Three Perfect Days in Bar Harbor Maine (With A Stop in Portsmouth, NH)

Travel Story and Photos by Tab Hauser

email: tab@tabhauser.com  www.tabhauser.com

A Schooner In Camden Maine                                                                                     On The Bee Hive Trail, Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park is situated on 47,000 beautiful acres on the coast of Maine.  This park offers stunning views of its mountains and  cliffs dropping down to the ocean.  Its interior are crisscrossed with forested carriage trails that are ideal for hiking and bicycling. Its shores are meant for kayaking and boating.  We traveled here in mid September with our destination being the town of Bar Harbor located adjacent to the park.  The best way to arrive at this park for most of the northeastern population is by car. Driving to Bar Harbor for us from Long Island is eight hours.  We broke up this long ride by leaving in the morning and stopping  near the half way point that afternoon in the colonial seaport of Portsmouth, NH.

We picked Portsmouth as a halfway stop due to its historic charm and sites one can take in during a leisurely afternoon visit.  Arriving here in time for lunch we headed straight to Bow Street to the River House Restaurant. Here I dived into down east food having the house special that included a cup of their award winning seafood chowder and a half lobster roll. A lobster roll is chopped up lobster with a little mayonnaise and seasoning served on a hotdog looking bun. (My non-seafood eating wife had the homemade veggie burger)  From Bow Street we drove a few minutes to the historic village of Strawbery Banke.

Strawbery Banke Restored Homes                                                                                          "Mrs. Shapiro" showing off her home made pickles

Strawbery Banke is a small re-creation village in the oldest neighborhood of New Hampshire.  People lived here from 1630 until the 1950's. What makes this place different than say  Colonial Williamsburg is that  all the original buildings are set up in different time periods.  Their information states "dedicated to bringing 300 years of American history to life."   Our first stop was a home set up from the 1700's to see how people lived.  We then continued down the street to visit "Mrs. Shapiro" who was a costume docent acting the part of an early 1900 mother and wife who immigrated from Ukraine. She explained the ethnic food she was cooking on her modern turn of the century stove and talked about family life.  A few houses down we strolled into the original neighborhood general store set up as it was during World War II.  Another house we walked through was split in half showing two different time periods. The left half is circa 1800's with a store in the front and living quarters in the back.  The right side is directly from the 1950's complete with a linoleum floored kitchen and radio playing a baseball game with the legendary Ted Williams.  The living room was complete with a black and white TV playing the 1950's comedy  "The Burns and Allen Show".  Other exhibits to see include a weaver, a blacksmith, gardens and a 200 year old pub to name just a few. Don't miss the short video at the entrance that helps put this original neighborhood in perspective.  Allow two to three hours for a visit. 

   USS Albacore On Display Showing Bow and Stern View                                                                                                                                                                             Tab Hauser At The Helm

Our next stop in Portsmouth was a five minute drive to other end of town to see the USS Albacore.  The Albacore is a retired 200 foot experimental submarine launched in 1952.  This ship changed the way things were done under water for the Navy.  Seeing the Albacore is like seeing no other submarine.  Our first view it looked a bit like a beached whale.  It is literally sitting in a dry hole making it possible to see the entire submarine.   On board there are red buttons to push in different parts of the ship.  These buttons start a commentary about that area of the submarine including quotes from retired sailors  It is also encouraged to touch everything as well as sit in the helmsman's chair.  Allow about 45 minutes for your visit which includes an interesting video on how the Albacore got to its present location.

              Portsmouth Brewery Dinner of Fresh Made Fish & Chips With A Sampling Of Their Brews In 3 Ounce Glasses

Portsmouth is a walking town and after seeing the above two attractions we parked downtown and strolled the different historical streets starting with the small garden at the water front. What you find walking around this very clean downtown are old homes and buildings with some dating back  over 200 years.  A few of these are museums open to the public.  After visiting a few of the more unique shops we settled  in at the Portsmouth Brewery for their classic  fish and chips along with a tasting of their different beers. We  finished our evening at Ri-Ra where two men were playing Irish folksy music.  Ri-Ra  is worth a visit as it is located in the building of a former bank established in 1803 complete with high ceilings and a pretty glass dome. 

