“May is for …. Maine!”
This is my exact thought process for picking where I wanted to spend my trip over Memorial Weekend, although, I have always wanted to go to Maine! There’s something about small, seaside towns with chilly mornings and mountains facing the ocean that make my heart sing. I think this is also why I was obsessed with Oregon before I even ventured out there.
Maine is a beautiful state and there are many places you could choose to spend a vacation there. After some digging, I found that Bar Harbor had everything I was looking for – ocean views and close access to hiking trails because of Acadia National Park!
ARRIVING
Bar Harbor is located on an island that is connected to the rest of the state through a bridge. You can fly into the Bar Harbor Airport (which is actually located in Trenton, ME) and make the 20-minute drive to the town pretty easily either through renting a car or calling an Uber.
SEASIDE
Downtown Bar Harbor has a bustling atmosphere–thanks to the walkable streets–filled with tourist shops, ice cream stores, outdoor adventure gear and seafood restaurants. After peering in a lot of windows, I really enjoyed the Cool As a Moose store and it’s where I found my souvenirs (a key chain for myself and lobster candy for my dad).
Something I learned while doing my pre-trip research is that Maine is really into producing blueberries, so naturally I had a blueberry margarita at Jack Russell’s Brewery. And I don’t think anyone would’ve let me live it down if I went to Maine and DIDN’T have lobster. At Havana, I opted for the mini lobster rolls with their bread basket and I ate everything in about 7 minutes – it was so good!
TRAILING
A big chunk of my time was spent exploring Acadia National Park. You could really spend a couple of days just going around the park. The main(e) things I wanted to hit were the Carriage Roads, Thunder Hole and Sand Beach.
The Carriage Roads are good for hiking/biking and were the original roads rick folk took back in the day to get around the island! Thunder Hole is a natural rock inlet that produces this thunderous boom when the water meets the shore. All in all, I walked about 15 miles (!!) during my stay in Bar Harbor so I think I’m good on exercising for the rest of the year.
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Acadia National Park looks like a beautiful place, I want to visit so bad! Would you recommend taking younger children for the hikes or do you think it would be to difficult? The blueberry margaritas sound delicious!
I think it def depends on the hike! most of them are pretty manageable so I think taking kids is a great idea! there is one hike that I remember where it has ladder rungs into the side of a mountain, and that one might be difficult for younger children….but other than that I think kids would love acadia!
I lived pretty close to Maine and still haven’t made it there! I really would like to visit! The harbor and hiking looks amazing!
I hope you make it out there one day, its absolutely stunning!
I haven’t been to Maine yet but it definitely looks like a beautiful state. I’d especially love to explore the Acadia National Park!
Maine is one of my fav states I’ve visited so I would definitely recommend it 🙂 thanks for reading!
I haven’t been to Maine before but heard such great things. The national park is a place I would love to explore, looks so picturesque!
thanks! i loved maine, so i would really recommend it! 🙂