Bar Harbor Days 2 & 3 - Peace and Quiet

Well, there is a reason I don't tend to blog about these familiar trips. While they are enjoyable and relaxing, there really isn't much to write about. The second day started off much like the first. Jon woke me up early asking if I wanted some baby time so Zilly and I spent the morning alone together. Her smile is just delightful and brings me so much joy. Eventually Christian and Camille joined us and we had a pleasant morning. It is much colder today and the sky is gray but the view from our little cottage is still wonderful.

Morning smiles

Grandma and Zilly

By the time James, Jon, and Saph got up, I was ready for a nap. So while the rest of us rested, James and Camille went out to view the local botanical garden. We've been here many times before and it is always beautiful, but apparently this is really the time of year to go. 

Garden Pond

Flowers at the Asticou Azalea Garden

Afterwards we all went out to lunch at Beal's Lobster Pier which was right around the corner. This is another place we've been going to for years and thankfully the quality remains high. Jon finally got the perfect lobster roll he'd been craving and the rest of our meals were almost as good. Really I think Jon would get the lobster roll there every day if he could. 

More flowers from the garden since I didn't get any other pictures today

Our plan had been to take a ferry to a local island, but just as we were about to set out we discovered that we'd misread the departure date and had completely missed the ferry for today. Since today was gray and cold, most of us were not excited about visiting Acadia National Park or Bar Harbor. So James left all of us home while he took Camille to her favorite spots. They stopped by the inventively named Sand Beach and then went into town. Their plan had been to go out to dinner but Bar Harbor was so crowded and the lines so long everywhere, that they abandoned that idea and came home to BLTs and an early evening. (See? I told you this would be boring to read about)

It really is a relaxing and beautiful place

While not exciting, it was a pretty good day. I was able to catch up on some reading, Christian did some more fishing and finally caught something! He had walked up the shore, ran into an old fisherman who invited Christian onto his dock and showed him where to cast his line. Christian said he caught a big fish but unfortunately he was unable to get a picture. But I'm so glad he got one! And Jon and Saph got to relax as well. 

I love her smiles!

Jon and Saphyar had taken the little bedroom shack the previous night and had spent a fair amount of time in there today. But the wifi out there was rubbish and eventually the annoyance of that drove them back to the house. Moving all their stuff, with all the baby stuff, was a pain for them. But Christian was a great sport about being shuffled around every night. He didn't quite like the cabin as much this time though and heard some strange noises throughout the night. 

The little cabin. You can see the main house on the left

The low tide view from the Snore Box porch

The next morning it was pouring. Just buckets. We had to be out by 10am and James got soaked loading up the two cars. We got out in time, despite many protests about the early hour, and went into Bar Harbor for our traditional breakfast at Jordan's. I think the rain was helping us here because there was almost no wait. The restaurant is small so Zilly's car seat needed to be packed away and her parents held her while we ate. She didn't seem to love the taste of whipped cream her Opa gave her, but she did enjoy watching the hustle and bustle of the restaurant staff. 

Christian, James, and Grandma wait for food

We had so much food! It barely fit on the table

The drive home felt very long. James and I were both exhausted before it even began and driving through the rain is never any fun. But eventually the sun came out and once again Jon and Saph were good company. We did spend some time at a familiar rest stop about halfway home and Zilly got to ride a bear! It was a good weekend and I'm excited for our next family vacation.

Zilly and her mom ride a bear

Zilly isn't sure about this moose

I love this picture of Jon, Saphyar, and Zilly

Bar Harbor Day 1 - Last Lunch at Jordon Pond

 We are on our first family vacation with Zilly! And the first time Saphyar has traveled with us too. I'm so excited to travel with both of them! But the start of our trip wasn't so smooth. Poor Zilly wasn't feeling well and just as we finished packing the car, a phone call to the Dr led us to and ER trip to get her checked out. She was fine, suffering from bad constipation that did eventually clear up, but the ER is never fast and took about 5 hours.

