Acadia National Park/ Bar Harbor trip report

My wife and I and another couple spent a week in Maine recently. This is my report. Pictures at the end.

It was the first trip for all of us to Maine. We drove from NC and picked them up at the Portland airport. We started planning the trip in early June and were there the last few days of July and early August. We did not know anything about hotels/inn/B&B in Bar Harbor and just picked one.

First four days were in Bar Harbor and then 3 nights in three different places. We stayed at an inn on Mount Desert Street. There are a dozen or so places to stay on this street and all of them looked fine from the exterior. They were all within an easy walk, 1/2 mile or so at the most, to the downtown/harbor area. I don't think you can go wrong staying at any of those.

There is a free Island Explorer (IE) bus service that travels to downtown from the more distant hotels. It has 10 routes and also goes into the park and other places. We did not use it but some that did had positive comments about it.

Start your visit to Acadia at the Hulls Cove Visitor center. You can purchase the $30 vehicle pass (up to 15 passengers) there, it is valid for 7 days. If you have a senior pass you do not need to buy the vehicle pass. You can talk to rangers there also and I recommend watching the short video about the park. From the parking lot you can catch an IE bus to various places.

There is a loop road around the perimeter of the main park and it is one-way for a portion, and two-way for part of it. The only place anyone checked for our pass was at the entrance to the one-way section of the loop road.

Highlights of the visit:
Jordon Pond House - eat a meal here on the lawn. Get the popovers and the lobster stew.
Sunrise at Cadillac Mountain - the highest point in Acadia NP and everyone goes there to watch the sun come up. It was worth it.
Schoodic Peninsula/Point - you have to drive or take a ferry and then catch a IE bus to the point but well worth the trip.
Whoopie Pies.

We found out August is the busiest month and it was crowded but not really bad as in bumper to bumper, stop and go. It was mostly just difficult to find a parking place at some of the stops on the loop road; such as Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Jordon Pond. But around 3:30 the crowds began to thin out.

We did not have any reservations for activities before we got there. We took a carriage ride that was booked up but we called at 8:00 am and they had something available at 9:00. Worked out perfect as it was a 1 hour ride on the Carriage Road and it was still mild temps. The Carriage Road is just for horses, horse drawn vehicles, bicycles or hikers.

We did the Windjamer sailing trip, no problem getting a seat, and it lasted ~ 2 hours. We did the afternoon trip as the winds are usually higher then and we sailed around Frenchman Bay. There was a NPS ranger on board but she was not as well informed as most are about their location. You could take 1 bottle of wine or 2 beers per couple.

The longest hike we did was 1/2 mile to see Bubble Rock. I thought it was strenuous but it is listed as moderate. There is a great view from there.

Most of the places we ate were good. The better ones were:
West Street Café
Café This Way
Rosalie Pizza
Thurston's Lobster Pound - it is in Bass Harbor, about a 40 minute drive. It is a classic place where the lobsters are unloaded and the owner started a small restaurant and it grew. A lobster pound is a restaurant where the lobsters are impounded until sold or eaten. I think. Lobster pounds are everywhere.

We were going to Havana based on a TB posters recommendation but at the last minute changed it to Mama Dimatteos Italian place. That was a mistake, it wasn't bad but it was the 2nd worse meal we had. The worse was Lunts Gateway Lobster Pound in Ellsworth. Not bad just nothing special.

I would definitely go back and would take at least one more boat excursion to see wildlife, etc. There are some other trails to walk such as from Sand Beach to Thunder Hole.

After Acadia we stayed in Waterville, Camden and Portland. One of the best meals we had was at Joseph's Fireside restaurant in Waterville. It was recommended to us by the hotel clerk. Camden is neat little Maine town on the water with quite a few restaurants and shops. In Portland we had another great meal at DiMillo's which is on the waterfront.

We went to the lobster festival in Rockland as it is listed in the book 1,000 things to do before you die. It was kinda like a small county fair. Very small. Must be # 1,000 in the book. But they had a C&W band that played some pretty good George Strait tunes.

Pictures:
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Schoodic Point, I think that is Cadillac Mountain in the background.

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Cadillac Mountain at sunrise. That's only a small portion of the people there.
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Windjammer cruise returning to the dock.
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Thurston's lobster pound at Bass Harbor.
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Where you order your lobster at Thurston's. You tell 'em hard or soft shell, the size and what meal you want. We got one with steamed clams. They pick your lobster, put it in a bag, cook it and bring it to you.
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Bubble rock. (don't know the people in the picture)
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View from the summit where Bubble rock is.
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Jordon Pond House lawn. Eat a meal here.
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That is Camden below. This is the view from Mount Battie just outside of Camden.

I have many more pictures but don't want to make this too long.

Some things we learned.
I don't really like lobster all that much. Would much rather have crawfish, or even crabs.
But I'm not alone. About 70% of the locals that we asked said they did not like it. Some said they never eat it and some eat it about once a year.
A lot of the wait staff and hotel help are students from Europe; Romania, Bulgaria, Montenegro. They were all happy to be here.
Everyone we met was extremely nice and welcoming, except for the ranger checking our pass at the entrance to the loop road.

On the way back we drove through New Hampshire and Vermont. They look like great places to visit also.
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Sabbaday Falls off of the Kancamagus Highway between Conway and Lincoln, NH. In the White Mountain National Forest. About a 1/2 mile easy hike.