Travelling Maine with a Campervan: Bar Harbor

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Bar Harbor is a charming little port town near Acadia National Park in Maine. My parents and I rented an RV in Montreal and drove down to Bar Harbor back in September.

Bar Harbor has some small, narrow roads that are difficult to navigate with an RV. Thankfully, there is an RV parking area just a 10 minute walk from town.

Bar Harbor was settled in 1763 and incorporated as the town of Eden in 1796. In the late 1800s, it became a vacation spot for the wealthy New Englanders,  including the Astors, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Carnegies, so there are some grand houses and estates scattered throughout Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island. Some of these wealthy visitors petitioned the President to establish Mount Desert Island as a national park to preserve its wild nature. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated 11,000 acres and had a hand in designing and building the numerous miles of carriage roads, bridges, and highways.

We spotted Stewman’s Lobster Pound from the seaside sidewalk, and ambled over for lunch (twice during our visit!).

Bar Harbor has a beautiful little art deco theatre, but we didn’t have time to watch movies.

Bar Harbor has some quirky shops and alleys.

Bar Harbor has a lovely shore path that connects the downtown to the outskirts of the town. It was a charming, short stroll along the shore of Frenchman Bay down a path that was tucked between the shore and the backyards of private homes. My mom and I spent some time sitting on a bench along the path, amidst the beach roses, and just watched the boats in the harbor.

This boulder is what they call an ‘anomaly,’ as the type of rock was different than the surrounding rock. The boulder was moved to this location by glaciers during the last ice age.

All the houses that faced onto the Shore Path were immaculately kept and their gardens were beautiful.

We saw some dead jellyfish in the bay.

My mom and I shared a delicious blueberry ice cream from Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium. We also sampled their strange lobster ice cream, but obviously didn’t end up ordering it. Blueberries grown wild on Mount Desert Island, and even in Acadia National Park visitors are allowed to pick them for personal consumption. Maine grows 98% of the blueberries in the United States, and about half of the amount produced in the world. During the blueberry season in Maine (late July and early August) visitors can visit pick-your-own farms or purchase them from farm stands. If you’re not here during blueberry season, you can still enjoy blueberries served in pies, ice creams, or jams.

Lobster traps! Maine has more than 5000 lobstermen, and many of them fish more than 1000 traps each. Each fisherman registers his/her coloured and patterned buoys with the state, and no two licensees have the same buoy patterns. A fisherman must display one of his buoys on his boat when he is hauling his traps to prove that he’s pulling up his own and not those belonging to another fisherman.

A beautiful gazebo in the Agamont Park, overlooking the town pier and harbour. We spent some time lying on the grass here, watching tourists and boats, while my dad did some work with the free public wifi.

We saw a seal! Bar Harbor is the setting-off point for myriad whale-watching tours, but we skipped those after having an amazing whale-watching experience off of Cape Cod. Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park are home to a wide variety of wildlife, including porpoises, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, osprey, and even puffins!
Bar Harbor is home to numerous seafood restaurants, as it is a working fishing port with a lively lobster fishery. Many of the restaurants have these colourful menu boards posted outside, luring in hungry travellers.