Survey

Get More Blogs

Calendar

September 2008
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
« Aug		Oct »
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30

Travel Bloggers

Ali
Katie

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, Maine

Since we arrived in Bar Harbor late the night before, it was too dark to see much of what we had driven into. I actually really like it when this happens. That way, in the morning when you wake up, you can look around and be completely struck with your new surroundings. This rarely backfires, but be careful not to choose a motel in a bad neighborhood only to find the next morning that your hub caps have been stolen and your room backs up to the county jail! Luckily, we were pleasantly surprised that our little motel choice (The Acadia Pines Motel) was even more cute and woodsy in the day than we thought it was under starlight.

After packing up the Grand Marquis, we pulled out all of our maps…we have acquired five maps somehow…and chose our route for the day. We decided to start off in downtown Bar Harbor, then head to Acadia National Park where we’d spend most of the day, then we’d drive as far as the day would permit west towards The White Mountains in New Hampshire, which was our next destination.

Since we decided to pass on the regular peanut butter and jelly that we’d been scarfing down for breakfast each morning, our first stop was to find a little café to fuel us up for the day. Some sort of crazy New England luck struck us on our quest and led us to Café This Way. Yes, that’s the actual name. No, I don’t know why, but it is set back from the main street a little, so the café name actually doubles as a directional sign for customers to find the business! Clever Since Katie and I try to eat healthy, and most of the time vegetarian (nevermind the lobster in Rockland, Maine!) we are often hard-pressed to find a regular café we can eat in especially in towns we’ve never been to. Like I said though, luck was with us that morning and we were led to a café that has an actual menu item called “The Vegan”! (They have a full menu as well, but it was great to see they were veggie friendly too!) The meal, in addition to the atmosphere…and the first cup of coffee I’ve had in 2 months, started this morning off absolutely perfectly. This is THE place to tanker up before a long day of sight seeing, so be sure not to miss out!

After our breakfast, we strolled down to the main street of Bar Harbor and perused the shops and bought the obligatory lobster souvenirs. For any of you who have been to Bar Harbor, you know that it’s pretty difficult to put into words. It is a tourist town, but it still manages to keep its authenticity. I was blown away. We were lucky to have perfect 72 degree weather, so maybe that added to the impression. Bar Harbor is compact and clean, but seems to offer everything you would need if you lived there. If you were a resident, I think you would actually go down to the main street for restaurants and shopping, instead of like most touristy towns where the locals wouldn’t be caught dead on the strip. There are lots of fun bars, but each one was either themed, or so unique that it was its own theme! Try Geddy’s if you’re in the mood for a drink. Since it was about 11:00 am, we passed on those and walked down to the pier to look at the cruise ships pulling in (right along side the sailboats, and fishing boats!) After soaking up a bit of the sun (a bit too much in my case), we headed back to the car, sufficiently impressed with the town, and pointed ourselves towards Acadia National Park.

Earlier at breakfast, we struck up a conversation with a couple from Wisconsin. They were on the last day of their Maine experience and they had lots to share about where we should go, what we should eat (lobster stew), and what not to miss in Acadia National Park. We were disappointed when we realized we’d have to miss out on the ferry to Nova Scotia that they mentioned because we had forgotten we would need our passports to get into Canada. They mentioned that they had wanted to go too, but the ferryman told them if they didn’t have passports “You’ll have no trouble getting into Canada, but you won’t be able to get back into America.” Obviously, we passed on that adventure, but we took them up on their advice and headed to “The Loop” road just inside the park entrance of Acadia National Park to begin our journey. Just so you’re prepared, the park entrance fee is $20, but it lasts 7 days, so if you’re staying for longer than we did it won’t seem that steep. It’s definitely worth the price though, so dig deep and cough it up.

The main highlights on The Loop are Sand Beach, Thunderhole, Jordan Pond and Cadillac Mountain. The Loop is a one way road that will take you to all four and much more, so if you get going on the track, there’s really no way to get lost. The first stop, about 3 miles in, is Sand Beach. I guess I just never though of a sandy beach being in Maine, so it was a bug surprise for me when we took the steps down to this hidden oasis in the forest. The only way I can describe it is to say it’s like Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona, Arizona on one side, and a secluded beach in Spain on the other! If you’ve never been to those places, then you’ll have to see it for yourself! The sand was fine, soft, and fantastic. The water was very cold, but clear and clean. And the backdrop of mountains, rock, and forest was stunning. There weren’t many people on the beach when we got there, but I can imagine this spot being incredibly crowded in the summer. It’s still worth a look at any time of the year though. Make sure to hike around the sand dune berm and check out the paths and inlet.

Further along the drive you will come to Thunderhole. Hopefully you won’t pass by it on accident like we did. Sadly, since this is a one way road, if you snooze, you lose. Actually, we weren’t even snoozing! We saw the sign for the Thunderhole information station, which we drove into and out of when we realized it was essentially a general store, but then we continued on…never to see another sign for the site! You can learn from our experience though. Take the time to stop in the information station and ask where you need to go to see Thunderhole. It is supposed to be an area of coast where the ocean violently crashes into the rocks and causes a beautiful spray of water. Let me know if I’m right if you ever get there!

Luckily, Acadia National Park is not at a loss for things to see, in fact, you can’t see everything in a day, so be ready to either stay longer, or pick and choose your destinations. Since we were on a tight-ish schedule, we decided on the latter. After Thunderhole, our next destination was Jordan Pond, about 6 more miles down the scenic Loop Road. There are 2 parking areas for Jordan Pond the north or south lots. The north lot was full when we got there, probably because it was also used as the only parking lot for the only restaurant within the park, so we continued to the south lot. We snagged a spot and trekked down to the water, which turned out to be another stunning site (as most are in National Parks!) This lake is lined with a narrow walking path that we followed until we realized that it went all the way around the lake, at which time we doubled back judging the circumference of the lake to be just over our energy level for the trek! Make sure to walk at least to the point where the small feeder stream babbles along under the stone bridge. It’s not far, and it’s a perfect photo-op.

Back in the car we drove the remainder of the way to Cadillac Mountain and began the incline to its peak. Don’t leave Acadia National Park without viewing it from Cadillac Mountain. At 1528 feet above sea level, you can really take in the beauty of the area. We were lucky to have the blue sky hold out all day, so we could easily see back to Bar Harbor (with the cruise ship still docked amongst the small islands), and a complete 360 degree circle of the rest of Mount Desert Island. We sat on the flat rocks at the top of the mountain for a half an hour and just marveled at everything. It’s indescribable, like most great vistas, so you’ll have to travel their to understand the sight of it all.

Cadillac Mountain completed the sites we had planned for The Loop, so we continued west to cruise through the other small villages on the island. We hit Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Manset, Seawall, and Bass Harbor (where we took a detour to see the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse…which is indeed a lighthouse, but not what you think of when you think of a beautiful “Maine” lighthouse…it’s just a little small and anticlimactic). We agreed that these towns could be missed. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, there’s just not much to see in any of them.

Feeling fulfilled with our Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park experiences, we pulled out the maps yet again and planned the route for the night. Since we were headed towards The White Mountains, but the sun was already getting low, we decided to pick a place in between the two to stay for the night. We decided on Augusta. A couple hours later we pulled into our Econo Lodge (under moonlight again) and hauled ourselves up and into bed. Another day well spent.

**After publishing this article, a TGTG fan sent us a link to a national parks site offering information on Acadia National Park and many other national parks in the US. If you’d like to read more about our country’s most beautiful spots head to this link: Acadia National Park at RecreationParks.net Thanks Josef!

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.