After a few days of hiking, everyone agrees Wednesday should be a rest day. Or at least, no big hikes. Walking the shore path, shopping in Bar Harbor, obtaining the National Park stamp at Hulls Cove Visitor Center and Kathleen makes a big pot of a wonderful vegetable soup for dinner. Also, two doors down is the Bar Harbor Historical Society. The building is an old convent turned into a museum/repository of documents, photos and other memorabilia of Bar Harbor. Fun place to stop in.

On Thursday morning, we head to Cadillac Mountain’s South Ridge Trail to challenge ourselves. This is a hike that Steve and I have done every time we’ve come here. It’s a 7 mile hike up and back from Route 3. The weather has cooperated with a bit of a cloud cover. We start the hike at 7:50 a.m. and arrive on top of Cadillac Mountain at 10:20 a.m. 3.6 miles with an elevation gain of 1,420 feet. We take a 30 minute break to load up on energy and fill our water bottles. Back down 10:50 a.m. until 1:15 pm. A few challenging rock climbs up and down, roots, mountain rock, paths through pine trees and small pools of water to avoid along the trail because of the rain last night. This is the best of the best!

Evening we make a stop at the Tap & Barrel for some local craft beer and also at Peeky Toes to buy some fresh Atlantic Cod. Another delightful dinner at home, this time by “chef” Lynn Steward. Did I mention eating a Moon Pie? You just have to try one.