Asticou Azalea Garden in Mount Desert
If curiosity was a crime, I would be locked up. It’s a good thing the inner workings of our brains are not on public display as we walk around Planet Earth. Mine is a busy place with a myriad of questions.
As I drove to breathtaking, jaw-dropping Mount Desert Island, I kept wondering: cliffs, ocean, forests…where is the desert? Maybe this is common knowledge that I missed along the way, but I had no idea except to assume there wasn’t one. I would discover the answer while asking a second question.
For this visit, I wanted to find a treasure outside of the most famous one in the region. The gem of this journey was Asticou Azalea Garden located alongside Acadia National Park. The name promoted more musings. I know azaleas, but what is Asticou? I saw numerous uses of this word throughout the area. My search for the meaning caused me to stumble across the solution to my desert issue in a written history of the Asticou Inn which stated the following:
When Samuel de Champlain explored the coast of Maine in 1604, he came upon an island of uncommon beauty, with miles of picturesque shoreline and a range of seven or eight mountains that were curiously bare at their summits. “I have named it the Island of the Desert (bare, desolate) Mountains,” he wrote in his journal on September 5, 1604.
A local MDI newspaper helped me with the Asticou question in the following excerpt of an article:
When a small group of French Jesuits arrived at Mount Desert Island in May 1613 with the intention of establishing a mission, they were welcomed by the native Wabanaki, who had a summer encampment on the island. With the encouragement of the Wabanaki, the newcomers planted corn and began building a fort at a site recommended by Asticou, the Wabanaki chief.
Curiosity satisfied! Now to the garden…
This sweet spot is owned by the Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve (if you read its history, you’ll find several mentions of the Rockefellers whose influence touches so many points on this island). The garden seeks to incorporate both East and West designs with many Japanese elements woven throughout. If you’re not up to scaling the nearby mountains, but prefer a gentle, short stroll, this is the destination for you! The oasis is only 2.3 acres in size, but its calm setting will pull you to stay a while. Though you can hear vehicles passing by on the road, the sounds of running water and singing birds are prominent. The Asticou Azalea Garden is filled with natural serenity and can be good therapy for a busy mind.
I’m on a mission to visit every town in Maine. Check here to see if I’ve featured yours yet: All The Visits. To learn more about this adventure, see the about page.
