We are now nearing the end of May and approaching the dreaded heat of Florida summer. This time of year I always start to get nostalgic for Maine. Our family has a home about 15 minutes from Bar Harbor in a town called Trenton. This place is so special to me for many reasons. Townsend's grandfather built this house in the 1970's for his wife because she hated the Florida heat. They started with nothing and each year groomed the property more. Townsend's grandfather planted a tree for every grand child on the property so we can still walk around and see everyone's different tree and have planted one for Leon to keep the tradition going!
Another reason this place is so special to me is because Townsend and I got engaged here. Some day I will post a throw back to that trip because Townsend really made it so special for us. Since then, we have celebrated anniversaries here and had large family vacations filled with cooking, kids playing in the yard and just an overall joy of our New England summer life. It is like a little slice of magic when we go up there, we can't believe its ours!
Bar Harbor is the largest town on Mount Desert Island. It was named for the sand bar that appears during low tide connecting Bar Harbor to Bar Island. This island became home to elite businessmen early in the 1900's such as John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan. John D. Rockefeller donated a large portion of land to the establishment of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island and funded the construction of carriage roads in the park people use for hiking and biking.
Traveling to Bar Harbor is easy and accommodations are endless. You can fly into Bangor, Maine and the drive to Mount Desert Island is about 45 minutes from there. There is also a small airport in Trenton which is about 5 minutes from Mount Desert Island but not many airline carriers fly there. We fly Allegiant Air from Tampa because they have a non stop flight into Bangor and no other airline offers that. I would definitely recommend renting a car for transportation. You will want to drive around and explore all the little towns on and off the island. For accommodations, look online and see what is best for you! They have tons of small cottages and homes you can rent. And there are of course plenty of hotels to choose from. There isnt really a "best location" to stay. Everything is a 15 minute drive so if you want to save money, stay outside of Bar Harbor and instead get a place closer to Northeast or Southwest Harbors or even staying in Trenton is perfect.
There are so many fun day trips you can take from this area. One of the easiest and closest is a ferry to the Cranberry Islands. You can take a ferry out of Northeast Harbor and its about a 20-30 minute ride. I recommend renting bikes and bringing them with you otherwise you wont be able to explore as much of the islands. These islands are very quintessential Maine. They are sparsely populated and minimalist in nature. There are not a lot of shops or restaurants but the ones there have been in business forever and have loyal local customers. Biking through these islands makes for a lovely day.
Of course the highlight of Mount Desert Island is Acadia National Park. The weather in Maine changes on a dime. Just because it starts as a foggy day doesn't mean the sun wont come out later in the morning. We went to the park at sunrise one morning because Leon woke up early, then sand beach to take some pictures and of course drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain to visit the spot we got engaged 5 years before. Later in the day, we hiked the beehive. This is one of the more challenging hikes on the island. It is very steep but so worth it because the view is incredible.
Maine is such a special place to me so get ready for many more posts about this delightful destination. Hopefully you will love it just as much as we do.
