G6AdventuresAs part of a three-week excursion to the Northeast, we spent eight nights of our trip in Bar Harbor, Maine. We stayed at the Bar Harbor Campground. This is Part 3 of a three-part series detailing our trip to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. To read about the rest of our trip, click here. This post covers Days 6 and 7 where we we went on a fishing excursion and a moose safari, indulged in Jordan Pond House popovers and lemonade, and crossed the land bridge to Bar Island. Keep reading to see how our trip to Bar Harbor and its adventures ends!
Day 6: Fishing Cruise; Wine Tasting; Moose Safari
Eric has always wanted to go deep sea fishing, but it’s been a little tough due to the wide range of our kids’ ages. Acadian Boat Tours provides fishing tours in the Frenchman Bay of Bar Harbor. While not deep sea, you get the opportunity to fish for cod, harbor polluck, and mackerel. Olivia was not interested, and though you can take younger kids, we opted against taking our one-year-old. So, Eric and our older two got up and headed out on their 3-hour 8:30 a.m. trip. I stayed back at the campground with our younger two.
Olivia, Ellianna and I walked from the campground to Mainely Meat BBQ for breakfast. Olivia and I ordered pancakes. Ellianna devoured a gigantic fruit bowl. Ellianna then proceeded to entertain the entire restaurant with her silly antics. I feel like a broken record, but, again, the food and service were top notch. We had zero complaints and would definitely go back. We didn’t get a chance to eat here for lunch or dinner so that we could try their namesake BBQ, but it’s on the list for next time!
After we ate, we decided to lounge in the pool for the rest of the morning. As I’ve said before, I’m a baby when it comes to water temperature. Despite it being a “heated” pool, I thought it was pretty chilly. But the girls loved it, so I sucked it up and waded around with the two of them. Once Olivia had her fill of swimming, we headed back to the camper picking more wild blueberries than we could possibly carry. Olivia couldn’t stop eating them all the way back to the camper.
Not long after we returned, Eric and the older girls returned as well. They had an amazing fishing excursion. Between the three of them, they caught over 50 fish! Eric said the crew could not have been more friendly and encouraging. Each time one of the kids would catch a fish, the whole boat would go crazy cheering for them. The girls were so excited recounting their big catches. Mayson declared that she caught the biggest fish of the whole trip. It was a great experience for them and has stuck as one of their favorite memories from the trip.
We ate lunch together in the camper and then headed to a wine tasting at Bar Harbor Cellars. This adorable and family-friendly gem has wine and chocolate tastings. Yes, you heard me correctly. They have chocolate tastings! And, they’re amazing. You can eat in their Sweet Pea Café. We had just eaten lunch, so we didn’t get to try it out, but it sounds delicious. Their gift shop has something for everyone – from souvenir glass, local cheeses, chocolates, wine accessories, meats and other specialty foods.
They even have outdoor sitting areas where you can savor your wine and snacks while relaxing in the beautiful Maine landscape. And, their wine! We have traveled so many places, and Eric loves to try local wines everywhere we visit. This continues to be his absolute favorite wine. He loves it so much, I even had a case shipped to us in Kentucky for him for Christmas a couple years ago. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend here, and I forgot to get any pictures. But, if you are in Bar Harbor, do not miss Bar Harbor Cellars!
Next, we headed to Shirley Mills, Maine to Northeast Whitewater Rafting & Moose Tours. Before the trip, we asked each of the girls one thing they’d like to do on the trip. Mayson wanted to see a moose. Moose are not at all prevalent near Acadia. After researching a bit, I decided that our best bet to see a moose was probably to take a moose safari. Northeast Whitewater had fantastic ratings, so we decided to book with them. Because of Ellianna’s age, we could not join a public tour but instead booked a private tour. After discussing it with the super friendly woman on the phone, we opted for a land tour over the water safari. During our discussion, she mentioned that families will often bring a picnic dinner to enjoy while on the tour. It sounded right up our alley.
We drove approximately 2 1/2 hours to Northeast Whitewater from the campground. We intended to stop somewhere close by to grab dinner to take with us. But we realized as we got closer that restaurant options were incredibly slim. We stopped at a small grocery store where we luckily found some fried chicken and potato wedges in their deli. Upon arriving at Northeast, our name was written on a Welcome Sign, and their friendly staff signed us in. Then, we loaded up in large passenger van with our tour guide and headed out.
