How Many?........Just one 

Going out to dinner solo can be very interesting. I don't mean the occasional drive-thru kind of dinner. I mean the going to a real restaurant with a menu and sitting down by yourself. Well on my little adventure to Maine, I went out quite often by myself. The first time I went out for a drink at the outdoor bar after a 7 hour hike and thought to myself "no one deserves a cold drink more than you my friend" - well unless you'd been hiking for a long period of time and being that most people go to Acadia to hike, it would make sense that everyone was feeling that way, hence the very crowded park. I digress ok.....anyway back to dining alone.

There's a couple of things I learned about dining out solo while traveling:

* Sitting at the bar and eating dinner is definitely better than sitting at a table. You can always chat up bartender who can also serve as a guide in your little vacation.

* People are much more friendlier at the bar (could be the alcohol yes, yes)

* You meet lovely and not so lovely people who travel from every where at the bar.

* You don't have to wait long periods for a refill at the bar.

* You catch up on local gossip at the bar.

I found a comical routine when I ate out which was everyday since I did not have a stove. I would be asked every single time, "Just one" - Uh, "yeah just one". After a week of saying "just one", I began to feel this kind of silliness with the whole thing. I hated being just one. One for dinner, one at home, one at the movies, one one one. Yet, after that week it made me smile to myself and say "yes, just one and its ok". Seven days of just one was exactly what I needed.

It has been quite a while since I last logged on and put words out of my head and onto my blog. Being that, yes folks, its another chapter to my never ending story, I thought it appropriate to start all over again. I need to go back a bit to the new highly improved new beginning, shockingly, there is always a new one.

In order to shed, the sorrow and immense feelings of failure of my second marriage, I take a trip. A trip to a place I always wanted to visit with him but never did.

It is a Friday in mid July. I finally received my divorce papers signed by him and I rush them over to my lawyer (second time, not only embarrassing but painfully familiar). The next day I pack up my car especially excited about my books on tape for my 10 or 11 or 12 or 15 hour car drive to Mt. Desert Island, ME http://www.acadiamagic.com/MountDesert.html

Feeling very empowered after a very long and tedious 3 years of waiting, I embark on my great hiking adventure. What does this all mean to me? (Obviously, I have more than enough time to ponder this as I have a few hours of travel ahead of me). Well, lets see I am conquering travel as a single woman, I will engage in hiking, sightseeing, dining and exploring all by myself for 7 days, yup. That's right folks. 7 whole days. After many stops for photos and eating and more photos and looking at the map so my 12 hour trip does not end up a 24 hour trip, I arrive in the lovely and busy town of Bar Harbor, ME.

I completely forgot that though I was traveling solo, without children, uhmmm it appears that Bar Harbor is the place for couples and families. I sat in my car with real thoughts of turning around and going home. Seven days of my single fate in front of me might be too much for anyone. Thankfully, when I rented my cottage, I specifically mentioned to the man that I was looking for quiet meaning no children. He told me "oh this is perfect, its a small cottage meant for honeymooners!" Perfect " I say.

Perfect it was. The perfect healing spot. I never saw other couples since the point of being there is to get your tushy up early and hike for long hours.

On my first day there I head over to the rangers station at Acadia National Park http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm where I proceed to tell the very nice ranger that this is my first hike in the park and that I had read and chosen some that I felt would be right for me. I told him under no circumstances do I want to engage in any fear inducing hikes that entail hanging off of rungs or ladders (trust me if you are not a hiker you should know this). Well, he directs me to a hike but, I have to watch out for the path to Gorham Mountain and not Beehive (which is not her highest but definitely the steepest. That being said, off I go with my map (BTW, it is recommended ALWAYS to hike in groups and NEVER alone. What I did uh, basically not recommended)

Of course, I miss my path to Gorham and end up on the Beehive Mountain. Thankfully I had been following trail with a couple who were on their way to the Beehive. As you can see it might me a little terrifying to someone who is afraid of deep, steep heights.

Of course, my choice at this point was to turn around and go back down (which honestly seemed a bit more terrifying than challenging myself to move my ass up). So..........the moral of the story here, well, I went pursuing an adventure to shed many of my fears and to move forward with my single life once again. I did! I made it to the top and said a deep deep prayer of thanks because obviously God has more faith in me than I do and I was alive. I mean, not funny, but there was no need to get me lost and challenge me this way. But, who am I to ask questions? The point is this was the beginning of my new chapter and journey.