Down Day in Bangor , Acadia National Park Tomorrow

We had a day of rain , so we spent it around Bangor and checked out Fort Knox  (not the one with gold bars).   It forced us to  realize we are really ignorant of early American History like the French and Indian War and the War of 1812.

Acadia At Its Finest

The sun returned on Friday so we headed out to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.  Bob and Cathy have been many times, so we had no map and took a random, wandering approach, which was kind of fun.  We headed first up to the top of Mount Cadillac in the middle of the park.  Acadia suffers from excessive popularity and nowhere is that more apparent than Cadillac mountain.  We got stopped dead in a line of cars a half mile from the summit, so Linda and I got out and walked , leaving poor Bob and Cathy to ride out the traffic jam.   The view from the top is truly worth the trouble getting there.  The morning fog had not cleared out for some reason and consequently the islands had a surreal “in the clouds” look.  See our Acadia Photos page to see what I mean.    I took photos around people, but for one photo, I included everyone so you could see the crowd on the top of the mountain.  Eventually, Bob and Cathy rejoined us and actually found a parking spot, so we clambered over rocks taking in the view from all sides.

You can see our Acadia Photo Gallery when you are done with this post. 

Rock Hopping the Acadia Shoreline 

Once we descended to sea level, we continued our random wandering around the island.   Any place you stop is great for rock hopping down the shoreline.  One of my favorite things to do.  The views are universally spectacular.   I am not sure what is so relaxing about jumping from rock to rock just above the surf, but you really need to try it.  No need for a plan, just make sure you are not in a hurry.  You need time to just absorb the experience.  If you must plan…. plan a picnic lunch.  

Check the Thunder Hole Schedule !

One thing you do need to plan.  When you get there, check the signs or check the internet if you want to see the Thunder Hole in action.  It is a spot in the rocks where the ocean crashes in a spectacular and noisy way.  Plan your day so that you are near the Thunderhole at a peak time.  It is only a couple times  a day and the rest of the time it is “nice” but not spectacular.   We only saw “nice”. 

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor looks like a quaint and fun tourist town but we missed most of it because we were off in quest of fabulous lobster.  We found it at Beal’s Lobster Pier.   See our post about finding great lobster in Maine for details.

Here is a link for Beal’s Lobster Pier to save you more reading