New England Road Trip Day 8

Sunrise at Bar Harbor

Each morning prior to this day I had pestered Michael about getting up and out of the hotel early enough to catch the sunrise, but we hadn’t made it happen yet. Today was the day. We braved the morning chill and dew and ventured out to Agamont Park at the north end of Bar Harbor. At this hour there were no window shoppers, no outdoor diners, no cars driving around. It was utterly peaceful as we watched the sky change colors over the boats in the harbor.

A Slice Of Eden

Maine sunrise, check! Now onto the rest of our day. Another hike was in the works for today, so we carbed up during breakfast with a croissant brekkie sandwich and salmon cream cheese bagel at A Slice of Eden, an adorable little bakery café in south Bar Harbor. To be honest, Mount Dessert Island Bakery had heartier and better textured brekkie sandwiches so if you have to choose between the two I’d recommend going there.

Hiking Around Acadia’s Jordan Pond

Today’s hiking endeavor: Jordan Cliffs. We took Spring Trail to the Jordan Cliffs Trail to the Deer Brook Trail and finished it out at the Jordan Pond Path.

Spring Trail

Spring Trail was a dimly lit, heavily forested, root-ey path. It was soft and wonderfully “thump-ey” underfoot with layers and layers of leaves and moss. This trail was just so strikingly green, and such a different landscape from the other trails of Acadia.

Jordan Cliffs Trail

Alright, now for the Jordan Cliffs Trail. We expected this trail to be “easier” than the Precipice Trail, but it ended up being scarier. Jordan Cliffs Trail doesn’t ascend quite as much as Precipice, but Jordan Cliffs definitely felt sketchier. Instead of summiting a mountaintop with the help of securely bolted iron handlebars, we were scaling the side of the rock like mountain goats. There were still full-body scrambles over boulders, but this time the boulders were literally the cliff face. Little pebbles we knocked over fell for several long seconds between bounces as they descended. But this trail, again, was worth it. Luckily today was a clear sunny day, because the Jordan Cliffs Trail offers spectacular views of Jordan Pond.

Jordan Pond and Jordan Pond Path

After making our way back to ground level, we found ourselves at Jordan Pond. Jordan Pond has to be one of the most picturesque areas of Acadia. But there are so many, can I even say that? Regardless, Jordan Pond is … gorgeous. It is a source of fresh water for the area and thus swimming and boating in the crystal clear waters is prohibited. You can see the multicolored rocks feet below the surface, and the location nestled within a ring of trees is quite literally picture perfect. We selected the comfiest looking rocks bordering the water and enjoyed a modest picnic lunch of summer sausage sandwiches and local beer (ahem, I mean…water). Jordan Pond House (obviously very near Jordan Pond) is one of the hot spots of Acadia and known for their popovers, but the line was so long when we stopped by to take a look that we were glad we opted for a tranquil pond-side picnic instead.

The path from Jordan Pond back to our car took us along the Jordan Pond Path, a mostly flat but occasionally rocky ground level trail bordering the western edge of the pond. A good part of this path takes you along elevated wooden planks winding through the bog.

Hike completed, bellies satisfied, we continued our drive along Park Loop Road. Part of Park Loop Road is a one-way loop that takes you by a number of scenic destinations. Sand Beach on this day was extraordinarily crowded, likely because it was a sunny cloudless Friday right before Labor Day weekend. We had it lucky when we had the beach to ourselves on Wednesday. A little further down Park Loop Road is Thunder Hole, the location of a small cavern formed just beneath the surface of the water where you can go to hear the “thunder” sounds created by the collision of water and air as waves enter and exit the cavern. The best time to visit Thunder Hole for maximum “thunder” is supposedly 1-2 hours before high tide.

Thurston Lobster Pound

It was time for our daily lobster. I had read good things about Thurston Lobster Pound and was looking forward to trying it out. They opened at 4pm during COVID-times and when we arrived around 3:30 the line was already forming down the driveway. Sadly and surprisingly, Thurston was a bit disappointing. I suppose we didn’t give them a fair shot as we decided against the tried-and-true lobster roll, but I only have my one experience to report on. We ordered a lobster stew and a bucket of clams. The lobster stew was interesting– good for the first bite, but really only for that first bite. It was impossibly creamy and looked, smelled, and tasted like pure cream with butter mixed in. It was odd and there was essentially no crustacean flavor in the “broth” itself. The clams were sandy. Oh, so very sandy. I ended up asking for quadruple the number of cups of washing water they originally provided and we devised a system of dunking and rinsing clams in 4 consecutive warm water baths in an effort to clean those sandy babies. And still every so often my poor teeth would crunch down on something human teeth are not meant to take on. The thing Thurston Lobster Pound does have going for it, though, is the view. You can choose from an enclosed patio or the encircling open-air deck, both of which sit right on the water with wonderful views of sailboats serenely peppering the harbor.

Echo Lake Beach

Our picnic on Sand Beach a handful of evenings before was so enjoyable I wanted to recreate the experience. Tonight we tried out Echo Lake Beach, still part of Acadia but on the Mount Desert Island side. This lake is popular for swimming as it is one of the few bodies of water in Acadia that are actually open for public use. We arrived just around sunset and spread out our blanket on the cooling sand. There were a few groups of swimmers splashing around who lingered until the water grew too cold for comfort. We watched as a dad, two small children in tow, rowed off into the sunset in an idyllic red canoe with wooden oars. It was picture perfect. As dusk fell, we prepared our lakeside dinner– self-heating hot pot noodles! This was my first experience with self-heating instant noodles and I had a blast opening all the little packets of seasonings, sauces, condiments, and toppings before watching the steam rise from the little red pot against the lakeside backdrop. The sky gradually got darker and darker as we quite literally one by one pointed out twinkling stars as they made their appearances until the entire sky was covered. It was just us on the dark beach, sheltered from light pollution by the wall of trees cradling the lake. We pointed out the Milky Way, both Dippers, Jupiter and Saturn, the North Star… This was one of the most magical evenings of the trip.

We finished off our last night at Belle Isle Motel back at my favorite place– the fire pit. We roasted the rest of our shishito peppers, summer sausage, and marshmallows. I love fire. The warmth, crackling sparks, sense of togetherness, and of course the snacks involved never make for anything less than a great night.

Cadillac Mountain

Our final morning here was upon us and we still had one last site to check off our list before leaving Acadia National Park- Cadillac Mountain, the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard. Breakfast was a large savory bacon chive scone and cup of coffee from Cup Coffee shop, taken to-go to be enjoyed on the mountain. We did this unplanned, but I would recommend going up to Cadillac Mountain after spending a few days in Bar Harbor and the Acadia area first so you appreciate the landmarks better. It was nice to have a bird’s eye view of the footpaths we had explored, watch the sandbar to Bar Island slowly getting submerged by the rising tide, and map out the route we navigated by kayak two days before. Cadillac Mountain was a fun last activity to round out our Acadia experience.