Sloshing Our Way Through Bar Harbor

The Weatherbug app was showing a morning dry spell for Bar Harbor. There was hazy sunshine at first and then it started clouding over. We had breakfast in the dining room. It was our first venture into the main dining since the night before we’d eaten in the Tuscan Grill. We were seated at one of the tables with the funkiest chairs I’ve ever seen. I looked across at Bob and thought to myself that all he needed was a crown and scepter. The chairs were very uncomfortable though and we discovered later that others of that kind had pillows for your back. We were careful not to get those again.

Originally, we had booked a tour on the Lulu Lobster Boat. It was a two hour tour to introduce you to lobster trapping and a nature tour of the harbor area. In corresponding with them a few months before they said they were all booked in the morning (probably ship excursions) and could accommodate us on the afternoon tour. They assured me they would be back by our appointed ship time to be aboard. We booked. Along came Fiona. They cancelled.

As soon as our gear was all together, umbrellas and ponchos for the rain we knew would eventually come, we headed ashore. It was an easy walk into town, the ship’s dock was very close, pretty much at the end of the main street.

As luck would have it, the Weatherbug was a little off in its predictions. We no sooner walked past a few souvenir shops and it began to rain—larger drops than we’d counted on. We ducked into a gift shop to get out of the rain that was increasingly getting harder. As we wandered the shop, I came upon some nice looking jackets that were waterproof and a lot warmed than anything we had packed. It took little convincing for Bob to agree to their purchase. The cost of the two jackets was just about negated with the refund we would get from the lobster boat.

Our new jackets on, we ventured out again. The rain had eased a bit and we were warm inside our souvenirs. We walked a bit farther down the road and explored a couple of side streets. Just about the time we thought we were surviving the gentle rain it turned on us and began to pour. Quickly we sought shelter under an overhang and watched the street begin to fill with water.

The rain would let up a bit and then pour down again and some thunder began to make us very uncomfortable. We started in the direction that would take us back to the ship, hoping that along the way we might find a coffee shop where we could go in and sit down with a warm cup of brew. Unfortunately there were few places like that and the couple of restaurants we found were full of people already.

We continued waiting for a little break in the rain to move forward and then stop under another awning or overhang as we made our way closer to the ship. The water was roaring down the middle of the street almost ankle deep. By the time we finally reached the ship, our shoes and pants from the knees down were soaked through. Inside our room, we sighed with relief and set our shoes and umbrellas in the well in front of our window. We hung our coats over a chair and a small table since I didn’t want to put them in the closet and get our clothes wet.

It took overnight and a little hair dryer work to get everything dry again. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the rest of our afternoon getting some coffee and napping and getting ready for dinner and the evening show which was a wonderful production show by the Celebrity Summit singers and dancers.

It didn’t take us long to drift off to sleep that night. We did so looking forward to our day in Portland, ME, where we would meet up with Bob’s cousin who had managed to rearrange their schedule after our itinerary change to spend the day with us.