Based on what I had read online and even to an extent what I understood from talking to Northeast’s staff, I was expecting incredibly scenic waterways and landscapes. In actuality, the tour consisted of driving back various logging roads to various small ponds. I can’t say that any of the tour really lent itself to a picnic-like setting. Not to mention, the blackflies were out in large abundance. You could actually hear them pinging off the van as we drove through the logging farms. Perhaps in other times of the year, a picnic would be viable but our guide advised us that we’d be crazy to try to eat outside at that time. He laughed and said we’d be more of a dinner to the flies than anything we brought to eat. So, instead we just ate in the van.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and did not provide great conditions for moose. A summer storm blew through while we were out. It never hit us directly, but the thunder and winds were enough to convince the moose to bed down. After several hours, we relented to the unfortunate conclusion that we would not see a moose despite our guide’s best efforts. To be clear, I don’t blame our guide at all. He truly did his best to find a moose for us. We completely understand that you can’t control wildlife, so we definitely do not hold it against him that we were just simply unlucky.
Eric mentioned to our guide how much I like sunrises and sunsets. He promised to make up for us not seeing a moose by showing us a not-to-be-beat sunset. He raced from the logging roads to Moosehead Lake just in time for us to witness what is still one of the most breathtaking sunsets we’ve had the opportunity to see. So, while we struck out on the moose sighting front, we definitely struck gold with that sunset. I can’t say that I’d do another tour, but I also recognize that it was out of their control. Our guide truly tried his very best. He said he had been guiding tours for five years, and we were only his third tour that had not seen a moose. So, while we did not have great luck on the tour, I wouldn’t necessarily discourage others from giving it a try.
Day 7: Jordan Pond (popovers!); Land bridge; Thunder Hole
On our last day in Bar Harbor, we wanted to check several more “must do’s” off our list. We started off at Jordan Pond. We hiked the 3.3 mile Jordan Pond Path that follows the shoreline of Jordan Pond. This was a great hike with the kids. There were bushes upon bushes of wild blueberries growing along the trail. The depth of the landscape, from the clean clear waters of Jordan Pond to the evergreen forests and then finally the rock-faced mountainsides, is astounding to behold. Plus, the kids got a kick out of hiking on the log boardwalks along the path. Even if you aren’t up for the hike around the pond, you should at least visit Jordan Pond. Its water is so clean that it is used as a public water supply. Swimming, wading, and boating are prohibited.
After our hike, we put our name on the wait list at Jordan Pond House. While we waited, we perused the gift shop. We were seated on the outside lawn overlooking Jordan Pond. It was a bit too early for lunch, so we opted to indulge in their famous popovers and homemade lemonade. If you have never experienced a popover, it is a fluffy muffin made from only milk, eggs and flour which rises and “pops over” the pan when baking leaving a hollow shell. Add butter and jam, and voila – pure heaven! This is an incredibly popular restaurant in Acadia, so I highly recommend you make reservations. According to their website, they encourage you to make reservations 2 to 3 weeks in advance.
Next, we headed into Bar Harbor. For 1 1/2 hours before and after low tide, a bridge is exposed connecting Bar Harbor and Bar Island. Starting at Bridge Street, you can hike the 1.9 mile round trip across the land bridge and up the Bar Island Trail. At its highest point, you can take advantage of fantastic views of Bar Harbor and Frenchman Bay. I want to say that the kids thought it was super cool to hike the land bridge to an island, but, who am I kidding, we all thought it was crazy cool! Just be extremely careful to watch tide times. If you get stuck on the island, it will be another 9 hours until the land bridge reappears to allow you to return to Bar Harbor. Alternatively, you could call for a water taxi, but it’ll cost at least $150 (and likely more) to be rescued.
After our hike, we did something we rarely do when we travel – we ate at the same place twice! We loved West Street Cafe so much the first time that we had to stop in once more before we left. The food was just as amazing. Our server was just as sweet, and she talked us into trying their chocolate candy potatoes, a traditional Maine dessert. Eric absolutely loved the candy potatoes. The rest of us were not so keen, but it’s always fun to try to local staples! After another fantastic meal, we grabbed our final souvenirs and headed back to the campground for a quick swim.
After poorly timing the tide for our first trip to Thunder Hole, we decided to go back at a more appropriate time. The best time to experience Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park is two hours prior to high tide. Many people know this, so I would recommend timing it a bit early so you have plenty of time to park and get a spot. I’m so glad we went back to Thunder Hole. It’s absolutely amazing to see it in its full thundering glory. You can feel the roaring in your chest as the waves crash into the rocks. This was a completely different experience than when we visited at a lower tide time. If I learned anything during our trip to Bar Harbor, it was to plan around the tides!
Next, we made a last stop at Udder Heaven for some more ice cream and then back to the camper. We cleaned and packed up, so that we could head out in the morning for the next stop on our Northeast adventure!
Amazingly, we experienced so much on this adventure to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We cannot wait until we can return to discover even more about this magical corner of the country. Our next post will include a summary of our itinerary, including our must-do’s, what we’d do again on our next Bar Harbor trip, and what we think we missed. Check out all of our Maine posts here. Or, to read about the rest of our adventures, click here. Stay tuned to see our “Where To Next?”
