Boston/Bar Harbor Trip - Part 4

On Friday, it was time to say buh-bye to Boston and hello to Bar Harbor.  It's about a 5 hour drive if you take the boring highway route, and about 5.5 hours if you take the scenic coastal route, so you can clearly guess which one I wanted to take =) We set off on our journey and decided to stop in Portland, Maine, for lunch, since it was a pretty decent halfway point.

This is where I began to get a little doubtful that our "scenic coastal route" would be worth it.  We got to Portland and the fog was crazy insane.

Apparently there is a whole ocean back there, along with some islands and stuff...

Thankfully, the fog only affected the quality of our view and not the quality of our food.  I have another girlfriend from home who now lives in Portland (I really got a lot of quality catch-up time with friends on this trip!) and she met us for lunch at the Portland Lobster Company, and we were in seafood heaven =)  We got our first lobster rolls of trip, plus some clam chowder and lobster stew...okay and let's be honest, we had to get some gelato..before continuing our trip to Bar Harbor. 

So good!  Honestly the best clam chowder we had on the trip.

Portland is a very small town - I thought it was so cute and dainty!

We opted to just nix the scenic route and take the highway the whole way there - at this point we were exhausted and really wanted to get to our bed and breakfast and just relax for the night.

I did a ton of research for places to stay while in Bar Harbor and I'm so glad I did - we stayed at the Holbrook House and it was absolutely fantastic!  The breakfasts they served were to die for, and the house was just so cute and charming...it felt like we were visiting grandma's house =)

Our "home" for the next few days.

I love these old homes - that porch along the side is where we had breakfast every morning.

We stayed in the "Very Berry" room, which was a corner room on the second floor with it's own fireplace (each of the rooms have a name).

Welcome home!

I loved the antique furniture - so adorable.

Since the weather was yucky when we arrived, we just decided to turn in for the night and wake up early the next day to explore.

The next morning, we headed into the town to check on the status of our whale watching tour.  It turns out they had cancelled all the tours for the day due to weather, so we just walked around the town and explored a bit.

Gnarly fog.

"Beer and wine on tap"...really?

A model of the whale I was so desperately hoping to see in the wild...

The Bar Harbor Inn...surrounded by fog.

Evidently there are lots of cute little islands and stuff just beyond the fog.

After the whale watching tours were cancelled, we decided to head back to the b&b and pick up the car.  Bar Harbor is located on Mt. Desert Island and a large portion of the island is Acadia National Park.  We had planned on hiking in Acadia on our first day there, but since the weather was so dreary, we opted to just drive around the park instead.

At first, we were very hopeful that the fog had lifted for the day - we even had a few wildlife encounters on the way up!

Pretty views on the way up to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

Marc likes to throw rocks -  he actually mad it to the ocean!

A deer!  With velvet antlers!

Hey deer!

And a wild turkey - do you see him?

 But then...we got to the top of Cadillac Mountain...and the fog really set in.

Like really...

My hat blew off, so I had to hold it on.  It was super windy up there!

...like...this is what we were supposed to see...

These plaques identify all the islands and stuff you're supposed to see in the background...

And this is what we did see...

Fog.  Fog is a very interesting word to type over and over again...

We made the most of it and did a few short hikes around the park.  We even went to the Jordan Pond House for lunch, which is this place known for their popovers (they were amazing!).  After lunch, we continued to drive around and then turned back to the b&b to get ready for dinner. 

That evening, we were so excited to see that the fog had lifted a bit, so we could really see the beauty of Bar Harbor.

Blue skies!  Yay!

The Bar Harbor Inn - what a difference from the previous picture!

Hi sun!  I haven't seen you for a few days!

That evening...we decided to do the "true" Maine thing and order some whole lobsters for dinner.  At the suggestion of a local, we went to this place called Stewman's Lobster Pound, and seafood feast we did have =)

Thankful for the step by step instructions on my placemat...

The tools necessary to get the job done.

Now - I have always been a little squeamish about eating "whole" shelfish.  Growing up in Georgia, we used to have crawfish boils all the time, and I just  had a difficult time with eating the whole crawfish.  I would always have my mom or dad pull them apart so I could eat the tails - I never sucked the head - even though that is considered the best part by many people.
I don't know...I just always felt there was something barbaric about dismembering a sea creatures carcass and sucking on it.  Call me crazy...

Having doubts about my abilities...

Anyway - I ended up getting over myself that night and we had an extremely enjoyable dinner =)

Hello Mr. Lobster.  You will be in my belly soon. 

On a side note - I can't tell you how excited I was to wear the bib...I actually almost forgot to take it off.  What a tourist =)

Overall - not a shabby day in Bar Harbor.