Usually we take our road trips in one car, but because of some recent car trouble, we had to take two cars anyway. So when Zilly went to get checked out, James took his mom and Christian up to Bar Harbor. They took their time on the drive and did a lot of shopping and had a slow lunch since they weren't sure when the rest of us would be able to get up there. It was 7:30 before Jon, Saph, Zilly, and I were able to leave the hospital to start the four hour drive. I'm not great at driving when I'm tired but Saph and Jon were good company. Our only misadventure came when the McDonald's we stopped at didn't have a changing table so I had to hold Zilly in mid air while Saph changed a rather messy diaper. 

The road from Bangor, ME to Mt Dessert Island in interminable, and this was worse than most. But we finally arrived, just at midnight. The house we are renting is gorgeous. It's a little cabin on the water and even in the dark it was beautiful. Usually we stay in Bar Harbor but this time we are on the other side of the island near Southwest Harbor. 

Night view from our dock

Stars over the water

I woke up surprisingly early and heard Zilly fussing while on my way to the bathroom. I stole from Jon who was happy to go back to bed and for an hour the two of us had the house to ourselves. It was really warm this morning and the sun was so bright on the water that we couldn't go outside without blinding the baby. Christian woke up around 7 and started fishing on our dock. Zilly and I watched him for a while and then I sat down to read. I'd sat Zilly down on the couch and when I sat next to her she pitched over onto my arm and immediately fell asleep. I was stuck but since I had my book it was really a perfect morning. 

Naked baby! It was so warm this morning

Early morning fishing

Living my perfect life

Zilly and Opa in the morning

Jon and Saph explore the shore

Everyone woke up early today and eventually we headed out for our scheduled lunch at Jordon Pond. Without any luggage we were able to all squeeze into the rental car so that at least we can travel around the island together. I think it's been years since I've written about our trips here, but we come to Mt Dessert Island about once a year and every time we do, we have lunch at the Jordon Pond House restaurant. We loved their popovers so much that James started making them at home years ago. It is the only place where I've enjoyed lobster, in the form of a delicious stew. But today was hopefully the last lunch we will ever have there. The popovers were big and beautiful but devoid of flavor. They were almost inedible. All of our food, including the lobster stew, was bland, cheap, and unsatisfying, while continuing to be incredibly expensive. I am writing this now to remind us all to NEVER go there again. Our waitress though was wonderful and very sweet. And the view was still amazing. 

Last lunch at Jordon Pond

Sun dog at lunch

Baby cuddles. It was starting to get cold by this time.

After our very disappointing lunch we walked down to the water. The kids carried Zilly down the shallow stairs in her stroller. Then we were off to Cadillac Mountain to see the view. I remember the first time we were here, back in 2009. We had 4 kids under 4 at that time, Will, Jon, Colin, and Chesney, and we got some great pictures of them at the top of the mountain. I really should post those some time! 

The kids carry Zilly

Walking by the water

Jordon Pond

The Bubbles

On this trip we split up to explore the top of the mountain and most of our good pictures were taken by Saphyar. She has done very little traveling and this is the farthest from home she's ever been. But she is so fun to travel with. Her excitement is infectious and I think she might develop a taste for exploration. (I asked James how he'd describe Saphyar's personality and he says she's a hedgehog which is just perfect. She has a sarcastic spikiness to her while also being adorable. Zilly is amazing too of course, but I am so very happy that Saph is part of our family. She brings a lot of joy. And sometimes a bit of needed snark.)

Cadillac Mountain

I love all the little islands

It's a beautiful view

We used to take pictures of the kids
now they take pictures of us!

Flowers on the mountain

James and Jon from a distance

Anyway, after the mountain it was time to head back to our beautiful cabin and take turns napping. Christian of course did more fishing but became frustrated with the apparent lack of any fish. So the two of us did some exploring and eventually found a new and more promising area. James joined us there and they spent another hour or so in some fruitless fishing. Christian is getting discouraged and I really hope he can catch something on this trip! Maybe he'll have more luck in freshwater?

Afternoon fishing

Tonight has been quiet. We picked up pizza and watched a movie before retiring early. This cabin has three bedrooms and then a small separate bedroom about 20 feet from the house. Christian stayed there on the night we arrived but Saph and Jon convinced him to switch because they wanted the privacy. We'll see if the attraction of privacy beats out the annoyance of having to cross the yard in the dark to get to the bathroom. But they do have a little balcony out there and I'm sure their view is also amazing. 

