Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor Maine

Pictures enlarge if you click on them.Acadia National Park Coastline

When Catherine and I left Boston we rented a car and drove up the Maine coast and headed to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine

Along the way we stopped in Freeport, Maine at the first and largest store for L.L. Bean. Catherine has purchased things from them for years and she was interested in seeing their flagship store. They have fly fishing ponds stocked with trout and all sorts of clothes and camping gear.

Red's Eats in Wiscasset, Maine

We had also heard about lobster rolls at Red's Eats in Wiscasset, Maine. So we had lunch there as you can see from the picture below.

Lobster rolls from Red's Eats

Bluenose Inn at Bar Harbor

During our entire trip, up to this point, we kept missing rain storms. It would rain somewhere right before we arrived and then stop, or rain somewhere right after we left. Well our luck finally ran out when we got to Bar Harbor. However, the Bluenose Inn where we stayed had a nice porch in front and we sat there and watched the storm. Catherine is standing on the porch in the picture above.

Downtown Bar Harbor, Maine

The next day the rain stopped and we were able to go to "downtown" Bar Harbor. It is an attractive little town with shops and restaurants. We caught a bus tour there that took us on a tour of Acadia National Park. Our bus driver was a retired teacher and U.S. Park Ranger who had grown up in the Bar Harbor area, so he provided a lot of local color during the tour. One tidbit that he told us about was that each of the lobster fisherman mark their lobster traps with a buoy that each has unique markings so they can tell which traps are theirs.

Catherine at the top of Mount Desert Island Acadia National Park

Mount Desert Island is a glacier-formed island in the Atlantic Ocean off the northern coast of Maine. Bar harbor and Acadia National Park adjacent to one another and are located on Desert island.

That's me at the top of Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park. (Where is my coat?)

Lupine blooming in a meadow in Acadia National Park

Our guide told us that lupine are not native to Maine so the park administration hired some workers to remove them. Tourists saw the workers removing the lupine and gave the workers such a bad time that the workers refused to continue to remove the lupine. So the lupine were there for us to enjoy.

Beaver hut on a pond in Acadia National Park

In this shot to the right middle you can see see a beaver hut. Our guide told us that the Park Rangers have to build drains on the ponds or the beavers will dam them up and flood the roads.

A closer picture of the beaver hut

Coastline in Acadia National Park

The part of Acadia National Park that I enjoyed the most was the coastline.

Catherine with the coast of Maine in the background

Gate lodge built by John D. Rockefeller

Rockefeller purchased and donated about 11,000 acres, almost a third of Acadia National Park. He also built a 57 mile system of private carriage roads. The roads are still open today for walking, biking, and horse drawn carriages.

Jordon Pond House and Restaurant

Catherine on a side street in the town of Bar Harbor

Catherine downtown Bar Harbor

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