Chapter 16, Bar Harbor Maine and Acadia National Park
- traci wilson
- Jun 1
- 7 min read
We stayed at the Bar Harbor KOA which we’d really been looking forward to because we were supposed to get a back-in site overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Acadia National Park. It was also going to be the most expensive of all our stays since it had the ocean view. But when we pulled up to the site, it was not what we’d expected to find, especially in light of the $150/night camp fee. The view was of a small bay (you couldn’t see the actual ocean) and Acadia National Park was nowhere near. The site itself was at a downhill slant, grassy and unlevel, and the angle was practically impossible to get a large RV into. On top of that, it was only a 30-amp electrical connection and no sewer.
Despite this, Dave was determined to get into the site since it had ‘the view’. While I stood out in the cold drizzle trying to guide him into the difficult spot, he made several fruitless jabs at it with only frustration as a reward. Freezing, wet, and starting to feel miserable about the whole thing, I managed to convince him to give it up and ask for a better site. Believe me, the view there was not worth the trouble!
We were able to switch to a pull-through with full hookups for $40 less per night. And the ironic thing—we could still see the bay; it was just a little further away! Oh brother! Maggie had chewed through her harness (this is the second one this trip) the day before, so after a quick walk around the campground, we drove to a local pet store to fit her with a new one. We thought it’d be nice to check out the tasting room for the Atlantic Brewing company, try some local brews and grab a bite to eat, so we let Maggie wear her new harness as we headed to our dinner spot, a mere ten minutes away.
We were almost to our destination when I heard fussing in the back seat, so I turned around just in time to see Maggie’s new harness snap in two. She’d chewed through it in less than ten minutes! That’s got to be some kind of record! I feel like we should be calling Guinness or something! That is her third harness since we left home less than nine weeks ago. Let’s just say she’s lucky we didn’t leave her by the side of the road with a sign around her neck saying: “Free to good home. Good luck!” Instead, we drove back to the trailer to get the bitter apple spray, put her old harness back on her (that Dave had duck taped together), sprayed the crap out of it with the bitter apple, and drove to dinner.
We didn’t end up being that impressed with the Atlantic Brewing Company. Dave got an IPA that he said was okay but nothing special. I got a stout that tasted watered down with no real body. We each ordered pulled pork sandwiches at Mainly Meat, the attached barbeque restaurant. The food was as underwhelming as the beer—the meat was dry and lacking flavor as was the potato salad that I ordered with it. Back at the trailer, Dave made us hot buttered rum drinks which we took down by the water and sat looking out over the bay to watch the sunset (we both still needed some time away from Maggie). That part was kind of nice except it was so cold we were freezing, so even though we’d bundled up and had hot drinks, we couldn’t stand to stay out too long. All in all, not an auspicious beginning to our Maine experience.
The next morning we expected to wake up to overcast skies, wind, and drizzle, so you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled outside with the dogs for their early a.m. potty, to see the sun shining brightly! The forecast had changed and now we were supposed to get partly sunny skies until about 9:30 a.m. We quickly got ready and headed for the national park (our only day to see it because we were due to leave the next day). We wanted to go up to Cadillac Mountain, the first place the rising sun hits in the United States, and promising 360° views of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding area. It costs $6 to go up to the lookout in addition to the $30 for the park entrance (unless you have a park pass, which we do), and you must have reservations which you can make online.
I think it was well worth the extra cost because the views were spectacular, especially on a clear day which we mostly now had. It was quite windy and chilly up there, so we left the dogs in the truck while we took the half mile paved trail along the rim to see the views of the ocean, the porcupine islands, Bar Harbor, and the surrounding area as far as the eye could see from different vantages points.
After Cadillac Mountain we decided to do the scenic park loop for the rest of our time there, thinking it would give us the best bang for our buck since we only had one day. We stopped at several iconic locations along the way. First off—Jordan Pond. Even though they called it a pond, it was large enough to be a lake in my estimation. Part of the history of this park is that John D. Rockefeller donated 11,000 acres of the land to create Acadia National Park, as well as financing the construction of 45 miles of carriage roads so more people could easily access the ‘wild lands’ of the park.
This location is also the home of Jordan Pond House, a historic restaurant that specializes in turnovers and has been serving the piping hot pastries for over 100 years. We thought it’d be fun to have the experience of eating a turnover in the historic restaurant, but it didn’t open for another hour, so we decided to go hiking first. We are still leery of ticks, so we opted to do an old carriage road trail (nice and wide) that we could access from Jordan Pond that made a lollipop loop through the forest.
The hike ended up being almost six miles, and took us across several historic bridges built for the carriage roads dating back to 1919 (the oldest). The trail was wide and graveled, winding through green lush forest land, and across several historic stone bridges, some with water far below and some that crossed dry creek beds. It followed a lovely little creek at times that disappeared into the forest then reappeared again later along the path. We climbed quite a bit and at times the trees would open up to reveal some nice views of the ocean below. We only saw one other hiker along the way but many mountain bikers, apparently the popular mode of transportation on the old carriage roads.
After the hike we put the dogs in the truck and were excited to go to the Jordan Pond House and try some hot popovers for lunch. To our surprise and disappointment the hostess said it would be a two hour wait to get a table! Needless to say, the popover adventure was not to be. We did find the hundred-year-old recipe on a magnet in the gift shop and Dave snapped a quick picture of it (they wanted $12 for a magnet!) so I can make them after we get home from this trip. Not quite the same as having the experience at the historic restaurant, but it’s the best we could manage under the circumstances. If we’d had more than a day to experience the park, perhaps we would have waited.
The other stops on the park loop drive were Sand Beach, a picturesque little beach in a small cove surrounded by nice rock formations, and Thunder Hole, a narrow inlet through the rocks where the sea water is pushed through by the surf, running along the length of it, then crashing against the rocks at the back, spewing water into the air. It was low tide when we were there, so it maybe wasn’t quite as spectacular as it would be at high tide, but it was still pretty cool. And the skies never did cloud over! I think the sunshine greatly impacted the experience we had as it was so much prettier than we’d expected with the original dreary sounding forecast.
We still had a couple hours of the day left so we drove into the touristy part of Bar Harbor to check out some shops and find some dinner. We were hoping to try some authentic Maine lobster rolls. We took the dogs and walked down along the water to a pretty little park with a gazebo and lovely flowers.
Then we dropped them off at the truck (it was cool and breezy, so we felt okay leaving them) and explored the area, checking out some shops and restaurants. We thought about getting ice cream cones, but they were too expensive, so we skipped it. The area had more of a touristy feel than the cape cod I was expecting, but still really cute albeit expensive!
We decided to have dinner at Stewman’s Downtown, a little seafood restaurant next to where we parked. We got classic lobster rolls with crispy sweet potato fries and IPA’s—all very good—restoring our faith in Maine! Such an unexpectedly great day to end our time in this area. We will be spending more time in Maine for our next stop as well, but moving south to Wells. Hope it’s good!
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