Bar Harbor – August 2020: Day 2

We slept in later than expected but were still up by 8:00am. My wife had a morning call to get to so we needed to get out of the room. We made our way over to the breakfast room near the pool to see what the breakfast would be.

Breakfast Buffet

When we arrived there wasn’t a line or much activity. At the podium we gave our room number and were given a tray. All the food was pre-packaged and there was a limited selection of continental options. There weren’t any hot options or even a toaster. There were several types of cereal and some yougurt and fresh fruit. The pickings weren’t what they would have been pre-COVID, but we were thankful to have something.

Once we chose our food we found an empty table in the dining room. The tables were properly distanced and since it wasn’t very crowded we had no issues finding a table. We also had the option to sit on the pool patio and several people took advantage of the peaceful quiet before the pool itself opened.

Biking

After breakfast the boys and I headed into town to get our rented bikes when the store opened at 9:00am sharp. We had rented bikes for the entire day, but we expected to only use it for a few hours.

We had brought our own helmets, though they did come with the rental if we hadn’t remembered our own. The bikes themselves were much better quality than we’ve rented in other places. Usually the bikes we rent leave a lot to be desired, but then again, the people that rent these bikes are going to be in general much more hardcore than the people renting in San Francisco or Long Beach! The island economy is based on being ourdoors!

The plan was to ride the bikes to the nearby Eagle Lake. There’s an approximately 5 mile carriage road (a smooth dirt road with no vehicle traffic allowed) not far from town that is a popular loop. The bike shop had given us a map to follow and pointed us in the right direction.

We followed the directions and the map out of town and towards Eagle Lake. There was one large hill we had to climb that was quite a challenge. We had to take a break halfway up the half mile hill but made it to the top to the entrance of Acadia National Park.

We followed the map (or so we thought) towards the lake. It was longer than I thought and wehn we got to the end of the road, the street name didn’t match the map. I took out my phone but had no signal so I wasn’t sure which way to go. After climbing up a relatively long hill I realized we should have gone the other way (doh!). By that point the boys were less interested in going down the hill and having to climb up it again after circling the lake. Instead we continued on as we were headed back to town. We were going to end up doing a different circle than intended. Oh well. We were still having fun!

Since we still had the bikes all day, we ended up biking to the town athletic fields which are on Main Street a half mile from the core of downtown. The fields were empty and wide open so we took out our frisbee and tossed it around, enjoying some socally distanced mask-free time.

Back to Town

The boys were getting hungry so we made the 10 minute bike back to the rental shop to return our bikes. We weren’t going to go out again so it was best to return them and not have to deal with them. The return process was quick and painless despite being relatively busy with other people picking up their bikes.

We then headed next door to EPI’s Pizza which is a local favorite and has been around ever since I remember. As we waited for our lunch we noticed my wife arrived to get something for her lunch. We hadn’t coordinated so it was by chance.

We quickly finished lunch with her and walked back towards the hotel. My wife went to the room but we took a walk along the Shore Path, taking advantage of the low tide by walking on the rocks.

In front of the hotel there is a large balancing rock that everyone tries to push over. They made a valliant attempt but were unsuccessful!

After walking to the end of the trail we turned around and headed back to the hotel. We then headed to the pool for a refreshing swim. The pool was surprisingly empty for such a beautiful day, though I’m sure everyone was out enjoying the island. Back in the hotel the boys played cards for a bit while my wife finished up work for the day.

Dinner and Mountains

We walked into town to find dinner before the evening rush. Tomatico wanted to try out a Mexican place so I went with our youngest to look for a restaurant I thought he would like. Unforutnately it wasn’t around any more. We ended up at Route 66 Restaurant across the street from the pizza place we went to for lunch. This restaurant has half a car as a decoration above the front door. This restaurant is a bit famous in our family because my dad’s yearbook photo is on the wall in the women’s bathroom!

It’s not quite as weird as it sounds. The restaurant is heavily themed with period and local decorations and they must have found an old yearbook from the local high school and used that as wallpaper in the women’s room. Several years ago my wife verified the picture is really there. We tried to figure out how to “sneak in” to show my youngest but we didn’t have any luck. Dinner was satisfying, though!

We met up with Tomatico and my wife back in the park before getting some ice cream and walking back to the hotel. Since it was still relatively early, we decided to try to drive up to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

Cadiallac Mountain is the tallest mountain in Acadia and there is a convenient road to drive to the summit. It can get VERY busy in normal summers, especially and sunrise and sunset. It’s one of the first places in the US to see the sun rise.

It was a 20 minute drive from the hotel to the top along a winding road with not much of a shoulder. You can also expect to encouter some cyclists along the way. That said, the road is far from the scariest road I’ve ever been on. It’s tighter than most roads but it’s not something that even nervous drivers should avoid.

The views are spectacular in every direction. You can see Bar Harbor and all around Acadia National Park. You can see almost the entire island from the summit. There are lots of concrete paths around the top and it’s best to stay on them so not to damage any of the plants.

We relaxed on the summeit for nearly an hour as we watched the sun start to set. We drove back before the sun had fully set, though, in hopes of avoiding some of the traffic.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was dark and we played some card games before calling it a night. The next day was supposed to be rainy in the morning and clear in the afternoon so we planned on a later start.