Post by Ella.
What is the magic that attracts people to Bar Harbor? You got me. I’m sure the mansions, tucked away somewhere are, well, big. But seriously? Two main streets packed with Knick-knack shoppers, perilous street crossing because drivers are frustrated at having to stop every two feet for pedestrians, parking takes 20 minutes of circling, giant cruise ships hogging the bay. A bunch of hu hah if you ask me, which you didn’t. Maybe it was charming 30 years ago?
After a woodsy 3 mile hike around Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park (see Grubb’s “On Jordan Pond” post) we didn’t have quite enough time to tackle the more challenging Gorham Mountain Loop (a 3+ hour hike) because, of course, you need to make a vehicle reservation to drive up the famous Cadillac Mountain and the only slot left was 5pm. Instead of more hiking we thought , okay, let’s drive the few miles into Bar Harbor (pronounced Bah Hahba) and poke around a bit. Then we’ll come back to see the views atop Cadillac Mountain at our appointed time.
The best part, okay, two best parts…1) we happened upon a sweet cafe located past the maddening crowds where I had a spicy Mexican hot chocolate and Grubb got the best maple raspberry scone ever and 2) the Village Burying Ground dating from the late 1700s. A distant third, the Hannaford market where we stocked up for a picnic dinner at home because no way were we coming back to Bar Harbor for dinner or probably ever.
There must be an ice cream shop (or is it “shoppe”) somewhere.
There were ice cream places, packed with people and out of most flavors. Guess they are winding down.
Last November, the citizens of Bar Harbor voted to limit the amount of cruise ship passengers to 1000 per day. It’s supposed to take effect in 2024, but some of the shop owners are fighting it in court. I think they have taken similar steps to limit visitors in Sitka, Alaska and Venice, Italy…
Interesting. I can imagine it’s difficult for the citizens to have their once-sweet small town continually inundated with visitors.