On the top of that list....Maine.
And before you ask, no, we don't have family there. No, we don't know anyone there. It was merely a state none of us had been to, what we had heard about Maine sounded lovely, and frankly, the break from the heat was enticing enough to book our plane tickets and start making plans.
Our first step was to buy An Explorer's Guide - Maine and start digging through the pages and writing down places we were interested in visiting. We, of course, wanted to hit the coastline, and there was rumor that moose (I have a weird obsession with this quirky, huge creature that dates back to my tenth birthday) were prevalent in the lake and mountain region. Our trip quickly came together and two destinations within the state were chosen. The first I will address is Bar Harbor....or as the locals call it, Ba Habba. (Seriously, you can get shirts with this on it!)
We flew into Portland, ME (I'll talk a little more about this cute little town at a later date), and drove about three hours to Bar Harbor. We took Rt. 1 which put us closer to the water for beautiful views, making the drive quite enjoyable, an important consideration with a 5- and 9-year-old!
Upon reaching Bar Harbor, we parked in a free community lot, right next to clean, public restrooms (BONUS!), and started exploring town. It didn't take long to fall in love with this bustling town. With beautiful views of the harbor and its rocky shore, we were instantly transformed into vacation-mode, the stresses of life flying out to sea on the wings of the seagulls.
As the town was perfectly suited for walking, we spent our time there meandering in and out of the shops and restaurants that catered to tourists, ensuring every need was met, and every luxury available.
Where We Stayed
Bar Harbor Inn
Our three nights in Bar Harbor were spent at the Bar Harbor Inn. In my opinion, this is THE BEST place to stay in Bar Harbor. It has three different levels of lodging; the inn itself, the Oceanfront Lodge, and The Newport. The grounds were breathtaking and my oldest son and I absolutely loved sitting outside the Oceanfront Lodge in Adirondack chairs enjoying the complimentary continental breakfast while we watched the peace that the oceanfront brings. It is truly the thing I miss the most about our time there and was hard to leave when we continued our journey!
What We Did
Bar Harbor Whale Watching Co.
Besides walking around town, we had to check out some of the tours offered by the Bar Harbor Whale Watching Co. Though we were hoping to get in a whale watching tour, the waters were too rough to head offshore, so we instead went on the Lobster Fishing and Seal Watching Tour.
The Miss Samantha whisked us through Frenchman Bay while our guide talked to us about lobster fishing, the meaning of the buoys in the water, and even pulled up some lobster pots where we were able to learn about how they determine which lobsters to keep and which to throw back. This was a highly interactive tour, allowing kids (or anyone interested) to get involved in measuring lobsters, banding claws, and even releasing them back out to sea. My boys loved getting to hold the lobsters and we all got to give these snappy little crustaceans a kiss to participate in their Miss Sam's Kiss Cam campaign! We then motored close to Egg Rock where we were able to view harbor and grey seals in their natural habitat, lounging on the rocks and even swimming in the water. It was a fabulous tour and definitely a highlight for everyone in our family.
The next day, we boarded the Friendship V, a much larger boat used for whale watching and puffin tours. Again, the waters weren't cooperating, so we headed out just to see the cute little puffins and nearby lighthouse, as well as took another spin by the seals. You can never get enough of those cute faces!
I will warn you that, though the weather may be warm on shore, the temperature drops drastically on the water, so dress in layers. Rest assured that there are enclosed places to duck into when the temperatures or wind get to be too much, but it is not climate-controlled, so you'll still want to have plenty of layers.
Sand and Gravel Bar to Bar Island
Another must-do at low-tide is walking across the sand and gravel bar to Bar Island. Again, this is easily walkable from town and a great chance to pick up shells, explore the island, or a favorite of my boys, skip rocks into the smooth water of the harbor. It was such a joy to watch our boys tromp around gathering sticks and rocks and creating "forts" on the bar or discovering the shed crab shells and snails hanging on to the rocks sure to be covered by water only a few hours later. It is important to keep track of high and low tides while there, but there are plenty of folks who will help guide you, including a visitor's center in the heart of town.
Acadia National Park
We spent a lot of time exploring this national park, so I'm going to cover the details of our hikes next week.
Where We Ate
As I mentioned, we had a complimentary continental breakfast with the Bar Harbor Inn, so we took advantage of that meal each morning. We did have to find lunch and dinner each day, though we made sure we swung by a grocery store for trail mix and granola bars to get us through some hikes and light lunches. There are plenty of choices all around town, and it's not hard to find fresh lobster (and even lobster ice cream) pretty much everywhere. My boys loved how most places pulled lobsters out of the tanks and let them hold them. It became quite the pattern, in fact! Below is a list of places we ate just for a guide to what we found family-friendly and accommodating to kids' tastes, though my kids have a new-found love for fried clams!
Geddy's - This place was great! They serve kid's meals on a frisbee, so it's a great souvenir for them to take home!
Stewman's Downtown - This is a gorgeous setting right on the water, and we found the waitstaff to be super friendly!
West Street Cafe - We hit this place a couple of times during our stay as we found it the most affordable and we all thought the food was great!
We did grab sandwiches and smoothies from a small coffee bar in the middle of town and took them and had a picnic in the park right across the street. With the beautiful weather, eating outside was a delight!
So as not to overwhelm you with too much information, I'm going to end it here and pick up next week with details about our time in Acadia National Park, as well as a journey to a nearby town to take in a lumberjack show that shouldn't be missed! Seriously, we enjoyed it as much as the kids!
I hope you enjoyed reading about our Maine Adventure - Part I, and maybe will consider adding it to your list of upcoming family vacations. More to come next week!
Erin
erins@macaronikid.com
Note - I received discounted or complimentary admission/rates to some of the businesses mentioned above in exchange for this review, however all opinions are my own.
