Bar Harbor – August 2020: Day 4

We woke up excited to fit in as much as we could on our last day in Bar Harbor. There is just so much to do, see, and experience that 3 night and 4 days was just not enough to fit it all in, but we would do our best to try!

Morning Sunrise

My wife had trouble sleeping and spend a chunk of the morning out of the room’s balcony as she watched the sun ride. She was in for a treat as the sunrise was spectacular.

Conquering Beech Mountain

After breakfast we made the short drive back to the same parking lot my youngest and I had hiked the day before. Instead of hiking Beech Cliffs, the three of us would be hiking Beech Mountain trail starting on the opposite side of the parking lot.

Beech Mountain is taller but much less steep. The morning was bright and sunny and we made good time on the trail. The trail was also much more busy as we encountered several groups and individuals walking their dog. After a brisk 30 minute hike we made it to the summit where there is an old fire tower used to keep a lookout for fires.

We took a few pictures from the summit and the backdrop. The boys had a blast trying to get a photo of them seemingly clinging to the side of a cliff! Another group on the summit thought it was a neat idea and did it themselves.

We decided to continue on the trail we had come up which went back down around the back side of the mountain giving us different views. The trail was less steep going down though it took us about the same amount of time. The boys were motivated to get to our next stop so we didn’t waste much time.

Back to JPH

The boys insisted that we go back to Jordan Pond House, or JPH as my not-in-the-know Dad referred to it. The plan was to get there about an hour before it closed since we expected more traffic and more of a line since the weather was nice.

We ended up getting there about an hour and 15 minutes before opening and were in for a shock with the traffic. The parking lot we had used the previous day was full. That’s not unexpected, but the overflow parking lot was equally full with dozens of cars making the rounds looking for someone to leave. It was COMPLETELY full.

We drove around for nearly 45 minutes and were about to give up when someone jumped out of the woods and got into their car, motioning to let us take their place. I put on my blinker and took the spot as soon as they left. Luck was on our side!

We walked through the woods on a short path to Jordan Pond House to get in line. While the line quickly grew to be much longer than the previous day, our place in line wasn’t much different. We debated how many popovers to order as the 5 we had ordered the previous day was clearly not enough.

It opened on time and when we were ready to order we decided to double our order to 10 popovers and 3 lemonades. The people next to us were surprised and commented in a good natured way that we must like popovers. We affirmed that we certainly do!

The boys knew the drill and went in to find a table while I waited for our order which came out almost immediately. We were missing a lemonade but checking the receipt we had only been charged for two instead of the three we intended. Rather than try to figure out how to get another one we decided to prioritize eating our popovers while they were still steaming hot!

I’m a butter person for my popovers and the boys had followed suit the previous day. Tomatico was feeling adventurous and tried the jam and liked that just as much. I don’t think he could pick a favorite, though.

We quickly devoured our 10 popovers and decided that next time we’d get 15. I just wish they had an “all you can eat” option. I’d pay a lot for that!

Back to the Hotel

We drove back to the hotel where my wife had checked out of the room and was working from the lobby. Luckily she had been able to do all her calls in the morning while in the room but we had to check out by noon. The hotel was nice enough to allow her to continue working from the lobby.

We were going back to the lake, but the boys insisted on getting another “one last ice cream” from Ben and Bills for the road. It was yummy and worthwhile. My wife even tried the lobster (lobstah) ice cream!

After finishing the ice cream we started our long drive back to the lake. We had packed a lot into the few days we were in Bar Harbor and were sad to leave. Crossing the (very short) bridge back to the mainland was a sad milestone, but the boys will be ready to return whenever we get a chance!