Visiting Bar Harbor

Just over an hour from Bangor is Mount Desert Island, home to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. The drive itself was part of the experience, passing through small Maine towns and stretches of forest on the way toward the coast. I visited during one of the first warm weekends of the year, and there were motorcycles everywhere taking advantage of the weather.

Mount Desert Island

Once I reached Mount Desert Island, the landscape became much more like the Maine I had pictured before visiting the state. Rocky coastline, cold Atlantic water, small harbors, and lighthouses all started appearing along the road. Even though Acadia itself didn’t end up being one of my favorite national parks, the coastal scenery around the island was beautiful.

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor was much larger and busier than I expected. I had pictured a tiny coastal town with a handful of restaurants and stores, but the center stretches across several blocks and is built to handle large numbers of visitors. When I arrived, a cruise ship was anchored offshore and hundreds of passengers had come into town to shop, eat, and take tours around the island.

As you’d expect in coastal Maine, seafood is everywhere. Restaurants advertise lobster, clams, fish, and just about anything else pulled from the Atlantic. Bar Harbor is definitely touristy, but this is also one of the better places in Maine to sit by the harbor and enjoy seafood after spending the day hiking or exploring the island.

The shopping district surprised me almost as much as the crowds. I expected maybe ten stores or so, but Bar Harbor has several blocks of shops, restaurants, galleries, and small businesses aimed at the constant stream of tourists coming through Mount Desert Island.

Whale Watching

Two things I really wanted to do while in Bar Harbor were visit the whale museum and take a whale-watching cruise. Unfortunately I was a little too early in the season. The museum was closed and the whale-watching trips weren’t scheduled to begin until later in the month, so I managed to miss both.

I was especially disappointed about the cruise because seeing whales off the Maine coast would have made the trip much more memorable. Bar Harbor also offers lobster-boat tours where visitors can watch traps being pulled from the water, although that wasn’t really something I was interested in doing myself.

My visit ended up being fairly short, but Bar Harbor made a good base for exploring Mount Desert Island. If I return, I’d time the trip later in the season so I could finally get out on the water and do the whale-watching trip I missed the first time.