Bar Harbor  June 20

As I rode toward Bar Harbor I stopped at the Mystery Cove Book Shop in Hulls Cove. It’s a snug little, well organized shop run since 1986 by Steve Powell.

Freshly painted lobster
 pot bouys drying.

In my trek through Maine I’ve been amazed at the number of book shops, most of them selling new and used books, that dot the state. Naturally most are in the cities, towns and villages but some, like the monstrous 21,000-square- foot Chicken Barn Books & Antiques outside of Ellsworth sit alone by the road.

“Oh, there used to be a lot more of us,” Powell said. “We’re dropping like flies. The Kindle and its kin are doing us in. If we didn’t have more than a million people a year coming onto this island I wouldn’t have this shop. That’s the only thing that has kept me afloat.” He has also been forced to broaden his offering to all genres, not just mysteries.   www.mysterycovebookshop.com

I asked if he would recommend a good place to eat lunch. Powell directed me to Mother’s Kitchen in Town Hill for “the best” sandwiches. So up the Crooked Road I went, took a left on Gibson Farm Road and at the end of it sat the almost hut-like restaurant with a sign stating “Real good food” out front.  I had an Island Lady sandwich (grilled chicken, blue cheese vinaigrette, bacon, red onion, lettuce and tomato), a big can of blueberry green tea and a chocolate chip cookie.

Satiated, I rode down a quiet, off-the-main-drag road and stumbled across The Nature Conservancy’s Indian Point Blagden Preserve. It’s on the western side of Bar Harbor, an area that escaped the fire of 1947 that burned much of Mount Desert Island.

The trail down to Western Bay went through a thick forest of tall red spruce, white cedar and balsam. The floor was covered in either pine needles or bright green moss which sucked any sounds, leaving me to walk in silence. It reminded me of Gougane Bara Forest Park in West Cork, a quiet, almost spiritual place.

Upon emerging from the forest spiritual and perspiring more than I had since entering Maine, I decided a pint of award-winning Cadillac Mountain Stout would be just the thing to cool me down. And a Dionysian way to celebrate the summer solstice.

Atlantic Brewing Company

Conveniently, the brewer of my beloved stout wasn’t far, just about a mile away.  Atlantic Brewing Company, also operator of Bar Harbor Brewing Company, winner of gold and platinum awards, provides daily tours so I got to sample several beers but settled on my favorite—platinum award winning Cadillac Mountain Stout. Welcome summer.

To understand why I'm riding and raising money, please go to the first post--April 26.
To make a donation to the ALSA, please go to: http://web.alsa.org/goto/deirdresride