Since we had been up late the night before and were staying in Bar Harbor for three nights, we didn’t rush to get up in the morning, taking our time and enjoying the fact that the free breakfast went until 10:30am. It was an impressive spread, featuring eggs, both hard-boiled and in omelette form, coffee and juices (including a citrus peach juice), oatmeal, cereal, and French toast that was quite good. Abe took a bagel and some peanut butter to make for lunch, and Arielle brought leftover cabbage salad from Katonah. We drove into Acadia National Park, which was about ten minutes away, and arrived at the Visitor Center, taking note of the incredible view of the water out the window along the way. The ranger recommended a good, lengthy hike for us as well as a few other suggested highlights, and we got a fancy hangtag holder for our Annual Pass so that we could prove that we had paid the entrance fee. We weren’t sure which way to go, but since the road is a loop, we had no trouble finding signs for the Blackwoods Campground. We pulled over and parked on the side of the road, beginning our 3.5 mile trek up the Cadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail. We commented a number of times along the way that this was a good choice for us, though we really had no concept of how far we had to go since the uphill climb made it seem much longer than we thought 3.5 miles was. Fortunately, we got to walk through trees and then open up to incredible views of the water far below. We started to doubt that there would indeed be a place to fill water at the top, but realized that we had much further to go and that we would meet up with a drivable road when we finally reached our destination. It did prove to be worth the hour and forty minute ascent, and we sat and ate our lunch overlooking the water and the islands calmly nestled within it. We took plenty of pictures and stared for a while, enjoying not being in any rush to get back down. When we did start back down, it took us about an hour and a half to reach the bottom.
Thoroughly satisfied with our seven-mile hike, we drove straight into Bar Harbor, finding a parking space surprisingly quickly given how crowded and busy it was. We stopped into a few stores such as Cool As A Moose, which Abe remembered from his visit to Bar Harbor six years ago, and walked toward the waterfront. We saw a restaurant called Geddy’s that appeared to have nice prices and good fish options. Arielle got fish and chips, which were delicious, and Abe got blackened tuna, which was good.
We looked out at the waterfront a bit while we digested, and then walked a few blocks back to Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream, which was considerably less crowded at this earlier hour. This time, Arielle got the Cereal Milk and Buttermint, while Abe got the Brigadeiro and Cookies and Cream.
We ate and enjoyed in the park, and then drove home to our hotel, stopping for a few sunset pictures along the way. We were excited to go in the pool but were disappointed to learn that it closed at dusk because they don’t have lights. We took advantage of the early hour to try to get to bed for an absurdly early start the next day.
Approximate number of miles covered: 14
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