Late Spring is All Abloom Downeast and in Acadia

As I am writing this on May 18th, our lawn is definitely abloom in dandelions. With this cool, damp spring, we are going to have just about all of our spring flowers and shrubbery blooming at the same time as our leaves unfold. Our spring seems to burst forth, all at once, though for the observant, it unfolds its beauty, a little each day.

Coming soon to LHR: Lady Slippers

Though Spring has arrived a tad late this year, there is one facet of our Downeast spring that has shown up right on time…the black fly.  Native Mainers love them. They keep the year round population down around here. David and I love them too.  The black flies signal gardening time and the arrival of spring warblers, who feed on them.

I’ve had pretty good success convincing black flies and other insects that David and I are their stewards; they should be kind to us. Those times when they are overcome by black fly mass consciousness to consume, we resort to hard core tactics, aka, Hard Core Bug Off. It’s the best natural bug repellent we’ve used and we’ve tried them all. It conditions my hair and skin, too and the scent is agreeable.

Now…why would I tell you about black flies when I want to fill cottages between now and the high season???

I am excrutiatingly honest when people contact us for a reservation here during this period. Most expect it to be summer here on Memorial Day weekend. We will have a few hot days between now and the official start of summer, but more often it’s in the sixties,  with a brisk sea breeze (keeps the bugs away). For those who think that the Bar Harbor area is a quaint northern version of the Jersey shore….I’d rather direct them elsewhere then risk their being unhappy here.

How warm is the water at Sand Beach in May? My expression says it all.

This is a great time to visit Acadia National Park and have the trails to yourself. The ocean side trails are virtually bug-free and the top of Mt. Cadillac is minus the big tour buses of summer. After  hiking in Acadia, you can go downtown to Bar Harbor and not have to wade through three cruise ship’s worth of tourists on the main drag. It’s a lovely place to stroll, shop and dine in or on the deck.  You can take in a  movie at Reel Pizza in the comfort of an easy chair and enjoy their bottomless bowl of popcorn with real butter.

David on the Bee Hive Trail in Acadia 05/30/10.

Here at Light Heart Retreat, it’s a magical time of year that we relish, despite the long days working the vegetable gardens, doing landscaping, spring cleaning cottages and …

We love listening to the frog songs through the spring season into summer. It begins with the quack of wood frogs as soon as the ice is off the little quarries. Next, the spring peepers sing well into June. After dark we walk out to Bragdon Quarry to listen to the tree frogs. Their trilling is so loud, you’d think you were in a tropical rainforest.

Early June Morning Light.

The green frogs are just getting warmed up here this week. One young guest asked us last summer, “What makes the sound at night that boings like a rubber band?” Then last, but not least comes the competition amongst bull frogs.

The time leading up the Summer Solstice is highly energetic here, especially on the full moon in June. It’s when we’ve taken some of our best photos of colorful orbs, blue-white swooshes and intensified auras around our flowers. It’s wonderful to be out after dark, hearing the frogs, sitting by a campfire or wandering around the gardens and out to the standing stone circle with your camera.

Early June Quarry Garden & Friends.

 

So who would enjoy visiting here over the next 4 week period?

• Hardcore outdoor fanatics who can’t get enough of Maine no matter what time of year it is.
• Those who would enjoy being a tourist without the crush of high summer, who would appreciate Light Heart Retreat’s well-appointed cottages and the quiet, natural surrounds to return to after a long day of window shopping.
• Hikers who want the trails in Acadia all to themselves. You could even do mindfulness meditation on the trails this time of year.
• Someone who has a creative project that needs to be finished up by working inside. Your only disturbance will be the call of the Hermit Thrush. Need inspiration for your creativity? The Hermit Thrush varies it’s melody slightly each time it sings. Every melody it sings is original.

Listen to the Hermit Thrush from a Bench Outside the Stone Circle

Light Heart Retreat in the spring isn’t for everybody. For some, it’s downright heaven! For you Hardcore Lovers of Maine, I’ve created this special offer.

Pre-High Season Black Fly Season Special now through check out time on, June 18th

• Book a minimum 3 nights and receive 22% off the regular price for Huckleberry Hideaway or Blackberry Cottage.
• Book a minimum 5 nights at the Quarry House and receive 22% off the regular price.

(7% lodging tax is additional. This offer cannot be combined with any other offers.)

As an added bonus we’ll gift you with your own bottle of Hard Core Bug Off  and a tin of Hardcore Hand Care–like the repellent, it’s the best natural hand care available.*

*I confess. I am the proud daughter of the creator of Hard Core products, Dick Pinney. He’s an outdoor writer who doesn’t read blogs.  So maybe he’ll read this one and send us a case of the hand care. David goes through it like ??? Like he goes through a loaf of my homemade sourdough bread (which you may find in our LHR pantry store upon your arrival.)  I go  to the drawer where we keep the Hard Core Hand Care…What? All gone, all ready? Same with the bread drawer. It’s like the old DD commercial, time to make the donuts.

If you’re a hard-core type or if you just love browsing around downtown Bar Harbor, the two types are certainly exclusive of each other, we hope you’ll consider a visit to Light Heart Retreat this spring.

See the sidebar menu for information on the cottages and how to schedule your visit. Thank you for sharing this post with your hard-core buddies.