Not sure there is any place big enough for the boys in Bar Harbor!! Maybe an outdoor field somewhere ...
My wife went up there for 2 nights last weekend - if I did this right, you should be able to click on most of
the picture thumbnails and see bigger versions!
A 260 mile trip should really take me under 4 hours of
normal driving, but getting to Bar Harbor, Maine
requires a long drive off the interstate, making for a 5 hour drive at the best
of times. That’s why Lori and I hadn’t
made a trip there yet in our various New England
daytrips. Going away for more than 1 day means calling in the petsitter, which
we did this year to feed the cats and bunny and walk Kira 5 times over 3
days. Better than taking her to a
kennel, which we did back in 2001, coming home to an almost-feral dog!
Although the sun was out as we left the house, the drive
north and east caught us up with a low cloudbank that provided mist and drizzle
for most of the trip. That hadn’t been
in the forecast, so we were hoping the next day would be better!
We are not “bed and breakfast people” but Lori wanted to try
something different, so after reading a number of online reviews we chose the
Black Friar Inn in Bar Harbor. http://www.blackfriarinn.com They offered fully cooked meals each morning,
rather than the standard basket of muffins that most B&Bs in the area
offered. (little did we know that there each morning featured one particular
cooked breakfast, with no choices and a pretty small serving).
Our room was nice, if a little small, but with a private
bathroom and lots of windows.
After checking in and listening to the innkeeper’s spiel, we
headed for Cadillac Mountain,
hoping for a pretty sunset, however the still-present cloudbank prevented that. It was cool, damp and windy!
So we drove back down into town and walked to the
waterfront, checking out some of the stores and choosing a restaurant,
Gaylen’s, that had received “ok” reviews online and was one of 3 recommended by
the innkeeper. The food was OK, if
nothing special, but the waiter was good and Lori liked the Bar Harbor
Blueberry Ale! More subtle blueberry taste than Sea Dog. http://www.atlanticbrewing.com/beer.html The brewery offers tours, but only Tuesday
through Friday, so we didn’t go there during our short stay.
After dinner we hit just about every other shop downtown as
they all stay open until at least 9pm
during tourist season.
Downtown Bar Harbor only looks like this early in the
morning – the rest of the time it is filled with milling tourists and parked
cars.
Back at the Black Friar we settled into our room – hard
mattress and iron pillows made us glad we had at least brought our own pillows
with us!
If you like an active vacation, Acadia offers hiking trails
and bike trails aplenty – many old “carriage trails” are now maintained for
non-vehicular use, and trails are well documented leading to the peaks of all
the island’s small mountains. Sea
kayaking is very popular in the cool bay waters – there are no jetskis around to
disturb the calm waters. Bring your own
bike or kayak, or rent one when you get to the island.
If a more relaxing vacation is your preference, the 26 mile Loop
Road provides a scenic tour of the national
park. 7-day vehicle passes are $20, or
seniors (I’ve still got a few years to go for that!) can get a lifetime pass
good for all US
national parks. If you prefer to be
guided, there are bus tours available, or take a small plane tour over the
island.
Unless your kids like to do lots of hiking/bicycling, this
is probably not the best place for a “family” vacation. Other than the ‘oceanariums’, which feature
much about the lives of lobsters (and are not open on Sundays), there is not
much for kids to do other than a slew of mini-golf places on the road back to
Ellsworth.
From Bar Harbor, you can take the
‘Cat’ to Nova Scotia, go on a
whale watch or take an evening cruise around Frenchman’s Bay on a 4-masted
schooner.
At low tide, you can walk or drive over the sandbar that
gives the town its name to Bar Island.
The difference between low and high tides here is 12 feet,
making for spectacular shore line views of exposed rocks and beaches at low
tide.
It is argued that the first place on the United
States’ eastern seaboard that sees the
sunrise is Cadillac Mountain. This may or may not be true depending on the
time of year and whether there are clouds or fog on the horizon, but at 1530
feet, Cadillac is the tallest mountain on the US Atlantic coast. Named for/by a French explorer who was deeded
the entire island in the 1600s, it once was called Green Mountain and had a cog
railway that brought passengers to the hotel on top of the mountain. When the hotel burned down the cog railway was
moved to Mount Washington in New
Hampshire.
Before sunrise on any typical day there are dozens of cars
heading up the paved road to the summit.
While Lori slept in, I was at the top of the mountain before
6am with camera and tripod in
hand. The wind never ceases up there,
blowing steadily at 25mph and gusting higher constantly. Rather than staying on the top ridgeline with
most of the other sunrise viewers, I hiked across the granite and descended a
couple of small ridges towards the ocean, picking a spot that encompassed the
open view over the next ridge to the east and to the harbor islands to the
northeast. While waiting for the sun, I
noticed a white ship plying up the coast towards the harbor. Impossible to tell from the distance, it
turned out to be a huge Norwegian Cruise Line ship which started disgorging its
passengers for island tours a little later.
The next morning I went up the mountain before sunrise again
and chose a lookout part way up the mountain.
After breakfast Lori and I headed for the park’s Loop Road,
hoping to beat most of the cruise ship’s tourists who would be taking bus tours
of the island – I had seen at least 15 buses waiting for them near the
harbor. Luckily for us, the buses only
stop at a couple of locations to let the tourists walk around and our only
encounter with them were as we were leaving the Thunderhole area. In the summertime as many as 3 or 4 cruise
ships can come in at the same time – plan accordingly if you go then.
