The Maine Attraction: Coastal Maine Offers Breathtaking Beauty
Mount Desert Island, the peninsula of land on which Bar Harbor is located, is the largest of the three islands that makes up the eastern seaboard off the coast of Maine. It will captivate you with its vast natural beauty. From the mountains of the Acadia National Park, which covers a full two-fifths of the island, to the sparkling diamonds of sunlight off the Atlantic Ocean and Frenchman Bay, you will be left breathless over the salty smells of the sea and the sharp, pungent aromas of the spruce and pine forests.
Visit Bar Harbor in the fall season, which lasts until mid-November, and you’ll vivid orange and red hues of maple leaves. Visit Maine in the winter, and your eyes will be treated to the startling contrasts of bright red sprays of pepper berries against the white silk of snowdrifts. Spring and summer seasons bring wildflowers en masse along the mountainous ridges, and the harbor is alive with fishermen, coming in and out of the bay with huge trawlers full of cold-water fish, lobster, and crab. This state is truly what the license plates proclaim: Vacationland.
Mount Desert Island was originally named “l’Isle des Monts-deserts” in 1604 by its founder, French explorer Samuel de Champlain, for the stark rock cliffs and mountains of granite that give the island its unique, barren coastline. Mount Desert Island is an artist’s dream, with its hard shadows of light playing against the striated boulders of hard, gray rock, forged by ancient glaciers.
Seagulls dive in and out of the crashing surf and in the distance you can hear the distinctive sounds of buoy bells, anchored forever to the ocean floor.
On clear, sunlit days, you can stand on the cobblestone beaches and see whale and porpoise breaking the waves on the Gulf of Maine. Whale-watching is a passion with both locals and tourists alike, and almost every coastal town has a tour boat that will take you out to see the huge oceanic residents. You can also see the playful otters and seals, as well as the clownish puffins, sunning themselves on the rocks of the many out islands. Feeling adventurous? Rent sea-going kayaks from any of the many rental companies along the coastlines of Downeast Maine. Be sure to take along your camera.
Acadia National Park encompasses 46 square miles of Mount Desert Island and is a hiker’s paradise, with over 120 miles of hiking trails and 57 miles of unique carriage trails, which are now used by bicyclists and walkers. If you prefer to take in the scenery from the comfort of your own vehicle, there is a 27-mile paved automobile route, Park Loop Road, which carries you along the coast and through the park’s gardens. Drive up to Cadillac Mountain and, from the 1,532-foot summit, you can view the magnificent splendor that is the Maine coast. View a sunrise from Cadillac Mountain (where the sun first rises in the United States) and you will never forget it. Your park tour would not be complete without a visit to Thunder Hole, a natural rock formation in which strong winds force the ocean into a chasm, compressing air that cannot escape, causing a resounding boom much like thunder. On calm days, there’s little more than a perceptible whisper, but on days when the winds are moving into the bay and the tide is mid-way in, you’ll be treated to the best of Thunder Hole.
After you think you’ve taken in all you can of the island’s splendor, treat yourself to a day in Bar Harbor. What you’ll find here are streets and streets of art galleries, charming boutiques, and both fine and casual dining. There are microbreweries offering blends of ale, from Bar Harbor Real Ale to Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale, a treat not to be missed.
At low tide, you can see how Bar Harbor got its name – a sand bar connects Bar Island to downtown Bar Harbor. You can actually walk it, but be mindful of when the tide starts to rise, as it rises faster than you expect!
Any visit to coastal Maine would not be complete without visiting at least one or two of the 63 lighthouses that dot the seaside cliffs. One of the most frequented lighthouses is the Bass Harbor Lighthouse, which has been active for 145 years and is currently maintained by the Coast Guard. Travel farther down the coast on a southerly route and you can visit the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse (1827) in Bristol.
Maine is a state of bed and breakfasts, however, Maine residents have learned to respect the harsh winters and close their establishments towards the end of October (be sure to call ahead for availability). You can grab fresh-caught lobster from local roadside lobster pounds – freshly steamed and served in a paper tray complete with drawn butter – for a little less than six dollars, even in the off-season. Other local treats are Whoopie Pie (a chocolate cake surrounding whipped cream) and haddock, served every way you can imagine, as well as crab and lobster rolls. What the Po’Boy is to Louisiana, the Lobster Roll (a grilled bakery rolled stuffed and topped with large pieces of fresh lobster) is to Maine.
But there is so much more to Maine than lighthouses and lobster. There are scenes of pure natural beauty in this state that scream out to the artist in our soul and nature trails amid dense forests of birch and sweet-smelling fir beg to be hiked. The people of Maine are warm and friendly, and willing to share a story and a smile or two – if you’ve the time to listen. And, it’s a safe bet that once you’ve heard the loon’s cry from a fog-covered lake on a crisp fall morning, or seen the stars in the summer evening sky, shining brighter than you’ve ever seen them before, you’ll be back.
