Acadia National Park

So after waking up to beautiful sunshine we headed out on the drive to Acadia National Park, which is on the Atlantic coast. We arrived to early to check in to our hotel, so went to the visitors centre to find out what to do.  After looking around and buying a pass (this was different to every other National Park we had been to, in that there were no entrance gates, you just bought the ticket at the centre) we headed to the Lake House.

We were going to have lunch (what? On holiday?) but the queue was huge, so we opted to walk around the lake first. It was a 3 mile loop and was just beautiful.

I saw a few red squirrels too, but of course they hid when I took a photo!

Such a wonderful place for a walk.

By the time we got back the queue was gone so we opted for food. They did a hummus and veggie wrap (hooray) and proper fresh lemonade- I had blueberry lemonade (I wanted blueberry iced tea but they had run out).

They also sold these things called “popovers”- they would have them warmed with jam and tea as a sort of afternoon tea. Well, we had to try them- they turned out to be like yorkshire puddings! A bit strange, but nice to try. After checking in to our hotel we drove back to the park to watch the sunset.

Perfect.

The next day we drove to the coastal section of the park- it was always really misty by the sea. This was Thunder Hole- the sea crashes in and out and makes a loud booming sound. The path was closed off for safety reasons but of course there are always some people who feel it does not apply to them…

Then we headed inland for some hikes. We picked up a little hiking book in the shop, as at the other National Parks we were always given a free newspaper that had maps of walks, but this one didn’t. We wanted them more for the rating (one walk contained a section of vertical rock where you pulled yourself up iron rungs drilled into the cliff- no thanks!). In the end we combined a few walks as the trails met in different places.

We were up high at this point but could see the clouds covering the sea below.

We saw loads of blueberries growing.

And ended up walking to another lake, where the mist came in pretty quickly. We sat for a bit and had a banana (holiday lunch).

 

Then we walked/hiked back (we don’t go on the extreme hikes, but the terrain was steep and involved a lot of climbing over boulders and things) and walked along the sea shore for a bit.

In the evening we walked to the town (Bar Harbor) for a wander around- it was so pretty.

We found an amazing place to eat- the Side Street Cafe. I had so much choice, it was amazing! And the best part of the menu was that they did a build your own sandwich (and offered gluten free bread) so pretty much any diet would be catered for. We shared guacamole and corn chips to start, and then I had a sandwich with hummus, tomato, spinach and avocado. The best combination!

To top it off we found a great bakery, The Pink Pastry Shop. It was a bit chilly that evening (the mist came in to the town while we were eating) and this place did a chai latte and offered almond milk! I was very excited. Of course I was also swayed by the baked goods, so I got a pumpkin whoopie pie, and Andy had a peanut butter cupcake. The drink kept me warm on the walk back, and we had the desserts a little later.

The next day we went to a different part of the park to see another lighthouse. Again, nice but not really what I was expecting. Then we drove along the coast for another walk to see the pink granite “cliffs”- really the part of the beach you walk on.

The mist was really rolling in, and although we had planned a walk on this side, we headed back to the other part as we didn’t think there was much point in walking up for ages if we couldn’t see anything.

So we walked up to the top of this hill to look down on the lake (the first one we walked around)- stunning views.

We saw Bubble Rock, which is a huge boulder that was deposited during the ice age. It looks as if it will roll off the edge.

Then we saw some of the sea in the sunlight! Very pretty indeed.

For dinner we walked back to the Sidestreet Cafe- I had a black bean wrap (again, delicious) and we were persuaded by the waitress to share a dessert.

This was a Fluffernutter sundae. Basically a grilled peanut butter and fluff sandwich, topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce. It had to be tried!

The weather was lovely that evening so we spent some more time wandering around the town and enjoying the views.

Acadia National Park was a lovely place to visit. It had a different feel to the other National Parks we had been to- it was much smaller, and being so close to a town meant it had a relaxed vibe about it. It did have plenty of hardcore day hikers, but it also had people who were there to sit on a boat all day and go out for ice cream in the evening.

Do you like trying new foods on holiday?