The first stop on the Loop Road
is Sieur de Mont, a natural spring, with wild gardens and the small Abbe museum
(a larger museum is now located in the center of Bar Harbor),
a museum of native American
artifacts and displays.
Next stop on the Loop Road
is a scenic overlook that looks back at Schooner Point. One of the great things about Acadia
National Park is that there are
plenty of signs pointing out things to look for and there are parking areas
everywhere. In addition, half of the Loop
Road is one-way and parking is allowed in the
right-hand lane. Again, in the summer
this road is probably jammed at times.
Sand Beach
is a required stop for visitors – one of the few beaches on the island that
isn’t rock-covered.
A 3-mile trail leads from this beach along the side of the Loop
Road past Thunderhole – a rocky area where the
incoming tide blows up plumes of spray.
We weren’t there at the right time for it, but could see the rounded
hole in the rock that the waves have carved over the years.<br>
Lori on top of the Thunderhole cliff
The view to Otter Cliffs
Next up is the Otter Cliffs with a view back north to Sand
Beach.
With its multiple granite-domed mountains and ponds
everywhere, there are numerous opportunities for scenic photography – these
pics are all digital snapshots, hoping I’ve got another contest winner or 2 on
the all the rolls of 35mm film I shot!
Half-way around the Loop Road
you can exit it to go through the harbor towns on the south side of the island,
Seal Harbor
and Northeast Harbor. Although once a quiet “lobsterman” town, Northeast
Harbor has been developed now and
the harbor which once housed mostly lobster boats now has mostly pleasure craft
and the harbor’s parking lot is surrounded by tennis courts and condos and
resorts. The center of town has not
developed much, yet, and has a handful of small shops and a couple of places to
eat. In addition, there are some magnificent
gardens to walk though in the spring.
By the time Lori and I got to Northeast harbor we were ready
for a good lunch – especially after the pitifully small breakfast at the B&B.
We stumbled upon a pub called the Tan Turtle Tavern, and
their menu looked good, so we went in.
They pack the people into this small place, but there were plenty of
tables for lunch.
Lori ordered a lobster roll, which at $14.95 was a typical
price we might see for a small (hot-dog bun sized) lobster roll in the area
where we live. They offer a large
version @ $18.95, and judging by the size of the regular one, it must be able
to feed two! It came in a large sub
(hoagie) bun on a bed of hand-made warm ‘turtle chips’ with so much lobster it
was falling out of the bun. Lori could
barely finish it, and couldn’t finish the chips!
I had one of my favorite sandwiches, meatloaf, here done as
a “mile high” with bacon and cheese and lettuce, along with a huge helping of
the ‘turtle chips’.
We enjoyed our meal so much that we put our names on the
“preferred customer” list for a table for dinner! If it wasn’t a 5-1/2 hour drive, we’d go
there for a meal once a week!
After lunch we headed up along the Somes Sound, the only
fjord on the east coast of the US. If we had had the time, we could have
continued along the west side of the sound to Southwest
Harbor, but we turned around in
Somesville to go back to the park.
Back on the Loop Road,
we stopped at Jordan Pond. Luckily, the
cruise ship buses had all gone by this time – the parking lots were crowded
anyway. People stop here to have tea or
lemonade on the “lawn” with the view of the pond. A huge building houses a restaurant and gift
shop and rows of tables and picnic benches are outside. The pond provides a breathtaking view of the Bubble
Mountains to the north and there is
an easy hiking trail around the pond.
The Loop Road
then climbs up the slopes of the mountains, providing quick views of Bubble
Pond and Eagle Lake
below before the Cadillac Mountain
summit road turns off.
We headed back into Bar Harbor and
while Lori took a short nap I walked the Shore Path, a quick 1 mile trail from
the harbor around the outskirts of town.
I watched as three launches worked non-stop bringing passengers back to
the cruise ship. Even from a half-mile away I could hear and feel the loud
thrumming of the ship’s engines on standby.
We headed back to Cadillac Mountain
for sunset, first going up to the summit, then going down partway to find a
good view to the west. Even after a warm
day, the wind on the mountain was blowing fiercely – hence Lori’s ‘ninja’ look!
We arrived back at the Tan Turtle a little early and found
the place packed with a dozen or more people waiting outside – but they let you
order at the bar and drink outside on the sidewalk, how’s that for a relaxed
atmosphere?! We snagged a couple of
seats at the bar and ordered a couple of local brews. I tried the Real Ale, although I don’t fancy
darker brews, it was surprisingly tasty and smooth.
We were squeezed into a table within 5 minutes of our
requested time and Lori managed to get the last lobster before they ran out,
ordering an ‘overstuffed baked” lobster – a 1-1/2 lb version with a huge crab
meat (only) cake on top of it, served with potato and veggie for $21.95,
something you can’t touch for that price around us.
I had the fish and chips, two crispy but light large filets
with turtle chips and tasty hush puppies.
By the time we left, a little after 8:30,
there were empty tables but I imagine in the summer it’s impossible to get a
table here with less than an hour wait.
We went back into Bar Harbor and went into a few shops
before they started closing down – after 9pm there are only a few places open
in Bar Harbor – a couple of places with live bands, a coffee house/internet
café, and an ice cream place or two.
The next morning, after another small (but delicious)
breakfast we were on our way home. If we
ever go there again, we would forgo the B&B, opting for a less-expensive
motel – there are plenty of good breakfast restaurants there. I would avoid Bar Harbor
in the summer though, due to the crowds and cruise ships.
http://mjbphotos.tripod.com
http://www.myspace.com/mikebirchmusic