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July 1, 2019
Today the weather was predicted to be beautiful. We thought it would be a good day to try the Loop Road. We reached the entrance to the Loop about 9:30. Traffic was fine and we enjoyed a lot of the view points along the way. Fionnuala asked if we could stop at every viewpoint (and we did for a while).
Frenchmen’s Harbor as seen from the viewpoint on the Loop Road
Porcupine Island, Long Porcupine Island, and Bald Porcupine Island as seen from the Loop Road
Cadillac Mountain as seen from the viewpoint.
The children were thrilled to find a path that the could explore.
Since traffic didn’t appear to be much of a concern, so we decided to try Cadillac Mountain. The views along the road were beautiful.
We arrived to the summit parking lot just after 10 AM and hit our first traffic jam. It didn’t end up taking too long though, about 10 minutes.
After a peaceful climb up the mountain we were met with a traffic jam at the Cadillac Mountain parking lot.
We piled out of the car an accidentally started on the South Ridge Trail (think that it led to the summit) and enjoyed some spectacular views before we found out that the summit was in the other direction.
The views from the South Ridge Trail, Cadillac Mountain
We headed to the summit and took in the views, but I actually found the views from the other trail to be better. The summit was pretty crowded (but has paved access). We enjoyed the clean restrooms and also made a few purchases at the nice shop next to the restrooms as well.
The summit of Cadillac Mountain
The view from the summit of Cadillac Mountain
After Cadillac Mountain, we continued along the Loop Road and pulled into the Abbe Museum parking lot, but there was no parking (even in unmarked spaces) so we continued on. At about 11:30 we stopped for lunch at Bear Brook Picnic Area. When we arrived there were plenty of tables and parking spaces available. It was peaceful and a perfect setting for our lunch. We were pleasantly surprised by the clean restrooms as well.
Bear Brook Picnic Area
After lunch we continued along the Loop Road. We reached Sand Beach which was my only memory from my previous visit in 1983. We arrived at noon and the place was overrun with cars and people all along the road. This crowding continued past Otter Cliffs, so we did too.
We made a brief stop to take in the view of Otter Cove.
We decided to start making our way toward the “Quiet Side” since it was now after 1 PM and we had a 3 o’clock boat trip booked. We arrived in Bass Harbor at 2, stopped for some ice cream at Maine-ly Delights, and then headed to the pier.
Maine-ly Delights II, Bass Harbor
We opted for Island Harbor Cruises and our Captain for the day was Eli. The cruise was wonderful! It was two hours of interesting commentary, stunning scenery and lots of wildlife. The seals alone would have been worth it. There also was a demonstration of lobster fishing that included a great description of the local industry. The kids thought this trip was great.
This was our departure pier
This was the view of Bass Harbor as we loaded the boat
Bass Harbor Head Light
The famous granite that used to be quarried on these islands
Harbor seals and Grey Seals were abundant
Birds
Seabirds nesting on the cliffs
We saw two bald eagles on our trip
We also got to see a salmon farm.
After we returned to land we drove to the other side of the harbor and ate at Thurston’s Lobster Pound in Bernard. The lobster was good and I’m glad we were able to get in. We arrived at 5:30 and it took about 30 minutes of waiting in line for us to order. The view from the deck looked directly on the pier that we had just left and made for a great setting.
Thurston’s Lobster Pound
The line to get in
The view from Thurston’s
The view from our table
Liam’s first lobster
After dinner we opted to stop by the Little Notch bakery for some wild blueberry pie and cookies that we ate at the house for dessert. What a full day!
Little Notch Bakery, Southwest Harbor, Maine
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