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Micro_jaunt: Pizza and Deer
10 AM Saturday, August 31
We started at a little-known trail maintained by the Berkshire Natural Resources Council called Steepletop. The reserve consists of 2, 2.2 mile loops and is the BNRC’s largest, accessible only by a narrow dirt road that winds through old forest and past historic houses, a few country estates, and some mysterious driveways that lead to private homes hidden far from view. The area is fascinating for its suggestion of early colonial history interspersed with forest-conscious living the Berkshires is so well known for. It’s roads like this one — with modernity implied only by the utility poles that punctuate the scraggly hemlock-hewn slopes — that beckoned me from the East Village 4 years ago.
Steepletop’s trails circumnavigate two marshy areas that are teaming with the type of life that thrives in marshes — birds, frogs, turtles, very tall reeds topped with puffy shedding pouches of seeds for which there is likely a more formal name. During rainy times the trail can get quite muddy, and in early spring waterproof boots are required.
This was a late summer jaunt and so our standard hiking shoes sufficed. We marched down the wide grassy path toward Louise Lane. A large portion of this trail runs over an old logging trail, so the path is wide and seemingly well-suited for cross country skiing or snowshoeing (several printed signs made it clear that snowmobiles are not welcome). On each side of the trail are the Berkshire’s usual assortment of very old hemlocks, white pine, beech, maple, and oak trees. Part of the trail winds through very old growth forest and the entire reserve is nested deep in a heavily wooded section of New Marlborough, accessible only by dirt roads and sometimes hard to get to in winter. Large and very old rock walls divide sections of the land into what were once farms hosting mostly livestock.
At the junction with Louise Lane, we took a left to start the loop. First thing we noticed was a fresh pile of bear scat. This nature preserve gets very little foot traffic from humans, and judging by the diversity of poop on the trail, coyotes, otters, and deer are also a part of this seemingly untouched landscape. The few times I have been to Steepletop, I have not seen another soul except for the ones I brought with me, so for a quiet, secluded hike, this one hits all of the marks.
The trail makes a gentle ascent, over a bridge and a brook flowing out of a small pond, and then eventually slightly downhill. After a right turn and a stretch of straight grass, we again make another right into a swamp and over a series of narrow wooden boardwalks that keep your feet dry while giving you maximum contact with the biodiversity of the marshes.
Once back at the car we charted our course for lunch, about 15 minutes away in Great Barrington, at that pizza place in the alley off Railroad Street we’ve been meaning to try.
12:30 PM
Uva Pizza e Vino at 20 Railroad St Great Barrington
I spent most of my adult life in NYC and have eaten my fair share of pizza in a variety of shapes, sizes, and origins. Uva pizza is baked in a beautifully tiled stone oven, fired by wood. Eating inside offers you a view of this stunning hearth, which is mesmerizing in and of itself, and the birthplace of some of the best pizza you will ever eat. Selected wine offerings pair nicely with the rich selection of gourmet pizzas.
Camp Lobster
Length of Jaunt: 48 hours
Location: Portland, ME and Acadia National Park, ME
Themes: eclectic gourmet food and cocktails, hiking, camping
Cost: $700 for 2
[Acadia National Park trail map, Central Provisions menu]
A distilled Acadia experience featuring excellent food, hikes, and camping.
Truth be told, this jaunt was a take 2 on a jaunt we did over the summer which involved a quick dip into Acadia that seemed far too short for what the incredible national park has to offer. National parks in the United States have a range of shapes, sizes, and geographies, and like everything else on the East Coast relative to West, the parks tend to be smaller, more crowded, and less wild. Summer at Acadia is a bit of a zoo, but early Fall is a different story entirely.
Friday 3 PM
Kickoff
The jaunt started with the drive, kicking off from Monterey, MA at 4PM on a Friday. We had a dinner reservation for Tipo, an Italian restaurant in Portland, ME. Tipo is affiliated with Central Provisions, which is a popular small plates restaurant we had frequented multiple times and adore (more on that later). We wanted to give Tipo a try, but time was tight.
As we were pulling out of my driveway, the host at Tipo called us to see if we could move the reservation earlier, but as it turned out, we would barely get in before the place closed. The host took our order over the phone so we wouldn’t miss the kitchen hours, and the food was waiting for us when we arrived at just before 9PM.