I think most of this trip will be fairly quiet. We've got four generations here, from 2 months to almost 78 years. It's a wonderful blessing to be able to travel together! And some time to rest is really needed.

Grandma with her great granddaughter

Germany day 9 - Dachau

Today, on our last day, we went to Dachau. Camille and Christian stayed at the hotel and had a nice breakfast and a relaxing morning. The two of them have been doing some bonding on this trip which makes me happy. Although today Christian drove Grandma a little nuts with the phone and his music. He found a closet and sat in there listening to music. 

 

Christian hides in the closet

Dachau. I'm not really sure how to write about this. I do not have the words to do it justice. We'd left Christian at home because we didn't think he was mature enough to handle the gravity of place in a respectful manner. But we also thought it was really important for Will and Jon to go. The boys have learned about the Holocaust of course, and they've read accounts of the concentration camps, but for "Never Again" to be true, it is important to bear witness. Especially with current attitudes about the Jews and with the likelihood of the kids running into people who claimed it never happened. I don't want to get political here. I guess the bottom line is that we think it is important to not shy away from looking at evil. 

 

Today was cold and rainy, which seemed fitting. The drive wasn't too bad, under 40 minutes. There was public transportation available but that would have added on another hour to the ride. There were many other visitors but it wasn't crowded or full, although it seems like it did fill up more as the day went on. The walk in was somber and tastefully done.  

 

Then we came to the camp itself. First there was a little arched passageway where there were three plaques on the wall commemorating different battalions of American soldiers who freed the camp. As we went through I continued to think about those soldiers and how they must have felt when they entered Dachau for the first time. At the end of the archway was an iron gate. A small door in the gate carried the words "Arbeit macht frei" or "Works sets you free". Seeing that famous phrase in iron was chilling and as I walked through the gates I felt a heaviness settle on me that wouldn't leave. 

 

Dachau

I didn't take a lot of pictures here. I couldn't. Nothing I could take would capture the spirit that was here, and there were certain places, like the gate or the crematorium, where it felt wrong to bring out a camera. My first impression was surprise at the size of it. The camp seemed quite large, too large for us to fully examine. We didn't have much time to spend here, we couldn't leave Camille and Christian alone for too long, and the atmosphere suggested solitary reflection rather than discussion, so we split up and agreed to meet again in an hour. 

 

Will and Jon went off, they saw the main exhibit and a church which I never made it to. James and I mostly stayed together, although we wandered through the exhibits separately. I wasn't emotional or overly imaginative (you wouldn't want to be there) but tears flowed from my eyes almost the whole time. We saw the cells for special prisoners, the standing cells where there was no room to sit, the rooms where the SS tortured people, the cell for the prisoner "helpers" who assisted the SS. We read stories of a few of the people imprisoned in the special cells, men like Georg Elser who tried to assassinate Hitler.

 

Special cells

 

From there we moved to the main exhibit and saw where prisoners were brought in processed. Nothing was overly graphic here, there were pictures of a few of the prisoners, some of their stories, a few personal effects. But I couldn't see the whole thing, even the large rooms of the main hall seemed claustrophobic. Being outside didn't change that feeling though, the whole place here feels heavy.  

 

Tree lined path

After that we moved to one of the barracks where prisoners were stacked like firewood in bunks.  We saw the small bathrooms where hundreds of prisoners had only a few minutes to wash up in the mornings and read about how they would be punished if they didn't leave everything, including the floor, spotless. Behind the barracks we were in was a large field with long rectangular sections filling the space, the foundations of over 30 other barracks. Dachau had been designed for over 6,000 prisoners, but after a pogrom in 1938 they moved 11,000 Jews into the already full camp. It is hard to fathom. 

 

Three tiered beds

I've mentioned before that the place felt heavy. And maybe this will seem foolish or imaginative on my part. Sometimes (often) when I am up on a mountain top and able to see the wonder and majesty of God's creation, I feel His presence and am filled with awe and rejoicing. This was the opposite of that. As our time went on the atmosphere there began to feel almost Sisyphean in its weight. It felt hard to walk, hard to breathe, the weight of all the years of horror settling in. It felt like a place where demons had won, it felt like hell. For the first time in my life I felt the desire to cross myself, to do something physical to ward off the evil that was there. Will said he felt the same, he was praying and saying "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti."

