July 15 - 16, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, and environs

Thursday, July 15
(Pictures for this day are here.)
Early Thursday morning we packed a picnic breakfast of cereal and milk and parked outside the Seawall Campground contact station. We wanted to be first in line to nab a campsite as soon as one opened up. It took just a couple hours and we got campsite B15 - a prime site. Lucky us!


View Acadia National Park in a larger map

After getting the Scamp set up, we headed out to explore Acadia National Park. We headed north and landed in Bar Harbor just about lunch time. We picked Testa's Restaurant and got a table on the second floor next to a window overlooking the harbor. After lunch, we explored the harbor-front and took a short stroll on the Harbor Path. The food was good. The harbor is picturesque. The town and shops of Bar Harbor, however, are a bit too "touristy" for our tastes. Off to Cadillac Mountain...

The views from the top of Cadillac Mountain are spectacular. A walkway directs you to many viewpoints. Fog rolling in some of the harbors and bays made for scenes you won't see elsewhere. While we were marveling at the views, we began to hear several helicopters approaching. As we watched, three helicopters came in low over the top of the mountain and the viewing areas. They circled the place a couple times and then departed, following the Loop Road south along the shore. They were painted Marine green. That was when we found out that the First Family was due to arrive at Acadia National Park the next day for a short vacation.

Coming down off the mountain, we continued along the Loop Road, which is a one-way road that runs clockwise around the eastern part of the park on Mount Desert Island. On the way, we stopped at the Wild Gardens of Acadia, the Nature Center, the Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts Spring, and several scenic spots along the shore.

If we ever get back to Acadia National Park, I'd like to either get a bicycle or take a horse drawn carriage on the carriage roads. They are closed to car traffic and there are miles and miles of them through the middle of the park. That means that there is an awful lot that we didn't get to see on this trip.

Friday, July 16
(Pictures for this day are here.)

Taking the advice of the local folk, we spent the day in and around Seawall Campground and the quaint town of Southwest Harbor, just a few miles up the road from the campground. I really like this little town.

We browsed through many of the galleries and shops. We explored the little farmer's market and had an excellent lunch at a small cafe on a quiet side street.

While driving around the back-roads we came upon the trail-head for the Flying Mountain trail. Wanting to work off some of the lunch and needing to do a bit of walking after so many days on the road, Fred took the walk up Flying Mountain. OK, it's only 284 feet high - but it IS called Flying MOUNTAIN! While at the top, I was enjoyed very nice views across Somes Sound and the town of Northeast Harbor. As an added bonus, a sailboat race was under way on the Sound.

We returned to the campground in the late afternoon. Nancy wanted some quiet,  reading time and Fred wanted to walk a bit more. He took a short (one mile) trail near the campground leads to Ship Harbor. Just a quiet little walk with more of the pink Maine granite. A really good way to wind down at the end of the day.