Maine – Acadia, Bar Harbor and the rest of Mt. Desert Island

Leaving Portland we were eager to get back to our RV “Bubbles” and back into nature after spending the last two days in a hotel and in the biggest city in Maine. As per our usual we did not take the highway but opted instead to take US Route 1. It was a little busier than it had been in the past few days as this was Memorial Day weekend. Traffic wasn’t stop and go but it was certainly busier in some of the smaller towns that we passed through on our way north. The busiest of the towns that we passed through was Freeport, home of LL Bean. We had thought that there would be just one massive LL Bean store there but we were wrong. The entire town was a New England style outlet mall in addition to a massive LL Bean store. As our RV was already packed to the brim with things that we actually needed on the road we kept on driving. After a few more hours of twists and turns we were finally crossing the bridges and we were finally on Mt. Desert Island.

As we had booked 3 nights on the island and arrived late in the afternoon on the first night we took it easy at the campground. We made dinner, planned out our activities for the next 2 days and worked on our website as well. The next morning we woke up and we were excited to see our first major park of the trip. We had pre purchased a National Parks Pass, which grants us access to all National & State Parks, National Monuments & Forests as well as any other public federal use land. After entering the park we stopped by the visitors information building first for a map. While most things about Acadia NP are similar to every other national park (it’s beauty and grandeur) its also different in many ways. The land where the park now rests was once all private land which was bought up and given to the federal government to use as a park by private citizens. As a result of this the park isn’t just a square of land like Yellowstone is. The boundaries zig and zag and some parts of the park are not connected at all.

Our plan for the first day was to drive the park loop, which is a 27-mile drive around the biggest section of the park. Every few miles there is a stopping point at majestic views. One of the highlights of the loop is driving to the top of Mt. Cadillac. Mt. Cadillac is the highest mountain on shoreline of North America and boy did it have spectacular views. Julie and I were a bit worried that the RV would have trouble traveling up the 1,350ft mountain but the turbo diesel kicked into high gear and in about 15 minutes we were at the top. From the top you can see over 100 miles away on a clear day. Our day however wasn’t clear but you could still see quite a ways. From our vantage point Bar Harbor looked like a miniature village, as did most everything else. We hiked around the top of the mountain for about an hour before having some lunch in the RV and deciding to continue on with the loop. The rest of the loop, while not having the views of Cadillac Mountain is spectacular in its own right. The lush pine forests, mountains and streams that we passed were breathtaking. We also stopped and hiked around Jordan Pond which was pretty fun. The “pond” is pretty big actually. A hike around takes roughly two hours. Half of the hike as well is on a boardwalk made of split tree trunks which makes the walk kind of difficult since the pond is so gorgeous but you also have to look down at where you are going to step so you don’t mistakenly step off and slip down into the water.

After finishing our hike and the rest of the drive around the main part of the park we decided to go and check out the town of Bar Harbor. We parked on the outskirts of town and as it was Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend so the town was packed. We walked by gift shops, ice cream shops and restaurants. To me the town seemed to have doubled in size since the last time I was through in 2004. We walked down to the waterfront where Bar Island sat off the shore of Bar Harbor by a few hundred feet. I pointed this out to Julie as the last time I was here was with good friend Matt Ray. We had driven over to Bar Island at low tide and almost got stuck. The thing with Bar Island is that you can only drive to it at low tide; at high tide the road is under feet of water. To Matt and my surprise the tide came in faster than we had anticipated and as a result had to drive through about a foot of seawater to get back to mainland or we would have been stranded until the next low tide. Julie had a nice laugh and a look that said “That would never happen to me”. After stopping to get a beer and going to the grocery store we drove back to our campsite and called it a night.

The next day we were off again ready to get back into the park. On the agenda today was to explore the carriage roads in Acadia as well as visit the less populated southwest side of the island. We looked at a map and picked a spot where the carriage road came close to a parking area and we were off. John D. Rockefeller built the carriage roads on Mt. Desert Island between 1913 and 1940. He did this because he wanted to keep the island car free (although local towns allowed motor vehicles on main roads, Rockefeller’s carriage roads were kept car free). Today these roads are still maintained and used as walking, jogging, biking and in the winter cross-country skiing paths. The path that Julie and I chose was beautiful. It was a beautiful sunny day and the path wound up and down a mountain and passed lakes and streams. We stopped to take some video and pictures of the forest views and the beautiful stone bridges that the carriage road was built on. After getting our exercise quota for the day we hopped in “Bubbles” and we were off to explore the southwest side of the island or as on the island it is called “The Quiet Side”. Our favorite town (even more than Bar Harbor) turned out to be Southwest Harbor. We first stopped for a cup of coffee then some lunch. Julie was craving chowder (as they say chowdah) and lobster while I feasted on halibut. It wasn’t our normal lunch, which normally consists of a turkey sandwich, but we felt a splurge every now and then isn’t bad. After lunch and walking around the town we hopped in the van and took a leisurely drive around the rest of the west side of Mt. Desert Island before heading back to the campsite for the night.

The next day as we headed back out to Route 1 to go further north we reflected on our time at Acadia. It is truly a spectacular place. It’s a place that everyone should go at least once in their lives.

Next up…..We venture into Canada. First up New Brunswick.