 

Foundations of the many barracks

The time we had flew by. We met the boys by the gate but felt that we should see the crematorium before we left. It was a little outside the main part of the camp, reachable by a short walk. I couldn't take pictures here, the horror was too heavy and I felt it would cheapen it for me to hide behind a lens. It was as you have read, the story of the "shower", the room where they disrobed, the gas chamber itself where 150 people could be crammed in together, the room for piling bodies, and finally the ovens themselves. They would sometimes execute prisoners by hanging them in front of the ovens. It is hard to write about now, but even harder to walk through. The rooms were surprisingly small. 

 

After the crematorium it was time to leave and the walk to the gate felt interminable. It was a cold day and the rain had been failing steadily since morning, but I was too hot and stuffy for my light rain jacket. It was a relief to finally pass through the gates and return to the car. We'd only been able to see a portion of the camp, but it was enough. Our ride back was initially rather quiet. The boys tend towards dark humor and I was expecting it here, but they seemed somber. I'm so glad we didn't bring Christian, he is still too young. On the drive back we discussed the obvious question, "Why did God let this happen?", and James reminded us all of Job. As we talked about evil, free will, the deserved righteous judgement, and processed our grief and anger, we also took comfort in the fact that God was still there, that there are millions of small miracles which show His presence in the camps, that He cares for those who were in that hell. 

 

Graves at the crematorium

Alright, I have taken a little break from writing and will now get back to our regularly scheduled light vacation fare. I'm not sure if I conveyed any of that accurately, but I am glad we went even if I was not glad to be there. 

 

After the camp we drove into Munich (big mistake!) with the intention of eating at an Anime restaurant the boys had found yesterday. Driving in was a huge error. Driving in the middle of cities is usually not a good idea and Munich has particularly small streets. Our cramped seven passenger car was almost the biggest thing on the road and incredibly hard to park. We did eventually find the very top floor of a parking garage and we ended up leaving the car there and taking the subway back to our room. 

 

The Anime restaurant was great. It had lots of cool decorations and lifesize characters from some of the boys' favorite shows and movies. We ordered variations on corn dogs and the guys got Boba tea and mochi. We had to hurry back to our hotel room though because by this time poor Christian and Camille were also hungry and ready to go out. 

 

Boys at the Anime restaurant

Totoro!

Anime restaurant decorations

Anime restaurant

Once back, James took Christian and his mom shopping while Will, Jon, and I relaxed at the hotel. I was able to get in a nice bath and then work out some things at home which had been weighing on me. It was a successful trip out for the others, Camille was able to get her special German feather pillows although they wouldn't ship them to American so we needed to also buy an extra luggage. They also ran into a bachelorette party and the bride was giving away free hugs. She gave one to an older woman so Christian said "Where's my hug?" and she gave one to him too! 

 

                                                        Dance party with Christian

James was nervous about leaving the car downtown, so as soon as he got back the two of us went out again to pick it up. The rain started up again and James had forgotten his raincoat. But we were both having such a good conversation that neither of us wanted to take the subway. Once again I rejoice to be married to a man I so love to talk to! On the way there we were stopped by three girls who heard us talking and asked if we were Americans. They were from Mississippi, had been here for three weeks, and were missing some American conversation. They were so nice and we had a very pleasant little chat. 

 

Dinner was a little chaotic tonight. Will and Jon went off on their own, they really wanted McDonald's. And Camille was nervous about all the packing we needed to do tonight because of our early flight, so we just got her a couple slices of pizza to go. If we'd known how good the pizza was there we'd probably all have done that earlier. 

 

Around the corner from our hotel is a street full of great restaurants and there was a little Afghani one that James wanted to try. We didn't have a reservation but the owner was able to squeeze me, James, and Christian in anyway. It was amazing. The decor was very cool and we set on very low benches on a raised platform. Rugs decorated the walls, and there were lots of cushions on the benches. We had a pumpkin appitizer, grilled chicken and lamb, mango lassi (lah-see), and meatballs. It was all delicious and frankly too much food. I've never had Afghani food before but I absolutely loved it and we definitely need to go here again the next time we are in Munich. 

 

My meal

James' meal

Christian's meal

James and I at dinner

But we have a very early flight tomorrow and I must go back. Soon we'll be back to real life!