Coastal Maine and Acadia

Hi friends!

It’s time for a just-back-from travel post, but can I really call it that if it’s taken me an entire week to get this blog post written, videos compiled and edited, and everything published? I don’t know, but I’m running with it.

ANYway, this trip to Maine was a just-us trip that HBW Hubby and I took, dropping the kids with my mom for their much-anticipated vacation away from mom and dad. I didn’t particularly intend for it to be some big anniversary trip to celebrate 10 years of being a breast cancer survivor, but I can’t escape the symbolism of some facets of this trip – the whole journey aspect and the lighthouses being a light in the storm as it were. But you’re not here for my sanguine musings – you want the salty sea air, seafood, and scenery. Let’s get on with it!

We spent about a week in Maine, so I’m going to break it down for you day by day. We flew into Portland, then worked our way up US-1 to Bar Harbor, then made our way back to Portland to fly back home at the end of the week. We saw a handful of lighthouses, drove through and stopped at several quaint small fishing towns, ate some amazing seafood, and saw some beautiful sights.

Trip Videos

If you want a quick look at our days, I chronicled each day of our trip on YouTube Shorts. See the whole playlist here or you can watch the long-form videos for embedded below for the more in-depth view of our trip.

In the Coastal Maine video, see everything I talk about below and more as you come with us on our road trip along US-1 up the coast from Portland to Bar Harbor, touring small towns and fun shops, eat yummy seafood, and seeing the sights! In the Acadia video, hike up the cliff face of the granite dome known as The Beehive and walk the ocean path along the cliffs to see Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, and the Otter Cliffs, then come with us to take in sunset at Bass Harbor Head Light!

Coastal Maine

Day 1: Portland

Our first day was mostly a travel day. We arrived in Portland late afternoon during some of the warmest temperatures Maine has seen in years. We planned to stay only one night there then finish our time in Portland on the back end of our trip. Landing in late afternoon, there wasn’t time for too much, but we grabbed a quick delicious dinner at The Great Lost Bear then hopped in the car and headed south about 20 min to Fort Williams Park, where the most photographed lighthouse in the U.S. stands, the Portland Head Light. We arrived too late for the museum, but I was mostly there for the beauty of the light, which was undeniable. Still, it was cool to learn that the light was commissioned by George Washington himself in 1790!

Before You Go: Entry to the park is free but you will need to pay to park. At the time of this post, we paid $6. There is also a small fee for admission to the museum if you want to go in. For pricing and details, see https://portlandheadlight.com/.

Day 2: Bailey Island, Bath, Boothbay Harbor

The next morning, we got an early start and made our way to our first stop, Bailey Island, where the harbor is dotted with colorful fishing boats (above) and where you can find The Giant’s Stairs. There’s a short trail that runs behind several cottages and The Giant’s Stairs are in the middle of that trail. The trail smells sweet and salty, pulling in scents from both the sea and the wild roses that grow on the cliffs alongside it. There are multiple points along the trail to walk down to the rocks and I found it so peaceful to sit and listen to the waves crashing below while looking out on the horizon. The Giant’s Stairs (center below) were neat but the coastline was the real star here. Bonus, parts of the trail were shiny with quartz and mica (maybe? I’m no rock specialist), which you can see in my Coastal Maine video. Sound on for those crashing waves!

Our next stop was Bath, where you can find Mockingbird Bookshop. I of course had to buy a book to remember the trip by! 😉 But the town was very pretty and made a great place to stop, grab some lunch, and stretch our legs for a bit. Also, can we bring back corner clocks like the one below?

Our final stop for the day was Boothbay Harbor. It was pretty busy, but such a pretty town with people from all over the world who sail their boats into its harbor. We checked into our room at the Boothbay Harbor Inn, then walked across the footbridge to get ready for our lobster haul cruise with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises. It was a great excursion that allowed us to see the harbor from the water, the Ram Island and Burnt Island Lights, and even some harbor seals sunning themselves. Of course, you can’t call it a lobster haul without a lobster haul demonstration. It was pretty cool seeing how they trap and pull in lobsters and if you’re interested, definitely check it out in my Coastal Maine video. After the cruise, we went to Kaler’s Restaurant for some dinner. HBW Hubby ordered the lobster roll and I ordered the crab roll, but after tasting both, I preferred the lobster and he obliged. That’s love ;). We finished it off with a cold treat from Downeast Ice Cream Factory.

