Boston to Bar Harbor. A review.

Just got back from an anniversary trip. Between our jobs and kids we had to make it a whirlwind trip and cram in as much as we could in a limited time. We spent 2 nights in Boston, then drove to Bar Harbor for 3 nights. I used this board (Abita, et al) A LOT as a guide for the trip so I figured I would give back a little and share our experience.

Day 1:
Goals: Get there. Get checked in. Walk Around. Drink and eat.

Flew from JAN>ATL>BOS. Arrived in Bean Town at 2:30pm. Ubered to our hotel, the Hilton Back Bay. The Hilton Back Bay has a great location, right by Copley and in the middle of all kinds of stuff. The Hilton Back Bay itself is nothing special. Just a hotel, but it served its purpose. Anyway, got checked in and started walking. We have never been to Boston so we had to check off some dumb touristy stuff. Which means we bee lined to Cheers. Got the picture by the sign, got a drink, then promptly got TFO. That's all its good for. We then made our way to the North End/ Little Italy/ Whatever. Holy shite. The shops, the restaurants, the architecture. Amazing place. And it made up our mind what we wanted for dinner. So after returning to clean up we ubbered back there that evening and had dinner at Mama Maria (had read positive things on here). It was great. Tuna tartare and beet salad for apps. Wife got the lobster ravioli and I had the Osso Bucco. It was all excellent. And promptly ended Day 1.

Notes:
-It was HOT. Not Louisiana hot but pretty damn hot and humid. High was in the lower 90's.
-Never got my bearings. Walked around staring at the map on my phone like a tool.
-Never heard a note of music while walking around. Weird.


Day 2:
Goals: Freedom Trail, History Stuff, Fenway, food and drink.

Got up early. Downloaded a ~$6 Freedom Trail app (thanks to TD), walked to Boston Common, checked it out then began the Freedom Trail. Without going into too much detail of the sites of the Trail, I will say that it is absolutely worth doing, and using the App as a tour guide worked great. When we got to the Union St. leg of the tour we ducked into The White Bull Tavern (the only thing open at 9:00am) and got our first LOBSTA ROLL. It was also my favorite Lobster roll of the trip, and I had several. Worth $36? IDK about that. But it was pretty f-ing good. They also make a fine Bloody. Anyway finished the trail up at Ole Ironsides and caught Marine marching band dressed up in all the old Patriot regalia. It was great. (It was also the last note of music I heard in New England. Weird.) Total time on the trail was about 4.5 hours. After that we walked our touristy selves back to Union Street, bucked the advice of our local posters, and had lunch at the UNION STREET OYSTER HOUSE. I thought it was great. The food was fine, the bartenders prompt and knowledgeable, and the history in there was incredible. Had some oysters, chowda, fish tacos and beer. Then walked over to Bell in Hand and had a beer just to say we did. It's a cool place. After a brief intermission at the hotel we walked to Fenway. No game unfortunalty but we got a good seat in the Stadium club, located in right field, which has a good view of the park. We elected not to do a tour, but did find the Trillium location for a few more beers. Good stuff. That night we had a res at SALTIE GIRL. It did not disappoint. The Grande Tower 12 oysters / 4 littlenecks / 4 top necks / 4 shrimp / 4 jonah crab claws / lobster cocktail / tuna poke was the star but also got a lobster pasta that was great. Day 2 fades to black.

Notes:
-After lunch we had walked right at 10 miles according to my wife's app. The walk to and from Fenway added to that a good bit to that. Lotso walking in Bean Town.


Day 3:
Goals: Pickup Rental Car (truck) at BOS, site see our way to Bar Harbor w/ a lunch in Portland.

Pretty much what we did. Took I-95 to York then got off on Hwy 1. Saw some sites in York, hit a neat little market in Ogunquit, and eased up to Portland. I've been to Portland a couple of times for work, but not in the last 10-12 years. It's really booming. There we had lunch at EVENTIDE OYSTER CO. (per TD rec). Outstanding oysters and beer. Pretty good/fancy lobster roll. A tad pretentious but I guess that comes with the territory. From there we walked to LONEPINE brewery and got a beer. Neat place, good beer. Got back rolling and I made a poor navigational decision. We were still in site seeing mode and I took HWY 1 from Portland toward Bar Harbor instead of I-95. Don't do this. The roads suck, you can't see much and it takes FOREVER. Just take the interstate from Portland. Finally make BahHabba about 5:30, check in at the Bar Harbor Inn and go downtown. Find a couple seats at the bar at GEDDY'S and had drinks/dinner. Brussel Sprout pizza for her (I know, WTF?), Tuna Tacos and Tequilla shots for me. Food is good and it's a good lively atmosphere (sans music of course). Curtains close on Day 3.

Notes:
-If time is of the essence, just take the Interstate. Especially from Portland to Bar Harbor. The two lane roads suck.
-It's Pride month all year long in Portland.

Day 4:
Goals: AM Massage (legit, not rub/tug), PM Acadia National Park

Woke up to major championship golf on TV. It's going to be a good day. Do the Spa thing then get lunch at TESTA'S Bar and Grill. Same thing, oysters, mussels, fish tacos, Beer. Nothing earth moving but good food. After a brief siesta we had to ACADIA NATIONAL PARK. There is a 26 mile drive thru loop in the park. Our plan was to drive it, check everything out, and get a plan of attack for the next day. So we did. It's probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I'm not going to go into details but it is visually stunning. We spent 4-5 hours driving and stopping a checking stuff out. That evening we're wanting a different spin on the local cuisine, which lead us to HAVANA. There they do a latin/tapas type of thing with the seafood. Really good. Spicy tuna salad, elotes, and mixed veggie/seafood/meat boards. I would make a stop here if you're in town. So then we go out for live music. But there was none. Day 4 is a wrap.

Notes:
- Acadia National Park is amazing.
-If there are 150 restaurants in Bar Harbor, 125 of them have the same menu. Not that it's bad. It's all uber fresh seafood. It's just the same.