Maine Trip Report...Moosehead Lake and MDI
 

Part 1:
Just spent two nights in Greenville. Stayed at the Moosehead Cottage Resorts. Great property! Very spacious and clean cabins. I would ask for one located back from the street next time. You do hear some traffic noise....but that's Greenville traffic, so not too many cars.



Did two excursions with Northeast Whitewater. The Kennebec rafting trip was so fun and our guide was terrific. The entire family had a blast. The other excursion was an evening canoe trip to see moose. It's an hour drive away to a small, beautiful pond. We only saw one moose and it was while driving. While the canoeing was nice, I didn't love this. It seemed like a long drive for a short canoe trip. I'd probably skip it next time.



We also hiked Borestone Mountain. Be advised there is a entrance fee which appeared to be on the honor system. It's $5 per adult and $3 per child. It's a great hike with some scrambling and slightly technical areas, but my family of four made it up with no issues. Gorgeous views.

After the hike, we stopped in Sangerville for pizza at Stutzman Farm. Such a great stop. The veggies on the pizza were all grown right there. They also had delicious corn chowder made with their own corn and potatoes.

Part 2:8/20. We arrived around 4pm. Checked in to the new Hampton Inn. The hotel is clean and quiet. The staff is courteous. The outdoor pool is open, so the kids are happy. And they have a modified breakfast. Location isn't the best since we have to drive into Bat Harbor and battle for parking. It's pretty crowded here right now. Most people are wearing masks even when walking outside.

After check in, we grabbed dinner to go from The Stadium and had a picnic in the park. The lobster rolls were very very good and came on homemade rolls. We also grabbed a cheese ube roll (I think that was the name). It's a purple roll with a cheese filling. Should have grabbed more than one. After dinner, we wandered around for a bit and then headed back to the hotel. I did buy some tea to take home from Bar Harbor tea company.

8/21....headed out fairly early to hike Gorham Mountain. Got our free pass at the Sand Beach entrance gate. We have a 4th grader so we used our "every kid in a park" pass. Saw 6-7 deer on our drive in.

Parked at the Gorham Mountain lot. There were still spots when we arrived. We headed up via the Cadillac Cliffs trail, which is fun for kids. They enjoyed the scrambling and finding a cave. After passing the summit, we continued to the Bowl and then down to Sand Beach. Enjoyed the beach scenery for a few minutes before hiking Great Head. Finally, we continued back to our car via Shore Path. We did about 5.5 miles total. All the trails we did were crowded. This is not a week for solitude in Acadia.

For dinner, we headed over to Rogue in Southwest Harbor. I'd give this 4 out of 5. I enjoyed my cod and the cheese plate but nothing was amazing. It was all just good. Service was great and the restaurant was very clean.

8/22...started at the Sieur de Monts area. Did a few trails in the area and spoke to the ranger. This was a rare quiet area of the park.

Next was our kayaking tour with Coastal Kayaking. It was a four hour family tour. Our guide Tim, was fantastic. We did see a seal, porpoises, and a bald eagle while we were out on the water

After kayaking, we went next door to Atlantic Brewing for a beer and the kids got a soft pretzel. We didn't intend to get dinner at Rosalies, but the pizza smelled so good we ended up buying one. They are to go only so we headed down to the park and had a picnic dinner.

8/24. Started the day with a hike up Acadia Mountain. Nice views, but we preferred Gorham Mountain. After the hike, we headed to Echo Lake where the boys swam for about two hours. Clean beach with a lifeguard and very shallow for a long way out.

Picnic lunch from Eat a Pita. I had the curried chicken pita and it was very good.

Then we headed to Ship Harbor Trail and the Bass Harbor lighthouse. There are two trails at the lighthouse. The one to the left (near the bathrooms) provides a much nicer view. The kids spent some time scrambling over the rocks.

On the way home, we noticed a sign for pies. It led us to a house that said "honk for pies", so we did. A lovely woman came out and sold us a mixed berry pie. The name says Mount Desserts on the box.

Ended the day with bbq at Mainely Meat and ice cream at Udderly Heaven. Both were good, neither were great.

8/25. Started the day with blueberry pancake at Jordans. They are taking covid seriously and have a nice set up. Pancakes were light and fluffy.

After breakfast we walked across the Bar Island. Easy 1.9 mile round trip.

Next up was South Bubble. The lot was full so we parked at the Jordan Pond House lot. Walked the pond trail and then headed up the steep side to south bubble. Nice hike. Great workout. 3.6 miles round trip.

Rewarded ourselves with popovers....not worth the one hour wait.

Dinner was takeout from Galyns. Everyone enjoyed their meal. The beet appetizer was my favorite part of the meal. The butternut squash cakes reminded me of falafel and were good, but a bit crumbly. Two people had salads and they were nice and fresh. I'd eat there again.

8/25....ended our stay with drinks from Choco-Latte and I also grabbed a cinnamon roll there that probably added five pounds to my waistline, but it was delicious.

We headed south, stopping at Fort Knox for a bit. We wandered Camden. Bad weather came thru, so cancelled our hiking plans. Now we are staying at Glen Cove Inn and Suites. Very cute motel with friendly staff. We were able to grab things for dinner at Hannaford and sit on our porch to have a casual dinner.

8/26...continued our drive home. Stopped at the Maine Maritime Museum. Spent a few hours and took a one hour boat cruise/tour of the area. The one hour length was perfect. We saw eagles, osprey, and Bath Iron Works. And now we are home doing laundry. :)

Sounds like you made good use of your short time. Did you have to wear masks, social distance, etc while there?

Thanks for the report.

Maine was pretty pro mask. Bar Harbor and Camden wanted them worn even when walking around town outside. Bar Harbor had placed mailboxes around town with free masks for people to take.

A lot of folks were wearing masks to hike. I wore one around my wrist and would put it on if I couldn't stay distanced, but there was no way I was wearing one on strenuous hikes. Most people were good about moving over and making space when able.

Great detailed report. Glad you and your family had a great time. I bet you hiked off all those calories.

Great report! We hiked The Beehive when we were younger...alot younger. We never tire of Maine. We'll be heading to the Midcoast area in Oct. and probably take a day trip to Acadia.

I love Moosehead. Gorgeous and quiet in mid-September, like a private paradise.

Mount Dessert is a popular bakery/coffee shop in Bar Harbor. I wonder if "honk for pies" buys pies there and re-sells them, or just had an old box from Mount Dessert? Or maybe she is the secret baker for the Mount Dessert pies, and sells some of her pies on the side in the woods. This is a mystery that I am going to have to solve next time I'm in town. I hope my rental car has a working horn.