Day 33--Fundy National Park

Day 33—July 15

Fundy NP to Acadia NP (Mount Desert CG)

286 miles

I drove most of the day until we got to the park; it was rainy and very foggy and misty. Not much to see on either 104 or 105, both 4-lane divided highways, even after we turned south on 2-lane 114.

We stopped at a small, drab-looking ice cream store called McCabe’s (since 1985) on Hwy 114 before the Park. The guy running it turned out to be “the” McCabe and the maker of the ice cream. He knew the ice cream makers and companies in several states, including New York but did not know Braum’s in OK. I had a coffee cone and decided later that it was nothing special, not robust enough. Nothing I’ve had so far beats Starbucks coffee ice cream. Cannot remember what flavor Suz had. 

The place was quite odd. The restroom was tucked away in a room behind a small room holding nothing but a baby grand piano. Before one went to the restroom, one took a paper towel from a roll in the salesroom. McCabe told us tale after tale and even walked us to the door, still talking nonstop. I decided that he was severely lonely. 

It was a long drive. We got to the park about 3 pm to find that there was a $10 admission per person. The woman at the Welcome Center told us that there was no charge if one drove through the Park and slept elsewhere. She recommended—as did McCabe—that we stay in Alma. And so we did.

It was raining, so once again we opted not to camp. We did not want to add the $20 entry fee to our night’s charges, so found a lovely cabin in Alma at Vista Ridge Cabins. The cabins were high on a hill with a view directly to the bay. Our cabin had one b.r down and two up, each with a double bed; large bathroom; full kitchen, l.r., fireplace etc. Most accommodations were booked, and we got the cabin only because the people in it had been called home in an emergency.

While the cabin was being cleaned we thought we’d drive back into the park to Point Wolfe; however, the woman at the entry kiosk told us we’d have to pay the park fee to stop anywhere in the park, so we explored Alma for a bit. We were going to buy fish for dinner but the fish store had nothing much and nothing interesting, so we canned that idea. The place also smelled very fishy.

Blue-footed Booby amongst the pirates of Alma

Beaver lodge on the way to Alma



Sign for the fish market where we thought to buy fish for dinner but it was too late in the day for anything fresh

The tide was going out so we walked a stony beach in a drizzle and Suz made a small pile of rocks that we vowed to come back and get after dinner.

After this walk, we retreated back up to our cabin and had dinner (cannot now remember what) and enjoyed the view from the cabin of Alma Beach and the Bay of Fundy, home of the highest tides in the world.

High tide at the Alma docks

Low tide at the Alma docks

Tide beginning to run out of Salmon River, which flows through Alma to the sea

Low tide in Salmon River

View of the Bay of Fundy from our Vista Ridge cabin in the late evening when the fog began to roll in

Fog shrouded Alma in late evening

After dinner we did go back to the beach at low tide and snagged several pretty rocks for Suz . . . a couple of them quite large. I helped her by loaning her my tote and by carrying the larger rocks to the roadside while she went back and got the car. We loaded the rocks in and then spent some portion of the evening wetting and admiring them.