

For dinner we ate pizza at San Martin again.

On Valentine’s Day we started our Spanish lessons.  A woman named Carmen teaches us at our apartment.  She gave us lessons two years ago.  She’s very good.

We didn’t make any exciting plans for dinner so we ate at this cute Italian restaurant.  They only served pizza.  All was good!

After dinner we walked to the park so a Bruce could smoke his cigar; then we called it a night.

 

#Antigua, Guatemala

#Casa Jackson

#

One of my favorite trips in Guatemala was to Tikal, a large complex of Mayan ruins located in the northern jungles of this amazing country.  Bruce and I traveled there in 2017 by shuttle.  Actually it was a 9 seater van holding 10 backpackers and us.  And it was a grueling 10 hour drive.  I wanted to take our friends there, without being tortured, so we opted for a one hour plane ride from Guatemala City to Flores and an hour drive from Flores to Tikal.  Our driver, Eduardo, picked us promptly and we were on our way.

The plane was small, but big enough to provide beverage service.  It was a new plane, very clean with fairly comfortable seats.  The airline was TAG airlines which I never heard of before I booked our flights.

There were a few hiccups with our arrival in Flores.

Our driver was waiting for us and he drove us to the Banco where we could buy our tickets into Tikal.  From what I read, if you went into the park after 3pm one day you could go in the next.  We also wanted to go in for the sunset and sunrise.  We were told we needed to buy 3 separate tickets which came to 350 quetzals apiece.  This actually was only $44.  But it seemed like we were getting snookered.

After all the business was taken care of, we had a lovely ride to Jungle Lodge in Tikal stopping for a moment by a beautiful lake just beyond Flores.

Bruce and I stayed at Tikal Jungle Lodge two years ago and loved it.  The hotel is little cabins with double beds, netting for the beds, luxurious bathrooms complete with a large soak tub.  Many birds nest among the foliage and the hotel is walking distance to the entrance to the park.

We decided to get a quick bite to eat before setting off into the park.  The hotel has an outdoor restaurant serving everything from pasta to fish.  Up at the front desk, we met this English speaking man, Tony or Antonio, who was to become our guide.  If you remember Clint Eastwood’s movie “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” he reminded me of Eli Wallach’s character, Tuco, quite the character and a bit of a scammer.  Unfortunately, we all forgot to take pictures of Tony, which was a major miss for my blog.

Tony gave us a brief tutorial from a diagram on the wall in the reception area.

Afterwards, Tony walked us to the park entrance where we handed over our sunset tickets.  After that Tony left us on our own.  It was still early and light so we could see where we were going.

Our our first sight was the back of Temple I.  As we walked around we came upon the Grand Plaza.  Temple I rose out of the earth in all its grandeur.

We spent several hours wandering around looking at the amazing structures.

Everytime we came upon a group of people with a guide, the guide would ask where our guide was.  Obviously we were not supposed to be wandering around the park in the dark.  So we said our guide was Tony and he was somewhere around.  Finally, we needed some guidance in finding the Temple where we could see the sunset.  One guide was very helpful and we followed him.

As we climbed the stairs at the Temple, we saw a family of spider monkeys.

I think seeing the monkeys was more fun then seeing the ruins.  But we also did get to see a pretty spectacular sunset.

And then there was more!

Then we descended the staircase trying to hustle out of the jungle before it became too dark.

It had been quite a hike up as you can see from the stairs down.  We almost made it out before total darkness, and thank goodness Keith had a GPS.  One of the guides came back looking for us.  That was good to know if, in fact, we had been lost.

The next morning we were woken by Tony at 3:45am so we could get an early start to Temple IV.  Coffee awaited us in the lobby and a box lunch.  We also had a group of 7.  Off we went fueled by coffee in complete darkness only with tiny flashlights as our guides.  We stopped along the way and he translated the carvings on one of the Mayan monuments.

We made our way in the dark surrounded by the cacophony of jungle sounds.  The harsh, guttural call of the howlers intermingled with the squawking of parrots made our hike seem ever the more enchanting.

We made our way up to the top of Temple IV in the dark and waited for the sunrise.

Sunrise never came.  It was far too misty and cloudy but it was still worth the early morning adventure.

We left Tony in the Park with the others and made our way back out.   We stopped to check out some of the sites.

Our ride ice to the airport was scheduled for 11am so we packed up and hung out on the front porch.

The flight back on TAG Airlines was not quite as luxurious.  It was quite a bit smaller and no beverage service.  The airport also charged us an airport tax when we got there in order to leave.  I think there are some hinky things going on but, when in foreign countries, we comply.

After our return, we ate dinner at the Porta Hotel.  I had pork, Bruce had fish and Keith and Terri had vegetarian dishes.

It was a marvelous trip and great fun with friends!

#Jungle Lodge Tikal  #Porta Hotel Antigua  #TAG Airlines