But our day actually started with exploring Northeast Harbor, another small town on the quiet side of the island. There’s not really much to see in the town, but it was still interesting to see and explore the marina as well as a stone beach near the town where I had fun skipping rocks.
Across the street from the beach was part of the park that includes a section of the Carriage Roads created by Rockefeller which run all over the island and park system. This particular section on the southwest side of the park was peaceful as it does not allow bikes. If you hike along most of the other Carriage Roads in the park, you will have to share them with a fair amount of bicycle traffic as this is a popular thing to do in the park. In fact, we ended up renting bikes to explore a different section of the roads (more about that in another post). Anyway, this hike around one of the many lakes on the island was one of the highlights of the trip as it was completely spontaneous and ended up being thoroughly enjoyable as it was beautiful and not too crowded compared to other trails in the park.
After this, we hopped onto the Park Loop Road which as it sounds takes you on a loop around the park. It is a scenic drive even if you don’t stop, but it is definitely worth stopping along the way. Part of the road that runs along the coast is one way, and it is definitely one of the most popular and beautiful parts of the park. While you may have to battle the crowds a little, this section is definitely worth seeing.
Along the road we stopped at the appropriately named Sandy Beach as a jumping off point to hike along the coastline to Otter Point. The beach is very nice and probably would’ve been even nicer had the weather been a little warmer. June in Maine can still be in the 50’s and windy as it was on this day.
Hiking along the coastline from the beach to Otter Point has some of the more breathtaking views you can find in the park. We found ourselves stopping frequently to take pictures and just enjoy the scenery.
I was tempted to try to capture the views with a few panoramic pictures, but I still don’t feel that they quite capture the beauty and serenity of this amazing place.
We also took a number of other pictures along the trail…
After an exhilarating day of hiking and being out in nature, we had built up quite an appetite, so we decided to return to Southwest Harbor to eat at a place called Beal’s Lobster Pier. This place is exactly what it sounds like which is a working lobster pier where they bring in and process freshly caught lobster. You can buy live ones or a variety of different preparations of lobster. We decided on lobster rolls, with Jenny getting hers chilled with mayo, and I got a warm one with melted butter. Both were amazing. It’s a fun place to eat.
Our day ended with a trip to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse to watch the sunset. If you Google Acadia National Park, pictures of this lighthouse will show up even though it is technically not in the park. It is one of the most photographed lighthouses/places in the United States. Part of the fun was seeing how many photographers and tourists were gathered to await the sunset. The photographers were all talking shop, and the rest of the tourists were just talking about their experiences in the park and beyond. One of the joys of travel is meeting new people and learning about new places.
Anyway, on to the pictures which again will not capture the beauty of this moment…
I took a couple of panoramic photos as well…
This one was to capture the number of people…
And one to capture the view…
And a final sunset view that I captured on the way back to the cottage…
Overall, this was a magical day, and I was happy to share it with my best friend and wife, Jenny. It was this day that had us both realize we would have liked to spend more than a week in the park. This is definitely a place that both of us would be happy to visit again.
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