Friday 9 PM
Dinner: Tipo Italian Restaurant
Portland, ME
When we made our entrance the place was closing up, brooms sweeping the floors and staff putting the food away for the day. No matter for us, the host showed us right to our table, the mushroom risotto was served steaming and creamy, my Ginger Sol cocktail slushy with a smokey ginger kick, and the quattro formaggi pizza — while not piping hot due to our late arrival — were the perfect fuel for a late night drive up to Bangor. The staff at Tipo made us feel welcome and sent us on our way with a warm feeling about Portland, truly a compliment to the city and its famous food hospitality.
Friday 11:30 PM
The Hampton Inn, Bangor ME
A few hours later we arrived for our first night’s stay at The Hampton Inn in Bangor, ME — not a luxury stop, but comfortable, quiet, and clean. On entering the lobby, the scent of pool chlorine was a bit powerful, but the reception was friendly and our checkin speedy due to the Hilton Honors remote checkin. From parking lot to hotel room door took no more than 4 minutes, and our heads hit our pillows in short order.
The room was decorated in a sort of modern meets Raymour and Flanigan style — tastefully with dark tones and a large King bed placed strategically against a middle wall. The shower was clean and towels plentiful, enough for 4 though the room slept only 2. Our tight schedule required an early rise and breakfast, always free at the Hampton Inn. Notably nearly all of the breakfast food was individually wrapped, and a lysol wipe dispenser near the elevators spoke to the care this hotel takes to protect guests under pandemic conditions. We grabbed our muffins, eggs, and salt and pepper packets for our morning hike and cookout that was planned for later that evening.
Half a mile from the Hampton Inn we stocked up on outdoor food — trail mix, two steaks, corn, salad, marshmallows, Starbucks canned espresso and two berry salads for breakfast. The remaining drive was just over an hour to Bubble Rock trail, where we planned to ascend to the top of mountain and take our photos next to the iconic bubble rock.
Saturday 9 AM
Drive to Bubble Rock trailhead
The drive to the park is scenic but also rustic rural as Maine so often is…mini golf courses, bad pun restaurant signs (“Chow Maine”), lots of gun shops, camping stores, ice cream parlors, and 1950’s motels which might have had touch up renovations sometime in the last century. The park itself does not have clean borders, with private residences popping up on some of the scenic drives, including the park drive that touches Jordan Lake. This is typical of the Northeast, which was thickly settled when the national park system emerged.
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Exploration: In 1604, Samuel de Champlain and his crew named the area "Isle de Monts Desert".
Settlers: In the 1800s, settlers arrived to fish, farm, build ships, and lumber.
Artists: In the late 1800s, artists painted the island's beauty, which helped popularize the area.
Sieur de Monts National Monument: In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson established Sieur de Monts National Monument.
Lafayette National Park: In 1919, the park was renamed Lafayette National Park, becoming the first national park east of the Mississippi.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. In the early 20th century, Rockefeller developed the island estate and carriage paths, including over 50 miles of trails and 17 granite bridges.
Wildfires: In 1947, wildfires destroyed over 10,000 acres of the park.
Friends of Acadia: In 1986, local residents established the conservation nonprofit Friends of Acadia.
Bass Harbor Head lighthouse: In 2020, Acadia National Park accepted ownership of the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse from the Coast Guard.
Acadia has three distinct park areas — Southwest Harbor, which features the famous Bass Harbor Lighthouse, Northeast Harbor which features Cadillac Mountain and the Bubbles — two rounded rocky hilltops that offer scenic views of Acadia’s many fresh water lakes and ponds, and the Ocean — and the Schoodic Peninsula, a smaller area to the Northeast of the others. For this microvacation we focused on the Northeast Harbor and decided on hiking and kayaking, with one night of camping at Blackwoods Campground (note: camping in Acadia requires reservations, ours were made three months in advance).
Our first stop, Bubble Rock hiking trail, was accessible via a small parking lot at the base of the trail. The parking lot was full at 10AM, and we waited 10 minutes or so for a spot. This trail took us about an hour and change roundtrip, and was moderately difficult, with very wide rock stairs in places that required climbing, some sloped smooth rocky surfaces that would pose a hazard in rainy weather, and some steeper areas. Once at the top, we walked around the ridge to bubble rock, which is a large granite boulder perched on the side of the mountain. The rock appears as if it could teeter at any moment off the cliff, and hikers walk down to the rock and pose for photos. The spot offers birdseye views of the surrounding lakes and islands.
After hiking back down the trail to the car, we drove to Blackwoods campground to checkin and familiarize ourselves. A friendly park ranger checked us in at the station and handed us a piece of paper with the rules of the campground. There are no showers at Blackwoods, but a coin operated shower a short drive from the campground suffices — it takes a minute to figure out the way the coin-operated showers work, and the water temperature adjusts slowly, Beware you may push the temperature too hot and spend a few dollars waiting for it to cool down to the point you can actually bathe.
