Albaniana in Wonderland

We spent part of a rainy morning exploring Southwest Harbor.  The Girl happily settled into the excellent little public library.  The rest of us picked up some useful sightseeing advice from the visitor information centre, before enjoying elevenses at the rather good "Cafe 2". 

Acting on the aforementioned advice, we looked in at the Carroll Homestead, a 19th century farmhouse just up the road from our holiday cottage.  We had some fun there playing old-fashioned children's games (hoop-tossing and so forth) in the parlour and the yard.

After lunch the weather seemed to have changed for the better, so we all took the short Wonderland Trail through woods to a rocky beach - and got nicely soaked in another rain shower on the way back to the car.

The kids then decided they were "dun hiking" for the day, so the Man and I left them indulging in the novelty of TV-viewing, while we took in a couple more short-but-steep nearby hikes.

First was up and down Flying Mountain, with views down into the Somes Sound (one of only two fjords in the eastern United States, the other being our own Hudson River).  At one point we ended up in a secluded, pebbly cove accessible only on foot or by boat.

 

Next we did half of the Beech Mountain trail - which we'd meant to do yesterday - up steep, rocky paths, stone steps and metal ladders.  It was a more direct, but more challenging route to the same viewpoint overlooking Echo Lake.

We've ended the day with more fun and games - family Cranium.  Dad and daughter vs self and son.  Thankfully we found a way of declaring a tie before anyone actually came to blows, though I think we all know who the moral victors were...