SEAL COVE - THE COOLEST SPOT ON MOUNT DESERT ISLAND

So where is the coolest place to be on Mount Desert Island on a hot summer day?  Ideally the answer would be on the back side of the island which faces out to the open sea, where any sea breeze that might be first sweeps in toward the island.  In my years living over in Bass Harbor we made a number of friends, and one told us of a out of the way picnic area known mostly to the locals, where you could escape to on any humid summer day and find relief in the cool ocean air.
The road to this hidden out of the way picnic area is called the Cape Road, which runs from route 102 down along a narrow country road that comes out by the Seal Cove boat launch.  The pretty little cove is usually quiet with the water dotted with fishing vessels at anchor.  Just around the corner, within sight, is the tiny Seal cove Picnic Area over looking the fishing vessels and the cove, and a small dirt parking area to the right.  Wild berries grow along the banking and on a good day you can gather enough to make a nice pie with.  And as an added bonus, the fishing in this area is excellent.
Follow the road just a short ways beyond the boat ramp and picnic area and you can step down along the rocky shore with the wide open sea before you.  My kids spent countless hours there searching for sea life in tidal pools and gathering colorful smooth sea glass.  As the tide goes out there is a nice large deep tidal pool left behind where it is said local kids go to swim.  The picnic area itself is rather small, but you will be hard pressed to find one anywhere in the state with a better view.  When my grandmother would see places like this, she would simply say, "Pretty as a post card,"  and indeed Seal Cove is just that.

SEAL COVE PICNIC AREA
SEAL COVE, MAINE

GPS for Cape Road;
44.286899
68.400929

GPS for Picnic Area
44.283197
68.409195