Day Tripping in Bar Harbor

A view from Cadillac Mountain

It is difficult to believe that Christopher and I have already been in Maine for a week! Time has certainly flown by. Christopher has already started class and I begin my coursework tomorrow! Christopher and I have been searching for jobs (and cheap winter clothes). I already have several hundred pages of reading. We will also be moving into our new home this weekend! So many changes in such a small amount of time.

One of our first adventures in Maine was to Bar Harbor, a town I would compare to Balboa Island. The town of Bar Harbor is on Mount Desert Island, about an hour east of Bangor. The island was first discovered by Europeans in 1604 and was settled in 1763. Today it is a famous summer destination and home to Acadia National Forest. 

Our guides first took us to Cadillac Mountain, one of the highest peaks in the area. The view was breathtaking and you could see all the neighboring islands. We also visited Sands Beach and Thunder Hole, a small cavern where the crashing waves create a sound similar to thunder.

Thunder Hole is thundering

After our jaunt through Acadia National Park, we ate dinner at Guinness and Porcellis, a local Italian restaurant. If you ever eat there, I would recommend the spaghetti and meatballs. They are of course not as good as my mom’s but a decent substitute away from home. After dinner we browsed through many of the stores and walked toward the pier where the sun was setting. Although the view was beautiful and it felt wonderful to be by the sea again, it was rather disorientating to think I was staring at the Atlantic, not the Pacific. It is incredible to think 150 years ago, my journey would have taken me at least six months on land and sea- and that is if I was fortunate! Now I can drive from the Pacific to the Atlantic in less than a week by car and in just a few hours by plane. We shall make a world traveler out of me yet!

Tune in next time for more New England adventures!