Acadia/Bar Harbor Area...

Hello all,
Love travel, photography and writing... I'm a
weekend-option nurse with three teenage boys (15,16,18) four
unimpressed cats, one radiantly happy Boxer,and the husband-person who
is in I.T./ and also plays guitar (blues band)...enjoy reading your
newsgroup and have lurked for some time.
Planning a summer (mid-July) road trip to Maine. We've
never been and would appreciate any/all information/must see from
those who have traveled this area

Thanks,

Carla (...in a wet cornfield in Indiana...more snow on the way
Thursday, though...)

"C. Hurst" wrote...
Planning a summer (mid-July) road trip to Maine. We've
never been and would appreciate any/all information/must
see from those who have traveled this area

First, for accommodation, restaurant and activity recs, visit
www.tripadvisor.com, www.frommers.com or www.fodors.com.
Its a tad pricey, but Bar Harbor Inn is on the water and worth it
www.barharborinn.com. The Bar Harbor Hotel - Bluenose Inn
up on a hill overlooking the bay is also a good place to stay.

If there's a chance that you'll visit two other national parks in a
12-month span, you'll save on entrance fees with NPS pass and
can find other information at www.nps.gov. Spend about 1/2 a
day driving around the park, stopping at various scenic points.

Do some day hikes, go to some Ranger talks and visit Cadillac Mountain at
sunset. Do boat ride from the harbor. Stop by the
"Cool as a Moose" store downtown. Its a fun place. -R-

Arcadia Park is beautiful. There are lots of trails for hiking,
biking, and horseback riding. I remember that we went up to the top of
Cadillac Mountain and the view from the top was beautiful - I remember
seeing the sea and ships - the day I was there the Queen Elizabeth 2 was
coming into Bar Harbor. You should do Cadillac Mountain when the weather
is clear - there are some days when the top of the mountain is shrouded in
fog. In addition to hiking on the trails and carriage road we swam in Echo
Lake which was very nice. In Bar Harbor you can rent ocean kayaks and there
are whale watch boats and boats that take you out to see where the seals
hang out. Maine is a very pretty state.

"C. Hurst" wrote in message
...
Hello all,
Love travel, photography and writing... I'm a
weekend-option nurse with three teenage boys (15,16,18) four
unimpressed cats, one radiantly happy Boxer,and the husband-person who
is in I.T./ and also plays guitar (blues band)...enjoy reading your
newsgroup and have lurked for some time.
Planning a summer (mid-July) road trip to Maine. We've
never been and would appreciate any/all information/must see from
those who have traveled this area

Thanks,

Carla (...in a wet cornfield in Indiana...more snow on the way
Thursday, though...)

We also thought that Acadia was gorgeous. We ended up staying in
Bar Harbor for 3 nights instead of the 2 we had planned in our
little whirlwind tour. We stayed at the Villager, which is a motel
right in town, so you can easily walk to places - including the
main park shuttle stop. Of course, half the restaurants in town
have their lobster dinner deals. We let the kids each have their
own lobster (as we had done in Nova Scotia earlier in the trip).
With teenagers, I'd think you'd want to stay right in town, instead
of one of the more secluded inns. There were a lot of teenagers
around when we were there.

As someone who has been to Bar Harbor numerous times, I wouldn't go back for
the life of me.

The place is overrun with tourists.
The water is freezing so those teens aren't going swimming.
The weather is always iffy, even in summer.
They ought to rename the town "rip-off" Maine.

Another negative is that the best views are private property.

God, as I write I am remembering just how bad the place is.

Save yourself, go someplace else.


"C. Hurst" wrote in message
...
Hello all,
Love travel, photography and writing... I'm a
weekend-option nurse with three teenage boys (15,16,18) four
unimpressed cats, one radiantly happy Boxer,and the husband-person who
is in I.T./ and also plays guitar (blues band)...enjoy reading your
newsgroup and have lurked for some time.
Planning a summer (mid-July) road trip to Maine. We've
never been and would appreciate any/all information/must see from
those who have traveled this area

Thanks,

Carla (...in a wet cornfield in Indiana...more snow on the way
Thursday, though...)

We enjoyed our Bar Harbor Trip two years ago.

Bar Harbor is full of Bed and Breakfasts that are located in town. We stayed
here http://www.thornhedgeinn.com/index.html We parked and didn't move the
car for our three night visit. There were whale watching cruises and
sailboat cruises from the harbor which is within easy walking distance of
many of the B&Bs. When we were there there was a free shuttle bus service to
many areas of the park with a pick-up in the center of town.
http://www.exploreacadia.com/ If your boys wanted to explorer the park
independently it would be easy for them to do so while mom and dad did
something else.

The Farnsworth museum in Rockport was a nice place if you're interested in
paintings by the Wyeths and other Maine artists.

Camden is a base for a number of windjammers and a fun place to visit.

"C. Hurst" wrote in message
...
Hello all,
Love travel, photography and writing... I'm a
weekend-option nurse with three teenage boys (15,16,18) four
unimpressed cats, one radiantly happy Boxer,and the husband-person who
is in I.T./ and also plays guitar (blues band)...enjoy reading your
newsgroup and have lurked for some time.
Planning a summer (mid-July) road trip to Maine. We've
never been and would appreciate any/all information/must see from
those who have traveled this area

Thanks,

Carla (...in a wet cornfield in Indiana...more snow on the way
Thursday, though...)