On To Maine

We started early the next morning as we had a full day's worth of plans and we needed to end up in Bar Harbor,  200 miles up the coast. Today's first stop was at LL Bean in Freeport Maine about an hour away.  LL Bean is a premier sporting goods company that is known for their quality and  amazing customer service.  We strolled through  two of their stores   that carry sportswear, seasonal clothes, bicycles, canoes as well as  hunting, fishing and camping equipment.  We also bought a few things at their outlet store at the mini-outlet mall across the street.  After an hour and half of shopping we continued east to Booth Bay to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

              Views From The Path At The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is worth a visit when in this area.  This garden is said to be Maine's number three tourist attraction and has been rated a "top ten" garden to visit by Tripadvisor.com.  After purchasing our ticket we were given a map highlighting a two mile easy trail that went through part of the 250 acre property. The trail stopped at several different plantings and gardens and continued through the woods  We enjoyed our time here and  highly recommend visiting it. We had only two hours due to our schedule but did not feel rushed.  If you have a little more time take a hike through some of coastal woods on the property just off the main path.  We arrived lunch time and found the food at the cafe very good and reasonably priced with outdoor seating by the garden. 

     The Cove In Camden Maine                                                                                                                            Aboard The Schooner Appledorf

From Boothbay we drove two hours to Camden, Maine.  Camden is small town with a protected cove that has its roots dating back to colonial times.  It is the homeport to fishing boats, private yachts and several classic Maine schooners. (Schooners are recognized by their rectangle sails.)  The schooners here had a lot of history as freighters and fishing boats. The ones that survived were updated to hold passengers. Schooner cruises can be booked for two hours or up to a week.    We boarded the Appledorf which was the largest of the two mast schooners in Camden for a two hour sail.   Once we shoved off our captain motored out of the bay and immediately had the mates and any volunteers (including myself) hoist the sails. Once the sails were set he turned off the  engine letting  wind power the schooner at pleasant six miles per hour.  Our two hours on board could not have been any more relaxing. After our cruise we drove onto to Bar Harbor, Maine.

                      A Very Relaxing Late Afternoon Schooner Cruise Off The Maine Coast

Bar Harbor is the main town adjacent to  Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island.   It is also a good place to stay due to its location and amenities.    Accommodations one can check into  can include  bed and breakfasts, quaint inns, standard motels as well as a condos or homes.   Bar Harbor also offers lots of places to eat  on any budget or desire.  In town you can organize activities such as biking,  kayaking, island tours and boat rides. 

                                                                                                                        Views From Loop Road And The Top Of Cadillac Mountain

 On our first day we went to the parks visitors center to buy a pass. Rather than spend  $20 for a seven day admission we opted to purchase the annual national parks pass for $80.  To us, this is a bargain because the annual pass is good at any of the 59 one of kind national parks and 108 national monuments.  (Compare that to a one day ticket to Disney at close to $100 and you see the annual park pass is a good deal.)  At the visitor center we checked on ranger lead programs, asked about hiking trails and got a map.  From there we drove Loop Road stopping frequently to admire the view on our left side of the cliffs dropping into the ocean. The right side view was that of the ocean front mountains.  We exited off Loop Road to drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain. At 1528 feet (470 meters).  Cadillac Mountain is the highest peak on the Atlantic Ocean in North America. Here we took the short path around the summit viewing the ocean and mountains that were over fifty miles away. It is said that the top of Cadillac Mountain is where you can see the sun rise in the United States first.  After completing the loop we decided on taking the afternoon cruise on the schooner Margaret Todd that leaves from Bar Harbor.  Before boarding we recommend stopping at the Downeast Deli on Main Street to get sandwiches to bring board. (we liked the lobster roll and the "Thanksgiving turkey" sandwich)

The Margaret Todd is a 151 foot four mast steel schooner with "reddish" colored sails. After motoring from the dock the captain gave the orders to set the sails on all four masts requesting volunteers to help pull the lines. They then set the two jib sails and shut the engine letting the 4000 square feet of canvas move the boat at a  pleasant five miles per hour.   We were on the 2PM cruise which had a park ranger on board talking about the wild life in Frenchman Bay as well as some of the geological features on Mount Desert Island   After our sail we walked the Shore Path of Bar Harbor that is squeezed between the bay and some pretty homes.  This path let us out at Main Street and being hungry took advantage of a very good early bird dinner special at Poor Boys near the end of town. 

