As you may have seen in previous posts in June my mom and I took a mother/daughter roadtrip through Maine and East Coast Canada. You can read the trip recap here. Or 8 reasons why you should take a mother/daughter trip here. I figured the easiest way to share all that I learned on our trip would be to break it down by places and days.
The first installment is days 1 & 2 of our trip to Maine. After getting a bit of a late start and sitting in traffic on 495/95 (I hate 95, I used to live along it in Virginia and it is THE worst) we didn’t quite make it as far as we had hoped. The original plan was to stay in Boothbay Harbor, Maine and to spend our entire first day of the trip there.
Instead, we found ourselves in Rockport, Maine for our first night.
Day 1: Mostly driving
Sips & Eats: Red’s Eats – 41 Water St, Wiscasset, ME 04578. 11:30 – 7 pm
When we stopped back in June there was a ton of construction going on around Red’s Eats. We ended up parking down the street it sits on. At the very end of the street there is public parking, but there is also street parking. Although if you aren’t a parellel parking master (I am not) the construction cones make it a little more difficult. I had been reading about Red’s famous lobster rolls since moving to Maine and was so excited to try them!
The Verdict: In June the market price was $23.95 per lobster roll. The lobster rolls are ok (I know this may be a blasphemous statement). They had the most lobster meat I’ve ever had in a roll. You can’t even really pick it up, you have to eat lobster just to find the roll itself, it’s that full. It comes with warm butter on the side and nothing else on it. But the meat was very chewy, and it wasn’t my favorite lobster roll I’ve ever had. It IS probably the most bang for your buck in terms of how much lobster is actually on the roll.
Staying: Glen Cove Inn – 866 Commercial Street, Rockport, Maine 04856.
This place has a really cute little setup. It’s clean, affordable, and about $139 a night. In Maine, during the summer, that’s a steal!
Day 2: Camden, Maine to Acadia National Park
Camden was a great little stopping point. I had been hearing how cute Camden was since moving to New England, but I had never gotten a chance to stop. I already wrote a post about Camden, Maine that you can find here.
I absolutely LOVED Camden. It was quintessential Maine. I’m hoping to go back with one of the dogs for a few days next summer. It was very dog friendly and most shops had water bowls outside.
A few of my favorites:
Camden Harbor – take your coffee and baked goods from The Owl and Turtle and sit in Harbor Park and enjoy the view.
The Owl and Turtle Bookshop – 33 Bay View Street, Camden, Maine 04843. Tues – Sat: 8 am to 5 pm.
We loved this little bookshop! And the coffee and baked goods were outstanding. I can recommend the ice chia tea latte and the biscotti.
Swan Island Company – 2 Bay Street, Camden, Maine 04843. 10 am – 6 pm daily.
We also stumbled into Swan Island, a gorgeous boutique featuring handwoven goods. Both the home goods and apparel are beautiful. It’s worth a visit if you find yourself in Camden, Maine. The owner was so sweet and helped my mom find a stunning one of a kind piece.
The next time I’m in Camden I hope to check out Camden Hills State Park and to hike Mount Battie. I’m particularly interested in hiking Maiden’s Cliff Trail. There is a motor road that you can take the get to the top. I’ve heard that on a clear day you can see Cadillac Mountain from here.
Moose Point State Park – 310 W Main Street, Searsport, Maine 04974. 9 am – 8:30 pm daily.
The drive from Camden to Acadia only takes about 1 hour and 29 minutes. But when we saw Moose Point State Park we decided to get out and stretch out legs. It was $4 per adult for non-residents and worth the stop for these beautiful views. There are a few hiking paths that are all easy but were muddy during our visit. It’s a nice little stop if you’ve got the time. Oh, but be aware that while the name might make you think there are moose here, they’ve only ever had a few sightings.
Acadia National Park:
By now you know that I’ve been here many times, but this was my mom’s first visit to Bar Harbor and Acadia. She loved it! So much so, that we came back for a stand alone Acadia trip in August.
By the time we got to Acadia, there was a storm coming in but I didn’t want my mom to miss seeing the big sights here. So, I took her to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. It was one of the coolest times I’ve been there. We watched the storm coming in. We could see the bands of rain over the water and even hear the thunder and see the lighting over the ocean. It was very cool.
Then we went to check out Sand Beach. The storm coming in made for some of the biggest waves I’ve seen there (still not very big). But it made the rocky cliff line even more dramatic then it normally is. I’m not a very big beach person but we hung out for a while just watching the storm roll in.
Once it started to downpour, we figured we should probably find a place to stay for the night. I have no affiliation with them, but I used booking.com to book all of the hotels/inns/bed and breakfasts that I hadn’t booked ahead of time (which was most of them because this was not an overly booked trip).
Staying: Ullikanna Inn, 16 The Field, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
This is a very charming inn and we stayed in room 4. Interestingly, the shower was not in the bathroom. It was on the other side of the room and was a stand alone shower. This wouldn’t have been an issue if the room was being shared by a couple or even if you are alone. While it wasn’t a huge issue for us the logistics of getting back and forth between the shower and the bathroom were interesting. The shower IS in the room it’s just not inside the same room with a door as the toilet and sink (if that makes sense?).
Sips & Eats: Route 66 Restaurant, 21 Cottage Street, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
We decided to swing in here for a quick dinner before trying to catch the sunset. It’s very kitsch but in a good way. I can recommend the cuban sandwich and the bluemoon burger. As well as, the 66 corvette and the bel-air cocktails! It was all yummy.
Sunset at Acadia –
After a day of thunderstorms and rain, I wasn’t very hopeful about getting a nice sunset. As luck would have it the skies cleared, and I was racing to find a pretty sunset spot!
A cursory search will tell you the best places to catch the sunset at Acadia are Cadillac Mountain and the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. Seeing as the lighthouse is INSANELY packed for each sunset, so much so, that they station rangers to help with parking. I avoid it like the plague although sunsets there are inarguably beautiful, I’m not all about fighting for space with hundreds of other people.
I had read the Eagle Lake has some pretty spectacular sunsets so I thought going to the Eagle Lake overlook on Park Loop Road might be pretty. So did 4 or 5 other people and it was filled.
So, in true ME fashion, I raced the setting sun, up Cadillac Mountain and found the perfect overlook. It was one of the most gorgeous sunsets I’ve ever seen (another one of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever seen was on this trip as well).
Stay tuned for most East Coast Canada Roadtrip goodness, as well as, my next installation of Did You Know Thursday: Native American Heritage Month.
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