Bar Harbor, Maine

Note:  This is a "blast from the past" post as we work our way backwards to catch you up on our previous destinations. Please remember that we will not be doing any current postings for the next couple of months as we're visiting with family and friends in California.

Visited September 22-25, 2020

By Janell

On our drive out to Bar Harbor (or "Bah Haba" as the locals say), we stopped at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge & Observatory and at Fort Knox in Prospect, Maine. (There's no gold at this Fort Knox however). More on Fort Knox in a bit.

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge is the tallest bridge observatory in the world, and it offers 360° views. In 2006 this replaced the Waldo-Hancock Bridge, which was built in 1931 and in use until severe cable corrosion was discovered in 2003. The words "severe cable corrosion" and "bridge" are a scary combination in one sentence.

Views from within the Observatory:

Marty's sister, Mary, was planning to meet up with us at the bridge and then join in our travels starting with our next campground in Bar Harbor, Maine. Unfortunately, she was delayed and thus went up in the tower after we had already moved on to Fort Knox. 

Apparently, we lucked out with our trip up/down the tower: the elevator broke down while Mary was at the top, and the staff refused to let the patrons use the stairs down (without explanation other than that there was a 300 lb. door at the bottom, and the fire department would need to be called). Finally, one patron had had enough and insisted on using the stairs anyway; which they all ended up doing, accompanied by a staff member. They then found out that the stairwell exited directly onto a lane of the bridge(!) (not below in the parking lot level, as one would have assumed), and that is why the firefighters had to be called -- to stop the bridge traffic.

Mary's visit to the tower took two hours . . . and ours, about 15 minutes.

Now about Fort Knox (which is essentially right next door to the Penobscot Bridge).

Fort Knox was built between 1844 and 1869, and it was made entirely of granite (most previous forts used wood, earth and stone). It is Maine's largest historic fort and was established to protect the Penobscot River Valley against a possible future British naval invasion.

For more info on Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge visit this link: 

Fort Knox Maine

looking across the Penobscot River from Fort Knox

Both the small town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park are located on Mount Desert Island. At 108 square miles, Mount Desert Island is the largest island off the coast of Maine and the second largest (behind Long Island, New York) on the eastern seaboard of the United States.

We hiked South Ridge Trail up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Cadillac Mountain, at 1530', is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and the first place to view sunrise in the USA. 

No, we did not go up in time to see the sunrise. Didn't even try. 

Wait, where's the trail?

Much of the trail looked just like this. 

Question: Can you find the trail marker above?

Answer: It's a swatch of blue paint on a rock in the lower left quadrant of the photo.

It was a little windy at the top!

We embarked on a sunset nature cruise in Bar Harbor. It was fun and educational. The cruise line's Naturalist talked to us about the history of Bar Harbor, the marine life and even the summer "cottages" on the cliffs.

This is a replica of a lobster (No real lobsters were harmed for this photo.)

Egg Rock Lighthouse

We pedaled our bikes for about 20 miles through Acadia National Park on Rockefeller's Carriage Roads. The scenery was gorgeous, the weather of the day superb, and these carriage roads are closed to motorized traffic -- so we didn't even have to think about cars. Nice!

In the early part of the 20th century John D. Rockefeller Jr. was upset by a decision to allow automobiles onto the island, and he set out to build a 45-mile long series of roads on which all cars would be banned. Nice job, J.D.!

The fun is just beginning ...

Enjoying the ride!

In the heart of Acadia National Park one can find Jordan Pond House. We pedaled our bikes right up to it.

Marty and I have fond memories from 2012 when we were here with our Finnish friends. The restaurant had many tables set up on their lawn, and servers came out to wait on us and bring us lovely lunches. It was like something I'd imagine the Kennedy's might do; or at least something I might see in a movie. 

Those were non-Covid times, of course. Fast forward to 2020, and there wasn't a single table on the lawn at Jordan Pond House. There was a long line of people trying to buy a basic lunch from a counter; then trying to find anywhere they could to park their butts to eat it. No Kennedy or movie ambience whatsoever. 

Good thing we'd come prepared with our sack lunches this time. We sat right on the grass like school kids. 

More sites along the carriage roads:

Downtown Bar Harbor is fun and charming. There are lots of shops, restaurants, fun things to see and an enjoyable walk along the waterfront. We dined outdoors á la picnic table-style for lunch at this place and liked it well enough to come back a second time. Their lobster bisque was delish! 

We dined on lobster rolls from a sandwich counter while enjoying this view from a bench in Agamont Park.

We drove past this beautiful red vine display many times. Each time I thought, "we need to get a picture of that", but we never did. Thanks goes to Mary for snapping it on one of her adventures. (I'm sure there are a few of Mary's photos that I've used in the blog; I hope she doesn't sue us or want compensation.) Maybe she'll be content with heartfelt gratitude. Thanks Mary!!

Enough said!