Tag Archives: Bar Harbor
Day is Done…
Back on dry land I had to get my land legs back to trudge up the hill to the car. From freezing to sweating . It was close to 90 degrees and humid! Maybe being cold out on the sea wasn’t so bad. 🙂
The first point of business was to track down my fellow traveler, JR. He hadn’t wanted to go on the boat so I’d left him exploring the town. Now as I pulled out my cell phone to call him I realized it was 5 pm. No wonder I was hungry. I hadn’t had lunch and the “snack bar” on the rocking and rolling Islander consisted of peanuts , chips, candy bars, coffee and soft drinks. With the cabin filled with the suffering, I couldn’t even think of food but back on land my stomach was making its empty presence known.
JR was back at the motel so I headed over there to meet up with him. He had done a terrific job of checking out the town. One of the most interesting things to me was an island called Bar Island. It’s an island in the harbor just off Bar Harbor. You get to it by crossing a sand bar. The tricky part is that the sand bar is under water at high tide. Up in that part of Maine the tides can vary 10 – 12 feet between High and Low tide. So if you go out and the tide comes in..you could be stuck there for 6 hours or until the next low tide.
On the boat the tour guide said there was a joke that if a local tells you there’s parking on the island that means  they don’t like you very much. 🙂
But back to my hungry stomach…During his explorations JR had run across a pub style restaurant called The Thirsty Whale. I would have liked to go back to The Route 66 if only to bring the camera but JR had a point. His argument was that we should experience as much as possible in the short time we would be there and we’d already tried Rt 66. The Thirsty Whale wasn’t far from the motel so we walked down.
It was typical pub food. JR had a pizza of some kind..maybe bar-b- q chicken or something like that. I stuck with the nautical theme enjoying a fish and chips plate that tasted as if he fish had just swum in..sooo fresh. That’s the beauty of ordering seafood right on the coast. The problem is that it spoils me for the rest of the year.
After dinner we wandered up to the main tourist part of town, did some window shopping and got an ice cream at one of the many ice cream shops.
I spotted the man with the cat on the leash again. I couldn’t believe how calm the cats was with strangers walking all around him. Rocky will walk on a leash too so that wasn’t the amazing part. The part that amazed me is that the cat was calm as could be in all the confusion and the crowds of people. While I talked with his owner he plopped down and started giving himself a thorough kitty bath …the cat not the owner.(yoga poses to reach his private parts and all).
Leaving the hustle and bustle behind we walked back to the motel. JR wanted to photograph a church with beautiful stained glass windows. I did too  but my adventures of the day had taken their toll. I could hardly keep my eyes open on the walk back so I sent him on his way and I crashed. I think my eyes were closed before my head hit the pillow. We had another busy day planned for the ‘morrow and I wanted to be alert enough to enjoy it.
First Night in Bar Harbor
Leaving Breakwater behind we took the “scenic “ Rt 1 the rest of the way to Bar Harbor. We crossed the Penobscot Narrows on a what looked like a brand new bridge.
It was a 2 lane bridge with a center “spine”. It was a really neat bridge . I commented that I wanted to stop right there in the road and take a picture. JR didn’t think that was a very good idea and as if to prove it another car pulled onto the bridge behind us.
The other interesting thing was that the old bridge was still standing right next to the new one. As was once said on a show from the 60’s/ 70’s…Veeeery Interesting!
A little bit farther on was a scenic pull out where we could see the bridge and satisfy my need for a picture.
Back on the road we found the scenic RT 1 to be ok but there weren’t any spectacular vistas so it was a bit of a let down.
We made our first mistake just before we got to the motel and had to go around the block. Not bad for a drive of over 300 miles. I guess my GPS works ok.
The motel , The Anchorage, was so retro 70’s it was funny but the room was clean and the folks running it were very nice.
The air conditioner worked and there was a shower and bath. We checked in and unloaded our stuff. Our room was a corner room on the 2nd level.
We had a map from the front desk and decided to walk down to the center of town to find a place for dinner.
About 3 blocks down we came to a little town green. There was a bandstand like so many bandstands on little town greens but this one was different. It had a band. Of course being tired from the drive neither JR nor I were carrying our cameras. (I know better too. Never go out without your camera!) The band was quite good. I’m sure if it hadn’t been so late and we so tired and hungry that we would have enjoyed sitting in that little park and listening for a while.
As we crossed through the green and moved on down the street it got busier with lots of souvenir shops and restaurants. Eventually we settled on the RT 66 restaurant. I was wearing my Rt 66 sweat shirt so it seemed appropriate.
For the 2nd time that night I was sorry I didn’t have my camera. The restaurant was adorable. It was filled with RT 66 memorabilia but the best part was the little model train that actually ran on tracks above our heads. The waitress was fun too. She was friendly and outgoing. I was surprised when she said it was her first night and that she had never waited table before. She will do well.
My dinner was really good. I’m ashamed to say I don’t know what JR ordered. ( Fine food reporter I am…NOT) except that he ordered something called potato planks or something similar. It was thick sliced potatoes with cheese similar to potato skins. We ended up splitting the order. They were really good.
My main course was baked scallops in white wine and garlic sauce with a side of mashed potatoes. A side salad came with the meal. Now you can see why I wasn’t paying that much attention to JR’s meal. My mouth was watering over my scallops! We both had a drink with our meal. I enjoyed a house chardonnay. After all we were on vacation. By the time we wandered back to the Anchorage I was ready for a good night’s sleep.
The Puffin Cruise was on the agenda for the next afternoon and I wanted to be well rested for that.