Maine 2025 3: Bar Harbor

 

Bar Harbor Sunset, Agamont Park

814June 2025

Mid-afternoon on May 28, we drove from Boothbay Harbor to Bar Harbor. Both are on the coast, which is a long, jagged, northeastward arc. It would take us almost three hours, which is the same amount of time the drive from Portland to Bar Harbor would have been, even though we were well north of Portland.

The coastal route crosses the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. There's a scenic turnout about a quarter mile south of the bridge. I got out to take a couple of pictures.

This is a view looking south:

As we approached Ellsworth, we passed a sign for "Big Chicken Barn Books and Antiques." Jack looked it up as we passed and decided we should stop by on our way back to Portland. (We did; more on that in a later post.)

Early in the evening, we arrived at the Bar Harbor Inn. I had to take the requisite view-from-the-balcony pictures. The tide was out.

The Shore Path, destroyed by storms in January 2024, has been restored completely.

I was paying attention to the weather forecast, trying to figure out which day would be best for me to pedal my way up Cadillac Mountain again. Big winds were making their way in. After that, there would be rain.

We had dinner at Project Social Kitchen. We sat on the patio. There were tea light candles at each table. There were paper napkins. There was wind. 

Over Jack's shoulder, I saw a napkin catch fire as the wind blew it into a candle. I stood up, grabbed my glass of water, walked to the table, pulled the napkin out of the candle, and doused the flame. Jack had no idea what I was up to. It was all taking place behind him.

So that was the start of our Bar Harbor vacation.

After dinner, I insisted on showing Jack the house I stayed in last August, the one I called Exile House.

I showed him Party House too:

Then we walked down the now-open Shore Path.

Some people were peering through the trees at a pair of fox kits. I sort of got a picture. The kits are the brown blurs to the left of the buddha statue.

When we got to the shore, sunset was about to happen.

We made our way to the town pier, where I took pictures and Jack was bored.

My camera falters when light is low. The focus motor was having trouble.

After the sun went down, it was time for ice cream. We walked up the hill of Agamont Park, where it was necessary to photograph the LED moose atop Geddy's restaurant.

There are four ice cream shops that we know of in the town of Bar Harbor. The closest one to Agamont Park is Jordan Pond Ice Cream, so we went there and walked back to the park to find a bench. There was still some light in the sky. I took pictures through the trees as the light faded.