         Cycling On Carriage Trail Along Eagle Lake

On our second day we arranged to rent bicycles from Acadia Bike rentals.  Today our goal was to cycle the Eagle :Lake / Jordon Pond Loop with lunch at the Jordon Pond House to sample their famous popovers.  Renting here was easy and fast. They gave us a choice of bikes and seats which were custom adjusted for maximum comfort. We then were given helmets, a map and directed to the free shuttle bicycle bus around the corner that goes to the park.  This free service saved us the time and energy of biking uphill into the park.  At our request we were dropped off at Eagle Lake. From here we slowly peddled our way along the shore and into the forest on the pretty carriage trails the park is known for.   Half way into our ride we lunched outdoors at the Jordon Pond House where we could not have had a finer meal with a better setting. We enjoyed our seafood soup and salad served with their signature homemade popovers. We even splurged on sharing their freshly house made Maine blueberry cobbler.   

              Jordon Pond Lunch : Left to Right  Popovers,  The View of Jordon Pond,  Fresh Made Maine Blueberry Cobbler

 From lunch  we cycled north keeping the pond on our right side until we met the carriage path connecting to Eagle Lake.  Our ride today was  about 12 miles.  It is easy to add sections of two to several miles additional when in this area.  Upon getting back to town, we decided to take the walk out to Bar Island on the exposed ocean floor.  Bar Island can only be visited by foot at low tide.  If you misjudge your stay here expected to wait six hours until the next tide allows you to get to main land. For nighttime entertainment we took part in a ranger lead program on Sand Beach discussing the stars and constellations in the sky.  He pointed out that Sand Beach  has been rated one of the best places to view the stars due to the lack of artificial light sources making it a very dark place.

      Hiking The Bee Hive In Acadia National Park: Left to Right The Mountain, Grabbing Iron Handles, Looking Over Sand Beach

Our third day was saved for hiking and we picked "The Bee Hive" for this late morning trek.  The Bee Hive is a steep hike to the top of a 520 foot mountain above Sand Beach.  To get there  you can either take the back way on a  sloping path or the front trail.  The front trail is shorter and steep requiring you to climb up rocky steps and steps made out of iron rungs placed in the rocks mimicking a ladder in some areas. This trail has narrow ledges and sharp drop offs so this may not be the place for small children unless you literally stay on top of them.  While this way up to  Bee Hive is a  challenging,  it was also fun.  This trail is for someone with  a sense of "light" adventure or perhaps wants to get a little out of their comfort zone if they are only used to walking on normal trails.   Once on top of the mountain we were rewarded with an amazing view that we enjoyed while resting under a tree.  The walk back down was very easier taking about 20 minutes.  From the parking lot we took a quick look at Sand Beach seeing this time during the day. If we were here in the summer we would definitely wade in the ocean and relax on the sand.

          Our Down Time Spot One Afternoon On The Cliffs Off Loop Road, Acadia National Park 

With bright blue skies, no wind and unusually warm temperatures we decided to drive on the loop stopping about a half  mile past the Thunder Hole parking lot. Here we took our lunch and folding chairs to set up along the edge of a cliff above ocean to soak in the view.  We spent nearly three hours on this beautiful overlook watching the tide change, birds fly by, waves hitting the cliffs, reading, knitting (for Maureen) and just enjoying some down time.    For entertainment that night we bought tickets to  Improv Acadia  on Cottage Street.  We found the act quite good and worth recommending if you want do something different one evening. 

                             Low Tidal Road To Bar Island

We left Bar Harbor after three full days feeling we got to know it better than we when we first visited here in 1984.  Had we been here in the summer we may have stayed a couple of more days to do a kayak trip, rent a boat and perhaps spend some time on  Sand Beach.  Our recommendations is that any visit to Maine should include a few days here.  We now understand why Acadia National Park is one of the top ten national parks visited.

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IF YOU GO:

Below are web sites that are helpful in planning your trip. Feel free to email tab@tabhauser.com if you need help planning a vacation similar to this

Portsmouth, NH general  tourist information   www.portsmouthnh.com/visitors

www.strawberybanke.org/

www.ussalbacore.org

www.llbean.com

Coastal Maine Gardens:   www.mainegardens.org

Schooner Appledorf 2 Camden www.appledore2.com  (they are not good about returning emails)

Bar Harbor Maine information on hotels and attractions:  www.barharborinfo.com

For House and Condo rentals:     www.vrbo.com

Acadia National Park:  www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm

Bike rentals:   www.acadiabike.com

www.thejordanpondhouse.com (call for reservations)

For the Margaret Todd Schooner and other boat tours http://downeastwindjammer.com

(Our Trip Continued After Maine Visiting The Canadian Maritimes.

Please See www.tabhauser.com for our story on what New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are all about)

Below is Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia