Northeast Travels 2023 – Acadia Arrival Day

Well, here we are at the mid point of the week and I am sincerely hoping you all are enjoying the stories and photos from the trip. 

I determined to keep a journal this trip and it has been invaluable.

I always take a journal when we travel and I do log a few things, but often the trip gets away from me. This time I was faithful throughout the day and at the end of the day to jot down stops and such and it is helping me share helpful information in case you all ever head out that way. 

It was actually helpful ON the trip.

There were times when we couldn’t pull together all we had done the day before and I could refer back to my notes and refresh our memories. I am not blaming the forgetfulness on age! We really packed in a lot on this week long adventure. For instance we actually have photographic proof we were welcomed into four different states by car

That’s a lot for this Midwestern brain to remember! 

So before I even launch into our visit to Acadia National Park, I want to urge you to start carrying a small notebook with you when you travel. Make note of places you stay, eat and sights you see along with impressions of the scenery, people, weather, social climate and anything else that catches your interest. 

Lecture over. 

Yesterday I left off with us heading towards Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park as we fended off intermittent rain and under cloudy skies. We arrived much too early to check in at our hotel and so we found the Sieur de Monte entrance to the park, placed our printed pass on the dashboard and began our first loop through this vast area. 

The main road in the park is called the Jordan Park Look or Park Loop. We had both followed a couple of Acadia Hiking Groups on Facebook in the spring and had been reading all about what people thought were the best places to hike, visit, park, etc. In my journal I had notes about places of interest and notes people had shared so I felt familiar with the area as we drove through the park.

While our intent was just to drive around the complete circuit one time to get our bearings, we couldn’t resist parking when we saw signs for an overlook. The first one had stairs that led down to a wide rocky area where many were posing for pictures and taking the trail that led off from the rocks to a path along the water. 

Of course we got our photo taken and were blown away by our first glimpse of this incredible park. From there we made a couple of other stops. Part of the Loop is one way and part is two way. On the one way sections, you can park in the right lane and walk back or forward to the trail heads and scenic spots. 

It was later in the day and in spite of the rain, very congested. The rain did pick up as we continued on in the car and as we passed the popular Jordan Pond House area with parking lots full to the brim, we decided we didn’t want to get out in the downpour that day. 

We made our way through the rest of the park and on to Bar Harbor. It was really coming down hard when we found our lodging. Russ had reserved three nights at the Acadia Inn which is located directly across from the Village Green. 

It was the cutest place. The decor was classic New England style and so clean.

After we got settled in, we researched some of the places that came recommended by the hotel and our research and settled on The Side Street Cafe. It was a few blocks from the Inn. 

Bar Harbor is a tourist town, and reminded us of Estes Park. A variety of shops, restaurants, bars and ice cream places cover several blocks in a square leading down to the harbor area and skirted on three sides by even more inns, nice restaurants and hotels. The only large type hotel was the one right on the bay and it was not a high rise. Everything is very quaint and small scale. 

We had a delicious late lunch on the porch of the cafe. The rain would come off and on and there was not an empty table as we enjoyed our lunch. I had the clam chowder and a salad, while Russ had cowboy Mac and cheese.

After we ate, we walked around the town a bit and looked in some of the shops. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to sample the much talked about Blueberry Ice Cream. It did not disappoint. 

Russ had almost finished the book he bought so we visited the town library which was near our Inn because we know libraries often have discontinued book sales. Russ bought a new book and we headed back to our room to read and nap and wait for the rain to pass. 

By evening, we were blessed with clear skies and even a rainbow so we walked down to the harbor.

There is a lovely park there and so many old homes that are dotted along a lovely walk that the town maintains for tourists to stroll and enjoy the view of sailboats, lush gardens and New England architecture. 

We also walked down to a place where a Sand Bar appears at low tide making it possible twice a day to walk from the town across to an island. It was not low tide, but we were delighted to imagine what that might be like as we watched the sun set over the sailing ships out on the water. 

Lunch had been late and we hadn’t been hungry for dinner, but on the way back to our room we saw a pizza place called Rosatti’s where you could buy a slice to go. That sounded like the ticket so we ordered our takeout and headed home. 

We knew we had a sunny day coming up so decided to use it for a ferry ride to Schoodic (pronounced skoo-dic) Peninsula…more about that tomorrow <3