June 3rd, Sunday – A Visitor, Adventures in Dining, Schoodic Institute

An early morning visitor, an afternoon of sightseeing, and adventures in fine dining.  This morning as is usual for me I was up around 5:30 am.  Since there were no TV channels available for the local news, I decided to do some work on the computer which is in the solarium.  Out of the corner of my eye I caught something moving, coming toward Graybeard, and then I saw it, the fellow pictured below.  I later found out from a park ranger what I saw was a snowshoe hare.  We sat and stared at each other for a few minutes and then as quickly as he appeared he was off and gone.

So as the morning began to unfold the big question became, what to do today?  We decided that first we would continue our dominoes game from last evening.  It is still to be completed, probably tonight if I don’t take too long with the blog!

Next, we decided to try to find a couple more of the sculptures on the Maine Sculpture Trail.  So off we went to locate two more that were supposed to be near our home.  Well, we found them, both of them.  The first is called A Glimpse of the Moon (how do they come up with these names) and was sculptured by Jesse Salisbury a local Maine resident.  His explanation of his work is this:  With my work I am demonstrating the movement possible in what is generally seen as a still, solid and permanent medium.  If he says so, I guess that is what it shows.  Right?

The next sculpture we found was called Transitory and was sculptured by Doninaka Griengraber from Poland.  His explanation of his work is this:  The sculpture is intended as a reflection upon the notion of identity, marking it, revealing it, hidden and evasive as it is. . . Again, he said it, not me so I guess it must be so.  I think.

Sculpture hunting over it was now time to find a local spot to eat before continuing our journey of sightseeing.  We had read a lot of good reviews about a place called The Pickled Wrinkle and so we decided to give it a try.

Now you may be asking How did it get its name?  It’s named, yes, for their local specialty which is a pickled wrinkle.  A pickled wrinkle you ask?  Well, here is the explanation

So, Wrinkles, which are pickled whelks, are an old Maine delicacy in the Downeast region.  The pickled sea snails with the funny name have inspired curiosity among the uninitiated and delighted those who have had the courage to try them. Here it is on the plate in front of me.  Yes, I just had to try one.  Sort of chewy, but not bad at all.

Then I went for something a bit more normal which was Fish and Chips The basket was made up of beautifully prepared chunks of fresh haddock and, of course, fries and home-made cole slaw.  Oh wow, so good, so very, very good!  Barbara had a BLT Wrap which she too also declared a home run.

During lunch, we also had the opportunity to talk with two lovely ladies about kids, sightseeing in general, our crazy lifestyle and how they never, ever would eat a pickled wrinkle.  Once lunch was finished it was back to sightseeing.  We now set out for The Schoodic Institue at Acadia National Park.  

 

The Institute is on the site of the former Naval Security Group Activity Winter Harbor.  How did it get here?  In the early 1930s, John D. Rockefeller Jr. got into his mind that he wanted to build a shore road in Acadia National Park for visitors to enjoy the incredible Maine coastline. The creation of this road meant that the Navy had to move a radio listening post that was located on Mount Desert Island. This decision ultimately resulted in an architectural beauty known as Rockefeller Hall.

So the listening post was moved to this location and for the next seven decades, the Navy used Rockefeller Hall as the central building in the Naval compound to monitor encrypted communications. The purposes and uses of the

 

listening station varied over the years, and the technologies evolved.  Over the years, though, the primary mission of the Navy Base was to use their Antenna Array (often called an Elephant Cage because of its ring shape and tall antenna poles) in conjunction with satellites to triangulate the location of foreign warships.  

Not only did this enable the US Navy to track foreign warships, but it provided ships equipped with cruise missiles with a means of over the horizon targeting.  Following is a picture of some of the equipment that was used during those years.

This describes how they actually used to locate a target far out to sea.

In 2002, the Navy decided to shut the base down in the face of a dramatically changing technological climate and turned the 100 acre property back over to the National Park Service.  During its prime, the base consisted of 35 plus buildings and housed over 350 naval employees and their families.

This is a picture of a memorial dedicated to those who used to live and work there.

From 2002 to 2009 Rockefeller Hall sat unused. But the hall was given the opportunity for a new place in Maine’s history by the widow of a Winter Harbor native; her name is Edith Robb Dixon.  In 2009, Mrs. Dixon honored her late husband’s memory, Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., by awarding the National Park Service a $1 million gift to renovate and repurpose the distinctive Rockefeller Hall into a welcome center for the Schoodic Education and Research Center Institute.

Today, the primary use of Rockefeller Hall – as well as all the other buildings on site – is on-site accommodations for visiting professors, scholars and others who come to the campus. Additional uses include a Conference Center and Welcome Center for the campus on the first floor.

It is also used to host children and young adult programs that attempt to connect today’s youth with their environment.

There are many others who work here monitoring the state of today’s environment and climate.

An added bonus for us was the time we also spent with a couple who currently volunteers here but  has also volunteered at other national parks.  It was fascinating listening to their experiences and they in turn also encouraged us to get involved in the park system as volunteers.

After leaving here we went up to Schoodic Point and just spent some time looking out over the water.  We both agreed with the way the sun was glistening on the water it almost looked like someone had spread hundreds of diamonds across the surface.  It shimmered and glistened with such beauty it was breathtaking.  What a beautiful world God has created.

So our day has finished and we are now in for the night.  It’s dark and the temperature is quickly dropping.  The next week promises to be a rather chilly one with the temperatures during the day not likely to get out of the mid to high 50’s.  Time to bring back out the sweat pants and sweat shirts!  Once again we had a fantastic day, made all the better by the fact that we did it together.  Hope you enjoyed your day as well.  A closing thought for all of us:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

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