Day 3: Friendship, Marshall Point Light, Owls Head, Camden, Bar Harbor, Acadia

We spent our third day traveling from Boothbay Harbor the rest of the way to Bar Harbor, but we stopped multiple times. Our first stop of the day Wallace’s Market, a cute 160+ year old market found in Friendship. It was the perfect place to grab a breakfast sandwich and some iced tea to go and a quick picture. Next up was Marshall Point Lighthouse, which you might recognize from the movie Forrest Gump. From there, it was a quick trip to Owls Head where we passed by the post office and I made HBW Hubby immediately stop and pull over so I could get a picture before we continued on to Owls Head Light. While there, we toured the museum (free) then walked down the path to the pebble beach to stop and take in the view (seen in the video).

We hit the road again, stopping in Camden, which was bigger and busier than Bath but just as quaint. Of course I had to stop at the local yarn and book stores as well as a few other shops. It was a perfect place to grab some lunch too before getting back on the road. The last stop of the day was Bar Harbor, where we had a VRBO booked for two nights. After checking in and changing, we wasted no time before hitting the Beehive Trail in Acadia National Park, a difficult but exhilarating 1.4 mile hike that ascends the side of the granite dome called, you guessed it, The Beehive. More on Acadia below. It gets its own section. 😉

Day 4: Bar Harbor, Acadia

Most of the fourth day was spent taking our time along the Ocean Path Trail in Acadia, which I’ll get more into later on. But after that, we went back to Bar Harbor to walk around, do a little shopping, buy some souvenirs, and just take in the town. We brought some nicer clothes so we could eat at The Reading Room Restaurant at Bar Harbor Inn. It’s fine dining in a casual atmosphere. The whole vibe was comfortable elegance, with a large open room and windows curving around the space to take in the harbor view. The weather had cooled off to more typical temps and it was a little chillier that evening, so I enjoyed some lobster bisque while HBW Hubby had the clam chowder before our mains. They also had this delicious blueberry butter they served with their bread at the table that was oh so good. The food was delicious and the view couldn’t be beat. You can see all of it in the Coastal Maine video.

Before you go: If you want to eat at The Reading Room Restaurant, and I highly recommend the experience, know that you should make a reservation at least a day or two in advance on their website. They book up at popular times during peak season.

Day 5: Sea Kayaking, Portland

Our fifth day was primarily a travel day as we made our way back to Portland from Bar Harbor. We started with a quiet morning in Bar Harbor, grabbing a blueberry scone and tea from The Stadium before hitting the road again. We arrived back in time to check in at our hotel, then change for our sea kayaking adventure. I had booked us a sunset kayaking tour around Casco Bay through Portland Paddle, which was so cool! It wasn’t our first time kayaking, but it was the first time doing it at that time of day. The sun was gorgeous as it set over the calm water. While we paddled along, we even saw an osprey and its huge nest atop an old trestle bridge. You can see it in the Coastal Maine video too, along with our tour guide, Joe, doing a kayak roll, which was very entertaining. We grabbed a late dinner at Luke’s Lobster afterwards.

Before you go: pay attention to parking signs – there are time restrictions, day restrictions, and free parking all mixed in together. If kayaking on the bay, book ahead of time online. Wear quick-dry layers and waterproof shoes/sandals and don’t forget SPF!

Day 6: Victoria Mansion, Portland

We had a little time the first half of the day to do something before flying home on our sixth day. It was raining, so while my original plan had been to walk around Old Port, we ended up going to tour Victoria Mansion AKA the Morse-Libby House, instead. The mansion is over 160 years old built in the Italianate villa style. Over 90% of the furniture and interior design elements are original to the house, which was fascinating. If you love history, architecture and design, this is a must-see. Video was not allowed inside the house, but I did get tons of photos, which I added to the Coastal Maine video.

Interesting things to note:

• Everything is hand-carved, hand painted, or otherwise handcrafted – there was no wallpaper, everything you see is hand-painted and carefully restored and preserved
• This was the first house in Portland to see a flushable toilet – don’t worry, that’s one of the pictures in the video 😉
• The ceiling in the dining room is not wood but is actually plaster molding that was painted to mimic wood
• The large stain glass window above the main staircase was shattered in a hurricane in 1938, the shattered pieces were picked up by the caretaker at the house and stowed in a box that wasn’t discovered until the 1990s, when it was restored, re-glazed and reinstalled. It looks like new!
• This house was at least partially funded by the original owner’s business ventures in the slave trade. He was a hotelier in New Orleans who used enslaved people to work in his hotels and bought and sold in the slave trade. The Victoria Mansion understands the importance of sharing an all-encompassing history of a place, including the horrific parts. In that vein, they have been digging into the history of those enslaved persons to tell their stories and you can read about them in their Unwilling Architects Initiative on their website.

