Part 3 of 3
In Town:
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ShoppingLooking north on Main Street Looking south on Main Street The West End Drugstore on Main Street:
Newport Drive at the |
For better or worse, downtown Bar Harbor is populated with endless touristy little shops. Many are nice to browse through but certainly no different from the same you'd find in any similar town. Some are quite tacky and seem to be targeted solely towards the cruise ship denizens and tend to bring the downtown ambience down a few notches. Fortunately, this doesn't apply to many of the shops, and a few stand out:
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Restaurants |
Most restaurants on the island are informal (hiking boots, jeans, etc.), although you can find a few stuffy old-fashioned snooty places if you want to. We tend to stay away from that type of place; we're no longer impressed. (For our personal favorite, check below under Southwest Harbor.)
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Ben and Bill'sMaking the impossible decision |
Ben and Bill's is a sweet shop on Main Street at the end of Cottage Street. It is sweets-heaven (or hell, if you're dieting), with a large selection of homemade ice cream, as well as every imaginable (and unimaginable) confection you've ever dreamed of. Almost everything for sale that is edible is made on site, and you can watch the candies being made through the opening at the rear of the display cases. Early evenings during the summer, there is usually a considerable line to get in to this shop. Most of the time, it moves fast, and is generally worth the wait. Try the lobster ice cream if you're feeling astronomically adventurous. They also sell a Doggie special for your pup: two scoops of Ice cream and a dog bone (seriously). |
Other Places in TownAn aerial view of the "bar" The Shore Path: Agamont Park The Criterion Theater on Cottage Street: |
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Other Towns on the Island | |
SomesvilleThe arched bridge The outdoor "reading room" |
On your way to Echo Lake, you'll pass through Somesville, the oldest town on the island. Other than a general store and a seasonal theater, most of Somesville is residential, but be sure to investigate the Somesville Library, outside of which is a reading area at the mouth of Somes Sound, the only natural fjord in the U.S.A. Across the street is an arched bridge that is quite picture perfect. Bring your camera to this spot. |
Southwest Harbor
Haute cuisine á la Beal's:
Lobster Boats at Beal's, 2009: |
If you continue south on Route 102 past Echo Lake, you'll come to Southwest Harbor, famous in sailing circles as the home of Hinckley Yachts. It's the second-largest town on the island but still retains its little fishing village persona. There are several nice shops, a terrific ice-cream parlor, and a few excellent restaurants. In our opinion, Fiddler's Green Restaurant on Main Street (Route 102) in Southwest Harbor is the best restaurant on the island, and one of our favorites anywhere. If you're interested in imaginative, creative and highly-skilled cooking, the friendliest service anywhere and simply a wonderful culinary experience, be sure to make dinner reservations here. You won't be disappointed. Southwest Harbor is also the home of Beal's Lobster Pound. For many years we touted Beal's as the most down-East, purely Maine coast eating experience you could have, but alas, like so many other things, it's changed...and not for the better. High prices, unfriendly staff imported from Eastern Europe and inconsistent quality have marred this old gem. However, it's still worth a visit. The ambience is more or less the same, with very informal dining on wooden tables on the piers among fishermen, lobster boats and seagulls. Order your lobsters, steamers, corn on the cob and wine, and enjoy a harborside dinner as the sun goes down. |
Northeast Harbor and Seal HarborNortheast Harbor |
Northeast Harbor is a very small, upscale community with a 2-block downtown area that has some shops certainly worth a look. The harbor itself is beautiful and the launch point for some of the National Park Service's tours. The Asticou Gardens in Northeast Harbor are quite beautiful and worth a visit. |
Where To Stay |
This is a difficult topic for us to address (no pun intended). The island offers lots of guest houses, a few resort-style hotels, several smaller hotels, many motels, a few private campgrounds, trailer parks and such, two unusually beautiful national park campgrounds and in every town on every corner of the island, houses for rent. For the first few years, we camped out. Then we started renting houses, and we've never rented the same house more than once. With only one significant exception (see below), our experience is obviously limited to renting, and not to staying at commercial properties. For an extended stay of one week or more, rentals seem to be the most comfortable and economically practical, especially if you're traveling with a family or group of four or more. So, with that in mind, let's first talk about rentals. There are hundreds of well-maintained, privately owned homes available for rent on a weekly, monthly or seasonal basis on the island. Rentals have a very broad range of prices, from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per week. Like real estate anywhere, location is a primary factor. Accommodations, furnishings, amenities and perqs also have a great effect on the price. Shore access is extremely rare; many "shore front" properties are perched atop cliffs or set back in woods. Expect a high premium for a rental where you can step out of the back door onto a beach. Most rental property owners are very skittish about bringing pets, and this has been a sore spot for us over the years. We've offered additional deposits, guaranteed to keep our dog outside, and begged and pleaded with many an owner with little success. The irony is that our kids were more of a liability to the property than our Golden Retriever, but the owners seemed to be extremely narrow-minded and stubborn about this issue. We can not and will not recommend specific properties for you to rent. If you're interested in renting a house, we can steer you to some agents, and offer some advice on what to expect in terms of price and specific towns and locations. Rather than go into all the caveats about rentals that we can share, we'll be happy to discuss your questions via email to Larry@acadiabarharbor.com only after you've contacted the agencies and have been offerred one or more properties. Please do not email us with requests for specific places to rent. Our one recommendation is to be flexible: there are lots of very nice rentals in areas and towns that you may not know about. If you insist on a shore front property within walking distance of Bar Harbor, you'll be significantly limiting your options and missing some very wonderful opportunities elsewhere. Remember, you're going to this island to be outdoors (we assume), so keep your rental needs within that perspective. By the way...if you do intend to rent during the summer, get started in January! Following are some reputable agencies that handle rentals with whom we have experience:
As for the "significant exception" to our experiences, we recently broke our tradition of renting homes. In May of 2002, we stayed at The Bar Harbor Inn. This world-class hotel is located at the foot of Main Street in downtown Bar Harbor, overlooking Frenchman's Bay, directly on the Shore Path. Quite simply, it is one of the most well-maintained, well-staffed and beautiful hotels in the world we've ever had the pleasure to visit. If you're looking for a very superior stay at a perfect location, you need not look any further than this hotel. There are other hotels on the island that we've been told are "very nice" or "comfortable" or "reasonably priced." You may want to find those on your own by checking the AAA or Mobil Guides, or checking other online resources. |
Other Things to DoBartlett's Landing at low tide: |
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And Finally...
Chloë and her friend
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Keep in mind that this is all very subjective. If you're looking to be entertained, or looking for glitz, or seeking a Disneyworld-type vacation, you may be disappointed. This is an island where you do your own thing, most of it outdoors. Even at the height of the season, when there are a zillion people on the island, you can always find a quiet and beautiful place somewhere. If you just visit the tourist traps and hang out in town, you may miss all that's brought us back there for over 20 years. There's karma in this place, and you don't have to look hard to find it. Don't be disarmed by how friendly everyone is in Bar Harbor, or by how many people are wearing tie-dyed clothes, or by the folk music clubs in town, or all the dogs running around, or the children frolicing just about everywhere... It may seem like 1969, but it's just the way life is supposed to be! |
Some WWW Links |
The links listed here were all active as of May, 2009. You may want to use a search tool to find others.
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LETTERS | ...from people who have visited this site. |
BAR HARBOR | ...as seen from space! |
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Copyright ©1996-2007 Larry and Michele Bermel, Chappaqua, NY