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Log inAcadia's carriage rides keep vision alive
Acadia's carriage rides keep vision alive
by Outspoken on Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:34 pm
Acadia's carriage rides keep vision alive
By DEIRDRE FLEMING
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
The "Grand Acadia Tradition," as it is billed on brochures and advertisements, was, in fact, not much of a tradition.
It was a dream, one that went to sleep for 40 years before a Kentucky horseman vacationed on Mount Desert Island and partnered with an unconventional government official who could not say no.
In 1986, Ed Winterberg joined forces with Acadia National Park Superintendent Jack Hauptman. Together, they found a lot of powerful people who shared their dream, which was originally a dream of John D. Rockefeller Jr.
More than 10 years later, the world-renowned Acadia carriage roads were restored, and Winterberg started rolling out horse-drawn carriage rides around the park --just as Rockefeller envisioned when he gave 11,000 acres to the National Park Service in the early part of the 20th century.
"We always turned people away, and to this day, we turn people away, because Acadia is a busy place," said Winterberg, who serves 20,000 people a year, or 200 a day on his horse-drawn carriage rides around the national park.
The rides run slowly over four different courses, up Day Mountain, around several bridges and, of course, along the famous coastline.
The routes run over the 57 miles of carriage roads that Rockfeller built between 1913 and 1940, 10 miles of which are still on Rockefeller land open to the public.
"He spent 30 years planning the carriage roads and making them accessible to the most scenic parts of the island," said Winterberg, who owns Wildwood Stables in the national park.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=200076&ac=Outdoors
By DEIRDRE FLEMING
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
The "Grand Acadia Tradition," as it is billed on brochures and advertisements, was, in fact, not much of a tradition.
It was a dream, one that went to sleep for 40 years before a Kentucky horseman vacationed on Mount Desert Island and partnered with an unconventional government official who could not say no.
In 1986, Ed Winterberg joined forces with Acadia National Park Superintendent Jack Hauptman. Together, they found a lot of powerful people who shared their dream, which was originally a dream of John D. Rockefeller Jr.
More than 10 years later, the world-renowned Acadia carriage roads were restored, and Winterberg started rolling out horse-drawn carriage rides around the park --just as Rockefeller envisioned when he gave 11,000 acres to the National Park Service in the early part of the 20th century.
"We always turned people away, and to this day, we turn people away, because Acadia is a busy place," said Winterberg, who serves 20,000 people a year, or 200 a day on his horse-drawn carriage rides around the national park.
The rides run slowly over four different courses, up Day Mountain, around several bridges and, of course, along the famous coastline.
The routes run over the 57 miles of carriage roads that Rockfeller built between 1913 and 1940, 10 miles of which are still on Rockefeller land open to the public.
"He spent 30 years planning the carriage roads and making them accessible to the most scenic parts of the island," said Winterberg, who owns Wildwood Stables in the national park.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=200076&ac=Outdoors
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
