Nancy Dunn, my sister-in-law, gave us a really nice practical gift. It’s a National Geographic Book- Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways. The book lists “the best 275 drives in the U.S.” Most of these byways are off the beaten track. They are literally the roads less traveled. And, although Sandy and I have been to all 50 States I could not count more than 40 of these “best” scenic drives that we have traveled.

Yesterday and today were special days. We left the main roads and traveled bumpy, pot-holed backroads of Maine to discover heaven. Monday we drove up through Ellsworth to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor to find the road to the top of Cadillac Mountain and the Jordan Pond were closed for winter. In fact, most of the restaurants and shops are closed too. So, we skipped the downtown walk along the beach for a scenic drive to Schoodic Point. Schoodic Point is a 2,266 acre reserve with a six mile drive along the windswept granite shores of the Schoodic Peninsula.  Awesome drive and amazing scenery—the pictures will not do it justice.

Tuesday was an equally fun day of driving and stopping for photo opps. We made the Deer Isle Drive. Departing Blue Hill on Hyway 15 we headed straight for Stonington which is a very small old fishing harbor town. There was little to see and not many stores open but luckily the main café was open. Crab soup, coffee and water is all we needed to sustain ourselves until dinner.

For the next few hours we rambled around the Penobscot Bay, Deer Isle area finding one quaint town after the next. The best find for sure was the Tinder Hearth Bakery located somewhere near Brooksville. We bought a round loaf of Maine whole wheat bread and a cookie for my afternoon pick-me-upper. This place must survive on the tourist season because it offers pizza only on Tuesday night if you call ahead to place an order and then come in to pick it up. There is no seating area for the Bakery….you walk in the door and there is the fired up hearth and all of the goodies for purchase. No one takes your money. You pay cash in a tin box and take change if you need it.

Oh, another highlight, we had a huge bald eagle circle in front of us at the tips of the trees as we started our drive south. This a clear sign from heaven that today is going to be a good day. And, it was!!!

I’m writing this from the Blue Hill Library. This afternoon Bangor is supposed to get hit with 10-18 inches of snow. We are looking forward to our first nor’easter since our days in Boston. Flights all up and down the coast are cancelled including our March flight connecting in Philadelphia. We feel like little kids. This will be FUN!

We got 15 inches. Snowed in. Our flights – 4 of them on March 8, were  cancelled. We can’t get out of Bangor until Sunday, March 11. So, we get more beautiful drives and more beautiful photo’s opportunities in Blue Hill, Bar Harbor, and Ellsworth. Today, we took advantage of this inconvenience by traveling to North Harbor, Maine which is located on Mountain Desert Island. We are now back to the Blue Hill Library because it is the most convenient place to get WiFi and have an opportunity to get all of our messages.