Saturday 1 PM
lunch and kayaking
After settling into the campground, we took a quick trip to Bar Harbor to hunt down a lobster roll, which we eventually found at a small tavern called the Dog & Pony. The lobster rolls were offered with options — cold or hot ($3 extra) — with chips, or for an extra fee, slaw or french fries. I opted for the hot lobster roll with slaw. This was one of the best lobster rolls I’ve had in Maine.
After a quick bite, we drove over to National Park Canoe Rental where we had an appointment at 2 PM to rent a kayak. Off-season at Acadia is fairly empty, so the reservation was unnecessary, as we were the only renters there. We rented a tandem for $30 (lifevest included) for 3 hours and brought it down to Long Pond at the base of the rental site.
Long Pond is, as the name suggests, long, and our three hour rental period afforded us a quick trip to just about half of the length of the pond and back. Judging by our progress, to kayak the entire pond at an even quip (not too slow, not too fast), would take about 5 hours roundtrip.
The pristine water at Acadia’s lakes and ponds is something to marvel at — and Long Pond was no exception. The water was clear and clean, with only a hint of marsh grasses at its edges and in shallower areas. Friendly mallard ducks greeted us at the boat launch, apparently familiar with people and the treats they sometimes bring. On a clear cool day with a slight breeze such as the one we experienced, Long Pond offers a peaceful, reclusive kayaking experience.
Saturday 5PM
Sunset at Otter Point
We weren’t expecting to want to run to the sunset after this long afternoon, but the bright orangish pink colors peaking through the trees beckoned us to drive to Otter Point to catch the display. The Otter Point hiking trail on the North shore of Otter Cove offers access to good sunset views — and sunrise if you take the path around to Otter Cliff. Acadia National Park is famous for its sunrise at Cadillac Mountain, but it’s difficult to get reservations for cars (though there is a bus that leaves from Bar Harbor that will take you there).
Saturday 8:30PM
campfire and dinner
Back at the campground, the campsites at Blackwoods are close together but not crowded, and each campsite has a firepit (locally sourced wood only). On our night at the campground by 8:30 PM all the campfires were going, providing a pleasant glow to the sites that illuminated the faces of our temporary neighbors enjoying conversation and quiet repose. The evening was peaceful in a way that felt ancient and other-wordly.
Sunday 5AM
sunrise at Otter Cliffs, coin showers
After a solid night’s sleep in the quiet campground (there were some woodland creatures visiting our site but probably just raccoon-sized judging by the sounds!) we caught the sunrise, showered, and departed early for Portland, where we had a reservation for Central Provisions for lunch.
Central Provisions is a small plates restaurant on Fore Street, which I first visited in 2023 for a company team offsite. I have returned there multiple times since. I will save the full review for my next visit, planned for August 2025!
make it count
Dear Ai, bees have six legs. Love, Charlotte
At the end of summer, bees nestle in Dahlia flowers, soporifically yet painstakingly poking at every floret in search of pollen, absorbing as many nutrients as they can before the long, cold winter. It’s not the typical bee frenzy you’ll see on a hydrangea or an azalea bush. There must be something in that Dahlia that puts them in a sleepy state, and they are so peaceful and still in those moments that I can practically pet them. I haven’t spent enough time with them when they are in their Dahlia naps to figure out if they are having little bee dreams, but they definitely appear blissed out.
With busy schedules, obligations and commitments, it’s difficult to find the time to park in a place and rest. Time marches forth. We can’t always get what we want when we want it, we seize the opportunities and milk them, making every moment count.
This blog started while traveling on one of the many mini (“micro”) vacations I took with my partner in the summer of 2024. We are both extremely busy — with my work and his studies — so we cram in as much activity as possible into short bursts on weekend downtime. Our trips last somewhere between 18-40 hours depending on the weekend (40 when we are lucky, 18 when we are not!). We’re on a tight budget both time and money-wise but we share a love of nature, physical exertion, good food, and culture, soaking it all up in every way we can find it. We like to jump into a place and discover its corners and best parts. We developed a knack for doing that in record time without feeling drained for the hard week of work before us.
I hope jaunt.space will help you discover the art of the mini-getaway, from tools to help you find deals and schedule maximizers, to community reviews of places to go and equipment to bring. As they say across the pond, “Keep calm and jaunt on!”. Well. Not sure they say that, but they should.