Mt. Desert Island, Maine

Acadia National Park - Looking toward Bar Harbor
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10/3/2008

We drove from New Hampshire to Bar Harbor, Maine today – 151 miles. Bar Harbor is the place the farthest north and east we will drive on this trip. The weather was cloudy with scattered showers – occasional sun. The roads were terrible – many delays due to road work and so very rough spots. Maine is quite different than the other New England states in that there are many more evergreen trees and even though the color is beautiful there is not as much of it. Bar Harbor is located on Mt. Desert Island – a large island with several towns as well as Acadia National Park. There are also several smaller islands scattered nearby. We stayed at an RV park on the island that is located just across the Trenton Bridge on Western Bay. We can see the sunset on the bay from our front window – it is beautiful.

Acadia NP - Sand Beach
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10/4/2008

This island was discovered by Samuel Champlain in 1604 and because it appeared from sea as seven or eight mountains with summits of rock, he named it Isle des Monts Deserts – hence it’s name. The island is quite mountainous and Cadillac Mountain it’s highest point, is also the highest point on the Atlantic Coast. There is a 360 degree view of the entire island fro the top and it is amazing. We took the short drive to Acadia National Park and drove Park Loop Road which circles the park and takes you by Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Point, Jordan Pond and to the top of Cadillac Mountain. There were absolutely beautiful views of the Atlantic and the nearby Bays and Islands – we thoroughly enjoyed it. When we left the park we took a drive to Bass Harbor Lighthouse and then to the town of Bar Harbor which is definitely a tourist area. Since we are tourists we had to have a “Down East Dinner” at one of the local eateries – steamed lobster and corn on the cob. It was fair, but we were disappointed because there wasn’t much to it and it was very difficult and messy to eat. This entire part of Maine is referred to as “Down East”. We asked a local why the name and he said it was a sailor’s term and had to do with the ocean currents around here running down east (whatever that means). We had a wonderful day on Mt. Desert Island.