Today we set off reasonably early to drive to Mount Desert Island, a small, picturesque island connected to the mainland by a short bridge to the east of Castine. The island is home to Acadia National Park and many mountain (ok nothing much over 1000ft) and coastal trails so we were looking forward to an active day out. We were a bit disappointed then to find the island pretty much shrouded in fog. We were coming to appreciate that fog is a big part of Maine life. After coffee, a browse in a women's clothing shop called imaginatively the 'Moody Mermaid' and a visit to the Southwest Harbor tourist office where they were certain the fog would remain all day we decided to spend our day on the coastal paths rather than put in climbing effort for no reward of views. We liked Southwest Harbor, the coffee shop was quirky and the town just had a nice feel to it, not totally touristy and we will visit again hopefully when we can climb Acadia Mountain (and/or Cadillac Mountain on the other side of the island) in better weather.

So we lunched at Seawall and enjoyed gentle strolls at Wonderland, Ship Harbor, Bass Harbor Lighthouse and Bass Harbor - all in fog so we'd definitely made the right decision about where to walk. We found the beaches fascinating as they are made up of so many different rocks. Quite a time was whiled away photographing and exploring the rocks and Dave enjoyed clambering over the rocks to get a good photo of the lighthouse: simple pleasures.