The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Acadia National Park - Bar Harbor, Maine

Yesterday morning, we drove from Jasper Beach to Acadia National Park and got ourselves set up at the Seawall Campground in Acadia National Park. After lunch, we took the little car for a drive into Bar Harbor. We've never been here before, but we know that the whole area is a popular tourist destination, so we wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

(Wish I could include more pics, but we're using our cellular internet here in the park and we have limited bandwidth available.)

The traffic is really heavy though. Of course the roads are all just little two lane secondary roads, most of them with a speed limit of 35 or 45 mph (55 to 72 km/h). And everybody seems to be in a huge rush to get somewhere.

But we made it into Bar Harbor, and it actually didn't take long to find a parking spot for the little car. By the way, the actual town of Bar Harbor is not RV friendly although there are signs directing RV's to park on the outskirts of town. Although of course overnight parking is not allowed.

The actual harbor at Bar Harbor

Lots of people on the spit out to the island across from Bar Harbor


As we expected, the actual town is very touristy and almost every shop is either a restaurant or some kind of tourist trinket shop. It does have a very nice little central square with a park, much the same as what you would find in most Mexican towns.

After we left town, we did a circular scenic drive loop that goes along the shoreline with one branch road that goes up Cadillac Mountain, the highest altitude for 25 miles (40 kms). We can certainly see the attraction of the park and surrounding area. It really is beautiful scenery.

I wonder what this little shack is worth...

Looking down on Bar Harbor from the top of Cadillac Mountain

As I said, the area is packed with people and cars. We drove up Cadillac Mountain along with hundreds of other people, and while the view itself is spectacular, it is not nearly as satisfying as hiking to the top of a mountain and enjoying the scenery by yourself.  

Drove back to Sherman, had dinner, and went for a bike ride around the campground. There are about 40 sites for RV's, about 100 sites for tents only, and another 60 or so for tents and tent trailers, and maybe class B vans. It is nearly full, but we do see the odd empty site.

Up early this morning to do the hike up Acadia Mountain trail. Want to get there before the crowds!

Yesterday morning's drive, 88 miles (140 kms)

6 comments:

  1. We too loved Bar Harbor, but always find it interesting that they can find a beautiful scenic area, and turn it into a tourist destination that detracts from the natural beauty that was there to begin with. Enjoy your hike.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a beautiful area. I'm enjoying your blog and photos since you are visiting the areas we are going to miss this year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great views again today, I like the shots from on top of the mountain. Hope Whiskey is having fun too. be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds great except for the crowds. Maybe we will slow down a little and get there later in the season.

    ReplyDelete
  5. never been to the East Coast..thanks for the tour of Bar Harbour!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. George and Suzie...We have thought the same thing ourselves. In the park itself, we think they do a very fairly good job of keeping things natural at least the parts that we looked at.

    Margie and Roger...We are glad you are enjoying it. Maybe some of the places we see will help you decide where to go when you do make it up this way.

    Sam and Donna...Whiskey is enjoying her time here in the park. Lots of smells for her.

    Chuck and Anneke...We think you definitely need to see it here and later is better and try to avoid a weekend.

    Sue and Doug...Glad you enjoyed it, just as we enjoyed your tour of the Oregon coast.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

    ReplyDelete

There are more comments on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithKevinAndRuth

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.