Springtime in the Northeast

Tuesday, May 8, 2018--Magog, Quebec to Bar Harbor, Maine

It's springtime in this area of the Canada and the US.  The temperatures are pleasant (temporarily), daffodils, tulips, azaleas, lilacs, and fruit trees are blooming.  People are out enjoying the sunshine, painting, remodeling, etc.  It was pleasant today just to wear a light sweater.

In the early morning hours, we wandered around Magog.  It is a lakeside town, so went went down by the lake.  Then we walked through the downtown district which is about 5 blocks long with mostly local shops selling to the local people, but also with a few tourist shops.  We went into the beautiful St. Patrice Catholic Church which was across the street from our B&B, and we walked through the neighborhood which had a number of large, nice homes and lots of other old homes that have been converted into B&Bs.  It's a nice bedroom town that has just about everything needed and is only about 20 km (12 miles) from a larger town with a Costco and all the other big chain stores.

The drive through eastern Quebec and across Maine was slow-going.  The speed limits are very slow everywhere, and the roads go through the towns rather than around them.  But we passed lots of interesting old villages and small towns.  Crossing the border was a simple process with us being the only car there at the time.  There was a distinct difference we observed after we crossed into Maine though.  The towns looked a bit less prosperous and the properties were less well maintained (and sometimes quite junky looking).  We passed through a number of small communities in sequence that seemed quite conservative.  They all had evangelical churches along the highway, lots of American flags flying, and had poles (telephone poles, mailbox poles, etc.) displaying black bands with thin blue lines around them--usually using blue ribbons.  It's a symbol of the Blue Lives Matter movement. 

The only big town we passed through in about 5 1/2 hours of traveling was Bangor.  There, we stopped at a Sam's Club to get gas and to eat quickly before continuing onward. 

Bar Harbor is a nice town.  It reminds me a bit of Fredericksburg downtown, since it is filled with the typical tourist shops and restaurants.  But it also has lots of large mansions and many huge B&B facilities.  We are staying at the Grand Hotel.  It's really nice.  Our room is very spacious with two queen beds, a reading nook, etc.  It is in one of the tower corners of the hotel, so the room has 5 windows!

We wandered up and down the streets and walked along the waterfront.  Quite a few tourists are here, but many facilities are still not open for the season.  Probably by the time summer arrives, it will be so crowded that it will be difficult to even walk up and down the sidewalks.  But it is a very nice place to visit.  Some people come here just for the community.  But we are here mainly because we will explore Acadia National Park adjacent to the city tomorrow.