On Mon, 7 Feb 2005 20:34:39 -0500, "Rog'"
wrote:

"C. Hurst" wrote...
Planning a summer (mid-July) road trip to Maine. We've
never been and would appreciate any/all information/must
see from those who have traveled this area

First, for accommodation, restaurant and activity recs, visit
www.tripadvisor.com, www.frommers.com or www.fodors.com.
Its a tad pricey, but Bar Harbor Inn is on the water and worth it
www.barharborinn.com. The Bar Harbor Hotel - Bluenose Inn
up on a hill overlooking the bay is also a good place to stay.

Thanks for the links. Have you stayed at the Inn?

If there's a chance that you'll visit two other national parks in a
12-month span, you'll save on entrance fees with NPS pass and
can find other information at www.nps.gov. Spend about 1/2 a
day driving around the park, stopping at various scenic points.

We have the National Parks Pass...spent quite a bit of time out west
late last summer (...took what is left of Route 66 to California and
then Highway 1 up the coast to San Fran...came back Highway 50 through
Nevada, Utah, Colorado...et all. 5107 miles RT By the time we
returned home I didn't even want to drive to the grocery

Do some day hikes, go to some Ranger talks and visit Cadillac Mountain at
sunset. Do boat ride from the harbor. Stop by the
"Cool as a Moose" store downtown. Its a fun place. -R-

The Park looks wonderful...biking and hiking...appears very family
friendly. Also noticed that we will be there (possibly) through the
whale season. Did you do the whale boat adventure?


Thanks,

Carla

On Mon, 7 Feb 2005 20:39:50 -0500, "j. sterling"
wrote:

Arcadia Park is beautiful. There are lots of trails for hiking,
biking, and horseback riding. I remember that we went up to the top of
Cadillac Mountain and the view from the top was beautiful - I remember
seeing the sea and ships - the day I was there the Queen Elizabeth 2 was
coming into Bar Harbor. You should do Cadillac Mountain when the weather
is clear - there are some days when the top of the mountain is shrouded in
fog.
All I have seen is pictures, obviously...but it looks wonderful!
Thanks for the tip about Cadillac Mountain. It should make for some
beautiful shots.

In addition to hiking on the trails and carriage road we swam in Echo
Lake which was very nice.
Photos from the carriage roads are what helped make the decision to
take this trip. I love the stone bridges It all looks wonderful!

In Bar Harbor you can rent ocean kayaks and there
are whale watch boats and boats that take you out to see where the seals
hang out.
Did you take your trip during the "whale season" as it were? The
Acadia National Park guide mentioned it being in the midst of when we
are taking our trip. Did you do the "whale boat" adventure?

Maine is a very pretty state.

It seems. We are looking forward to our trip

Thanks,

Carla

On 7 Feb 2005 17:47:23 -0800, (Todd Michel McComb)
wrote:

We also thought that Acadia was gorgeous. We ended up staying in
Bar Harbor for 3 nights instead of the 2 we had planned in our
little whirlwind tour. We stayed at the Villager, which is a motel
right in town, so you can easily walk to places - including the
main park shuttle stop.
Thanks...I'll check this out
Of course, half the restaurants in town
have their lobster dinner deals. We let the kids each have their
own lobster (as we had done in Nova Scotia earlier in the trip).
With teenagers, I'd think you'd want to stay right in town, instead
of one of the more secluded inns. There were a lot of teenagers
around when we were there.
Our boys tend to enjoy hiking and biking and swimming as well as
camping... During our trip West last summer we camped several times as
well as doing hotels/B&B and Inns... Camped three days on a mountain
in Nevada and they hiked, found turquoise and garnets and chased
banded lizards... When we reached Pier 39 (and later Fisherman's
Wharf) in San Fran (on the way down) they proclaimed it a "K-Mart" and
suggested that we head back to Big Sur. Not your typical teens...


Thanks for the info,

Carla

On Mon, 7 Feb 2005 21:19:38 -0500, "TomCAt"
wrote:

As someone who has been to Bar Harbor numerous times, I wouldn't go back for
the life of me.

Really?

The place is overrun with tourists.

That would be us...

The water is freezing so those teens aren't going swimming.

I have heard that the weather can still be cold in June.. I was hoping
mid-July would be better. I imagine any "swimming" would probably be
done in a hotel or Inn. Is the temp (outside) still bad mid-July?

The weather is always iffy, even in summer.

I know Canada has about 10 days of really beautiful weather
(..ok...I'm stretching it...but not by much...) but is Maine one of
those places that never REALLY gets warm?

They ought to rename the town "rip-off" Maine.

I noticed how expensive things seem to be in Bar Harbor (brochures)
but certainly on the outside of the parks/cities there must be better
prices.

Another negative is that the best views are private property.


God, as I write I am remembering just how bad the place is.

Save yourself, go someplace else.

Sorry it was such a bad experience for you. I'm hoping that gleaning
information from those who have been will save me some of the
"disasters"

Thanks,

Carla