At a recent Houlton Maine Rotary club meeting, the guest speaker was a local attorney who runs a successful family horse business called Carriages of Acadia.
With around 100 cruise ships parking off the Maine coast in Bar Harbor and other spots, sight seeing is big for travelers to the Pine Tree state. That territory up here in the right hand corner of the country almost in Canada that sticks out like a Vacationer’s hitch hiking thumb.
Last year Carriages of Acadia owner Michael Carpenter said 19,600 climbed in to special made carriages with hydraulic brakes, all the extras made by an Amish outfit specifically for these tours. Carpenter’s winning ten year bid for providing Acadia National Park tourist rides has eight more to go. And he expects over 20,000 Maine carriage riders to book trips to see the Day Mountain, Rockefeller Bridge, Jordan Pond House Tea and Popover rides.
The Acadia carriage tours take anyway from one to two hours.
Views of Cranberry Isles, Schoodic Pennisula and Isle au Haut are part of the attraction.
But other highlights include exploring the Cobblestone Bridge, the first of John D Rockefeller’s bridges built in 1913.
Thought it would be neat to vacation with your horse? Reservations required but that’s an option. Day use horse trailer parking also possible for tourists on horseback. Call for details, suggested reservations at 877 276 3622. Begin making your plans for a trip to Maine from June to October for memories of a lifetime. Log on for more at www.carriagesofacadia.com
The horse drawn tours in Acadia National Park offer ten carriages pulled by up to 26 horses (13 teams).
The schedule runs for 102 days, with hay and grain for the draft horses coming from Aroostook County. Supplies bought from the local Amish community in Smyrna Maine are part of the operation.
In addition to legendary philanthropist John D Rockefeller, Charles W Eliot president of Harvard University and George B Dorr, never tiring Maine conservationalist, Mount Desert Island is forever protected. More than 57 miles of broken stone carriage roads were built with back breaking effort according to Carpenter. Along this roadway are magnificent handmade granite bridges and stunning Maine land and water views. Bring your camera because the horse, it’s driver knows the way to stay on the roadways. While you capture never fade, memory making photos to magnet to your fridge back home. To use on the this year’s Christmas card.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com