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BAR HARBOR - In the late 19th century Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert Island became one of the country’s most fashionable playgrounds for the rich and famous like the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, the Morgans and the Astors.
Today its natural beauty still beckons, but instead of a few wealthy industrialists, it’s enjoyed by a melting pot of humanity from around the world.
On a walk down Main Street one will find a gift shop for every taste, even a “man shop” filled with curios and gifts for guys.
And you’ll find a restaurant to fit every taste, too, and most likely hear a language spoken calling that eatery’s fare “home cooking.”
Welcome to Bar Harbor, confluence of natural beauty from majestic mountains to shimmering sea and world travelers wanting to savor it.
You might say it’s the “Cadillac” of Maine vacations, as it starts with Cadillac Mountain (A joking Acadia Park Ranger quips, “Can’t you see the windshield on the top?”).
Cadillac Mountain is just 1,528 feet high, but it is the tallest mountain in North America within 25 miles of the coast. Its steep ascent from Frenchmans Bay makes its dramatic rise from the sea all the more stunning.
Named after a French explorer (not the car), Cadillac Mountain is part of Acadia National Park, run by the federal parks program. It is immaculately kept, with a wonderful one-way, two-lane road that wends its way through much of the park’s spectacular scenery. There are many turnouts where one can park their vehicle to stop and take pictures, but if there isn’t, visitors are allowed to just park in the right lane and stop for a family outing.
Before we entered the park (which costs just $20 a car for a seven-day pass) we came upon The Precipice, a steep facing of rock that is likely one of the most challenging climbs in Acadia National Park.
“This is definitely one of the toughest trails,” said U.S. Park Service Ranger Patrick Ryan as he pointed out a peregrine falcon flying high above the cliff’s summit.
Ryan said the climb is about a mile but will take even an experienced hiker almost an hour and a half. He said much of the climb is up steep rock cliffs and advised no one but an experience climber to attempt the ascent.
Acadia National Park has trails for every ability level and there are many trailheads where families can park their car and enjoy the beautiful mountain woods and streams.
The park is also home to what may be one of the most beautiful, pristine beaches in North America. Sand Beach, located just a few miles inside the east entrance, is graced with gorgeous white sand and sparkling clear, clean water surrounded by majestic cliffs.
Of course, the water up here never gets warm. It’s far off the Gulf Stream, getting its flow mostly from Icelandic currents. Here, in late August, water temps were only in the mid-50s.
Of course, you can still run in and out, very fast.
There are several walking trails that take visitors to the summit, but we chose the auto road.
At the top the view is breathtaking, with panoramic views in all four directions.
Way back in 1883 a cog railroad ran to the summit, the site of a hotel that burned down in 1895. Interestingly, the very same year that cog train was sold to the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire.
Now the top of Cadillac Mountain is home to a small gift shop and comfort station and wonderful stone paths that lead sightseers to the summit’s spectacular views.
On a clear day you can see Mount Katahdin to the west and Nova Scotia to the east.
While Cadillac is the hub of daytime activity in Mt. Desert (pronounced dessert), Bar Harbor’s downtown just a few miles away takes over in the late afternoon and evening.
Nearly 50 restaurants boasting every ethnic food imaginable line downtown streets. You could spend a few bucks at Adelmann’s Deli where they feature gluten-free sub sandwiches or your week’s paycheck in the elegant Bar Harbor Inn’s Reading Room overlooking Frenchman’s Bay. For nostalgia buffs there's even a Rexall Drug with a lunch counter.
Sidewalks teem with revelers throughout the evening with young people heading into restaurants/bars like Geddy’s where patrons sip on bottles of beer covered in paper bag coozy’s festooned with funny jokes, or families out sampling after-dinner ice cream or chocolates at one of the many downtown specialty shops.
We stayed at the Bar Harbor Grand Hotel right in the thick of the downtown, where our third-floor room featured pretty mountain views.
There were several restaurants within a minute’s walk, including a lobster shack next door and Adelmann’s Deli and Grill across the street.
(Read on for a special Bar Harbor Grand Hotel offer exclusively for Lebanon Voice readers.)
Also across the street was
the magnificent Shore Walk, where visitors walk a narrow path between Bar Harbor mansions to a wide, paved walkway that travels along the ocean down to the harbor where the four-masted schooner Margaret Todd is berthed.
The Margaret Todd is the only four-masted schooner in New England and one of only two in the country.
The harbor is the hub of the village, its wharves filled with excursion boats, ferries and yachts of the rich and famous.
This year some 23 cruise ships will visit the port about 130 times from May through October, with the majority in September.
It is from these cruise ships and the magnetic worldwide draw the island enjoys that produce the dizzying array of languages heard, among them German, Israeli, French, Spanish and Japanese to name a few.
Bar Harbor began its rise to vacation prominence in the mid-1800s when artists’ rendering of the beautiful countryside inspired the wealthy to visit and later build mansions, each one trying to outdo the other in size and grandeur. It was like a Newport, R.I., Maine style.
Many of these mansions are viewable from the Shore Path.
Before the mansions were built many summer visitors stayed at the Rodick House downtown, which featured some 400 rooms, but not one private bathroom. The Rodick House was once known as the largest hotel in Maine.
Once the mansions were built and other more modern hotels were erected, the Rodick fell out of favor and was torn down in the early 1900s.
The Bar Harbor Grand Hotel is modeled after the Rodick, and its décor and charm are replicated as well. Of course, all the amenities expected of a four-star modern hotel are offered at the Grand, including huge rooms, a heated pool, and free continental breakfast including French toast, hot oatmeal and waffles. There is also a refrigerator and coffee maker in each room.
The Bar Harbor Grand is about a five-minute walk to everywhere downtown, including even the Hannaford’s if you need some groceries.
While you’re shopping you never know who you’ll run into. Still today the area is the summer playground of its share of celebrities, including the CEO of Burt's Bees, Roxanne Quimby; Martha Stewart, John Travolta and famed architect Fred L. Savage. President Obama visited here in 2010 and dined at a Cuban restaurant a couple of blocks from the Grand.
As we left Bar Harbor after a short two-night stay and headed back west on Route 3 we noticed all the back streets with more boutiques and eateries we’d missed exploring. We’d spent all our time on Main Street.
A good reason to start planning our next visit, which will hopefully be longer.
For more information on the Bar Harbor Grand Hotel visit www.barharborgrand.com
(Attention The Lebanon Voice readers: The Bar Harbor Grand Hotel has extended a spectacular offer just for you. From now until the end of the season in early November Lebanon Voice readers will get a 15 percent discount on their stay plus a free $20 gift certificate to the hotel’s gift shop. All you have to do is mention The Lebanon Voice.)
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