Before you go: If this is a rainy day plan for you, book a tour the day before. Spots are limited and walk-in tours on a rainy day are hit or miss. We heard them telling people they were sold out while we waited for our tour to begin, so I was glad I’d booked online the night before. Get museum hours and fees here.

Acadia National Park

We planned two nights in Bar Harbor, which with travel basically amounted to a day and a half to see/do things. We really wanted to do Sunrise at Cadillac Mountain, but sadly, even looking 2+ months in advance, tickets were sold out. So if that’s something you want to do, be sure to book that early in your planning process. We also wanted to do the Precipice Trail, but unfortunately it was closed for Peregrine falcon nesting season. I guess this all means we will just have to go back! But let me tell you about what we DID do.

As mentioned above, there is a dedicated video for everything we did in Acadia on this trip and it is less than four minutes and definitely worth a watch.

Before you go: A park entrance pass is required to enter the park. At the time of this post, it cost $35 for a 7 day pass. You can purchase online before you go and bring it with you when you go to check in at the entrance stations in the park. Cadillac Summit Road Vehicle passes are separate and require an additional fee. The park does not accept cash, but everything can be paid for online beforehand. Find more information here.

Beehive Trail

The Beehive is a granite dome overlooking Sand Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. The Beehive Trail might be my favorite thing we did in Acadia, if not the whole trip. This rugged, rocky 1.4 mile loop will have you ascending up The Beehive by climbing up rocks and using iron rungs when hand and footholds are unavailable.  It’s short but intense with stunning views for those daring enough to climb its steep sections.

It took us 2 hours stopping for photos, water and taking in the views. It’s not technically rock climbing, but with the exposed bits and iron rungs, it sure feels like it! We ascended to the summit then came down to The Bowl (pond), which I stopped to splash around in and cool off. Toward the end of the loop, there is a section you can look up at the Beehive and see the line of climbers ascending. It’s an amazing perspective considering how far you’ve come at that point. You can see our time on the trail in the Acadia video.

I would 100% recommend this hike so long as it is not wet or foggy, you’re not afraid of heights, and you follow the recommended uphill route. I would be nervous descending those iron rungs. It’s a lot of climbing and my legs felt like Jell-O after but it was so worth it!

Ocean Path Trail

The Ocean Path Trail is an easy 4.4 mile out and back trail that runs along the coast from Sand Beach to Otter Cliffs. It’s a very popular trail and was very busy when we went but I would still recommend good footwear as there are various terrain types. We took our time with this one, taking multiple opportunities to veer off trail through various access points to walk the craggy cliffs and take in the view.

Thunder Hole can also be found along this trail, named for the sound it makes when the tide crashes into the hollowed out cavern in the cliff. Unfortunately, the water was very calm and it wasn’t very thundery when we went.

The Ocean Path trail starts at the upper parking lot for Sand Beach, which is also accessible via its trailhead from the same place. Perfect if you want a beach day! We opted to view the beach from afar, but you can see it and the rest of our time on this trail in the Acadia video.

Before you go: if you want to see Thunder Hole do its thing, it’s recommended you get there an hour or two before high tide. It’s a very popular attraction and if you want a good viewing spot, that’s your best bet. You can see how many people were there in my video, and that was an hour beforehand. They post the high and low tide times at the park entrance station, or just ask.

Bass Harbor Head Light

After dinner on Day 4, we went to the other side of the park to Bass Harbor Head Light for a sunset viewing. The light is still working and you can see it flash red off and on in the video. The sunset did not disappoint! If you want to do this too, be sure to arrive about 30 min before sunset because this too is a popular spot. You can see various views of this light in the Acadia video.

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This was such a fun trip! I definitely feel like we could have stayed longer and seen more, particularly since we didn’t get to do everything we wanted at Acadia. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely book everything 3 months or more in advance because peak season is for real. I might also consider going on the earlier or later side of the season when the crowds would be fewer. The trade off is that many places have seasonal hours, so they may not all be open yet. Other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Until next time, happy traveling!

xx

P.S. Want to plan your own Maine trip? I’ve pinned TONS of ideas to Pinterest! Find my planning board for this trip HERE.

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