Maine - Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park
After practicing social distancing in a small city apt for a few months, we decided to temporarily move to the Mount Desert Island (MDI) of Maine for a change of scenery and some fresh air. MDI is home to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, probably two of the most popular tourist destinations of Maine. Where we stayed was on the more quiet and rural side of the MDI but still a short drive away from all the town center and the Acadia trails.
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itinerary
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Overview
It’s such a refreshing feeling to be in the country side. We feel extremely lucky to be able to get out and have this work-stay vacation. In Maine (a state 90% covered by trees), we get to worry more about tick bites 😅 than coronavirus. After a two-week quarantine period required for out-of-state guests, we are excited to explore the nearby Bar Harbor and Acadia (one of the most popular national parks in the US).
Day 1 Itinerary
Places visited:
Maine Vacation House
A beautiful and cozy house 🏡 that we get to call home for the next few weeks. The house is secluded on a small hilltop surrounded by 20 acres of private land covered with trees and wild plants (some are even edible).
Day 2 Itinerary
Places visited: Thunder Hole - Ocean Path - Boulder Beach - Otter Cliff Overlook
Maine Vacation House
A perfect morning - we got a curious visitor (deer) and our little one picked a bunch of wild fiddlehead outside for our lunch.
Thunder Hole
Parked our car at Thunder Hole, which is about the mid point of Ocean Path Trail. Acadia only reopened two days ago on Jun 1st since the coronavirus outbreak. We saw maybe 2-3 other cars in the usually crowded packing lot.
Thunder Hole got its name from the thunder-like sounds made by waves hitting the rock caves. You need to visit during a specific time of a day to hear that (supposedly midway between low and high tide). Unfortunately we were not there at the right time.
Get the AllTrails app and download the offline map area for Mount Desert Island in Google Map before coming to Acadia. The cell reception is really bad on the island so it’s good to have the map and trail details available offline. Also, many trails in Acadia intersect with each other which makes it easy to get lost or get on the wrong trail.
Ocean Path
Ocean Path trail, as its name suggests, is mostly a flat walkway along the southeast coastline of the Mount Desert Island. The trail is rated easy/beginner level with nice ocean view throughout. We thought it would be a great starting hike to explore Acadia National Park.
The trail starting from Sand Beach to Otter Point is about 4 miles back and forth. If you would like to explore some of the side tracks and take lots of photos, it could easily take 2-3 hours. We were a bit short on time so decided to do the trail half way from Thunder Hole to Otter Point.
Boulder Beach
A rocky beach but still pretty. There is an unmarked path to go down to the beach. It requires a bit of rock scrambling but not difficult at all.
Otter Cliff Overlook
The end of Ocean Path Trail is Otter Point - we were rewarded with unobstructed ocean view.
Maine Vacation House
Such a beautiful day! When the weather is good, the house and the grounds just look gorgeous!
Day 4 Itinerary
Places visited: Cadillac Mountain Summit Trail - Blue Hill Overlook - Cadillac Summit Road - Bar Harbor Inn & Spa - Main Street - Peekytoe Provisions - McKays Public House
Maine Vacation House
We got 3 new visitors in front of the house today. We think they are turkeys but not entirely sure. They have since become frequent visitors of the property.
Cadillac Mountain Summit Trail
This is the top of Acadia National Park. It has one of the best views and the trail itself is short (0.3 miles) and easy (all paved paths). This is really the perfect trail to take the whole family on. Everyone enjoyed the hike despite it being very windy on top.
During the 30 minutes we spent there, we only saw 3-4 other groups. Acadia would have been crowded this time of the year if not for coronavirus. We felt spoiled that we had the gorgeous view all to ourselves for most of the trail.
Blue Hill Overlook
A good viewpoint for the big Eagle Lake.
Cadillac Summit Road
The road down from Cadillac Summit to Park Loop Road has multiple viewpoints for Eagle Lake. We pulled over at a couple of them to take photos.
Bar Harbor Inn & Spa
We stopped at the Town Pier before heading to the main street of Bar Harbor. The historic and iconic Bar Harbor Inn stood still in front of the deep blue Frenchman Bay. .
Main Street
The Main Street of Bar Harbor is quaint with lots of cute shops and restaurants. We can imagine how happening this street would be during normal times.
Peekytoe Provisions
A seafood store recommended by locals. You can get raw seafood such as live lobsters 🦞 and clams at a decent price ($8/lb lobster). They also sell freshly cooked seafood. We ordered lobster roll, steamed clams, sautéed mussels, and lobster bisque. The food turned out to be just ok. Mussels were pretty good but clams were hardly chewable. We were looking forward to having good seafood in Maine but a little bit disappointed by our first takeout meal.
McKays Public House
Looks like a cute restaurant with outdoor garden seatings (only restaurants with outdoor seatings can open in Maine at the moment). We checked it out while waiting for our takeout from Peekytoe ... will come back another time.
Watching Sunset
Another beautiful evening - enjoyed a nice sunset from our living room.
Day 5 Itinerary
Places visited: Paradise Hill Overlook - Hulls Cove - Peggy Rockefeller Farm - Blueberry Hill
Maine Vacation House
Paradise Hill Overlook
Hulls Cove
A rocky cove not far from the house...seemed popular among shell collectors as we saw a few of them scouring on the beach.
Peggy Rockefeller Farm
The farm nearby raises sheep, cows, and chickens on open fields. Our little one has become really fond of the 3 sheep that she visits daily.
Blueberry Hill
