A Rainy Day called for a visit to the Nature Center

You don't get all this beautiful green without some rain.  Today was a rainy day.  So we decided to visit the Nature Center.

We walked in on a lecture on Basic Birding and of course stayed to listen.  I walked around the center and took a few pictures.

This is an eagle.

And this is the Common Elide.

After the lecture we head back to Sieur de Monts Spring. Sieur de Monts Spring has a significant place in the early history of Acadia National Park.  In a true sense, this spot has come to symbolize the vision and passion of private citizens such as George B. Dorr that bloomed into Acadia National Park.

George B. Dorr was the Park's first superintendent.  In 1909, he built the structure below over a spring and carved "The Sweet Waters of Acadia" on a nearby rock.

We visited he Abbe Museum.  The focus of the Abbe Museum is on the Native American People, their history and culture in Maine.The Abbe Museum was founded in 1927 by Dr. Robert Abbe and opened in 1928.

It was one of the first museums opened in Maine and the only one devoted solely to Native American culture and history in Maine.

Venetian Glass Trading Beads.

Not much clay in Maine.  Bowls and baskets were made of birch.

(Sorry about the overhead lights.

This green glazed storage jar is distinctively French, rather than English. It comes from Saintonge region in southeastern France. The ships that sailed from France, sailed from a port close to Saintonge.

Bet you are not surprised that I was interested in this artifact.  These are Glass Beads.  Did they have kilns back then?

Most people think that the Indians here moved south in the winter. Many did not and stayed in these birch huts.  They were waterproof.  Good for a day like today.

Small but interesting museum. We had heard little about the Native Americans in this area.

Just so you don't think all we do is play.  After this visit we went home to do laundry.