Bar(k) Harbor and Supergirl

Bar Harbor Shore Path with Balance Rock and Porcupine Island in Background

We all headed into Bar Harbor on Monday afternoon for a very big outing of shopping, walking along the harbor and eating ice cream.

Finally a Pic with ALL of us!

Like Acadia, Bar Harbor (or Bah-Hahah as it's pronounced around there), is a 45 minute drive from where we are staying. The town is known for it's beauty, restaurants, shops and coastal feel. It's part of Mount Desert Island just as Acadia is.

Balance Rock

The Shore Path stretches about 1/2 mile along the coastline, and had I planned better, we would have walked the entire path. But, alas, I had already spent too much time in the shops and really wanted to go and get some ice cream.

Along the path is this crazy rock called the Balance Rock. It is a completely different kind of rock than the other rocks on the shore and has been responsible for shaping the landscape over hundreds of years through the movement of glaciers.

I Had No Idea One Rock Could Impact a Landscape Formation so Much!

Being here in Maine has made me wish I had paid a lot more attention in Mr. Wurst's 9th grade Earth Sciences class. My knowledge of rocks, minerals, the earth's layers is being tested!

Even All of the Boats are Required to Face the Same Direction

The town works hard to live in balance with the surrounding environment. 

We've seen the porcupine islands now from Bar Harbor, the Nature Cruise and Acadia. 

My favorite shops were definitely Bark Harbor, Island Artisans, Jack's Jewelers (I loved talking to the owner of 46 years who has been working with Maine's state stone, Tourmaline, creating gorgeous pieces), a native American jewelry shop (I cannot find the name anywhere!), The Bar Harbor Tea Company.

Thankfully, I managed to restrain myself at most places and just treated myself to some fancy tea and some maple cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on toast and oatmeal. :)

Time for Ice Cream Break!

After making our way through the shops and spending some time by the harbor and on the shore path, we headed over to Mt. Desert Ice Cream, where President Obama ordered the coconut flavor when he visited in 2011. 

I had Maine Sea Salt Caramel and Coffee. Mom had coffee. 

Our verdict? 

That even though this place has been picked by Food and Wine as one of the top 10 ice cream places in America, Morton's Moo still gets our vote as the best ice cream we have ever tasted. Not that we didn't enjoy Mt. Desert's Ice Cream too, though!

Free Samples (Big Ones!) For the Puppies

While we were sitting outside on the bench, one of the staff members came out to offer us some ice cream for the puppies. So, each of our guys got a sample of the Peanut Butter ice cream.

I don't think they will ever look at their kefir or yogurt snacks the same again.

One of my favorite parts of this trip has been how dog friendly this area is. You can take your dogs almost anywhere--even to some of the restaurants. There was only one shop in which the dogs weren't allowed.

Otherwise, we were able to take the dogs into all of the shops, where they got lots of attention, especially at Bark Harbor, where they folks were excited to meet a breed they had never heard of before. I explained that Gershwin's brother, Buddha, had been to the shop just last year and picked out a stuffed lobster to take home!

The puppies love all of the attention from folks, and we get a lot of inquiries about the breed and their names. And lots of compliments on how cute these two are!

Mom snapped this video (click here to watch it if you are in email) of the puppies eating their ice cream. Gershwin is being a total goof about his ice cream.

The Guys are Having So Many Adventures!

We were out and about for about 3 1/2 hours yesterday in Bar Harbor (not counting the drive to and from). For me, that's a REALLY big day, especially because it was shopping and standing. 

I literally did shop and walk until I dropped. With only a couple of breaks to sit down, most of my afternoon I was standing, shopping and doing a little walking along the shore path. While I didn't have the strenuous path like we did the day we did the Ocean Path, I still put 1.7 miles on my FitBit in addition to the standing time. Victories. 

It was a bit overwhelming (Bar Harbor is pretty crowded) and definitely exhausting. But, I didn't feel sick until afterwards. 

I really do feel a bit like a rock star. Or Supergirl. Or just, well, like the woman I'm supposed to be.

I didn't sleep that night, but I honestly think part of that was staying up and watching the horribly stressful debate!

It's hard to believe tomorrow is our last day here. We haven't decided yet whether to make one last trip into Acadia or to stay put. We'll decide based on how I sleep tonight and how I feel when I wake up.

Thanks, Bah Hahbah, for being another part of this big adventure called a vacation.

Blessings,

Emily