by

July 2, 2019

This morning (our third in Acadia National Park) we made a brief stop for lunch supplies at Hannaford’s in Bar Harbor before getting started with the sight seeing.  Once we had fortified our picnic basket we headed out of town.

The Loop Road wasn’t very crowded when we began, but when we reached Sand Beach around 10:30 cars were already lining the road and the lot was full.  We drove on and were able to park in the Thunder Hole parking lot without much trouble.  The parking lot has a pit toilet on one end and a gift shop on the other.  The building that houses the gift shop was the first ranger station built and used in Acadia National Park and is probably worth a brief look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children and Sarah absolutely loved climbing on the rocks and exploring the shore.  After a while Fionnuala said she was hungry, so we headed back to the car and continued down the Loop Road looking for a picnic spot.

We arrived at Fabbri Picnic Area just before 11:30 and there were lots of parking spaces and the picnic tables were virtually empty.  Even better, the restroom was very clean.  It was a lovely setting where we enjoyed our lunch and then returned to the Loop Road.

We stopped at a viewpoint near the mouth of Otter Cove to take some pictures, then noticed the Hunters Brook Trail head and decided to stop and check out the trail.  We parked on the side of the road and embarked on our first hike. The scenery along the trail was beautiful and the running water of the brook provided a nice soundtrack.

 

We were lucky enough to see a group of four butterflies interacting with each other not long after we began down the trail.  After not too long we reached a marshy section of the trail (the rainfall has been abnormally high this year) and decided that this was a good time to turn back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The return trip is when the complaining began (I didn’t want everyone to feel like these hikes are ALWAYS complaint free).  We made our way back to the trail head, but before we got there Liam asked if he could take a break on a log.  We stopped and realized that this was the place where we saw the butterflies.  Then I noticed a bunch of tracks next to the water which we then investigated.  Our entire walk took about 25 minutes by the time we had reached the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued along the Loop Road and decided to try Jordan Pond House and maybe have a popover if we could find parking.  It was about 12:30 and we were not surprised to find that the main lot was full and that the additional lots were very crowded as well so we left.

We made our way to Northeast Harbor next to see the village.  The village is known as a summer retreat for the wealthy, but we wanted to take a look for ourselves.  We found parking on Main Street and visited the grocery shop before spending two hours looking around the shops and walking around the village.  The are some nice (and expensive) artist and artisan shops to explore as well as a handful of other shops along main street.  There is also a pretty park next to the harbor.

 

We ended our visit with ice cream and coffee at McGrath’s.  At this point everyone was tired so we decided to return to the house.  It was good timing because the rain began just after we reached the house.

We took advantage of the rain to book a horse and carriage tour for tomorrow and then I made a run to Bar Harbor for some groceries.  We settled in for dinner and the rest of our evening.  It became another beautiful evening after the rain stopped!

by