JUNE 15, 2015

Portland Head Lighthouse.

ABOUT PORTLAND. Portland is located on a peninsula in Casco Bay on the Southern Maine coast, approximately 100 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. It’s a small seaside city with a high concentration of shops, restaurants, museums and galleries. Portland Head Light and Museum, located adjacent to a World War II artillery emplacement, is one of the most scenic lighthouses in the entire country. And other lighthouses in Portland also help guard the often foggy, stormy coastline. Historical buildings abound on the cobblestone streets, and walking along the breathtaking Eastern Promenade offers views straight out of a Seurat painting. A visit to the authentic working waterfront offers restaurants with al fresco dining and good views of the boats arriving at the docks, and local fishermen unloading their catch. Shops and galleries occupy revitalized warehouses with exposed brick and beams, making some as unique as the wares they display.

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SOUTH FREEPORT, MAINE.

Lobster for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the waterfront. A classic New England experience. 

JUNE 14, 2015. LUNCHTIME. Here’s an eatery that deserves its very own post in my blog: Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster Company. The name’s quite a mouthful, but you get quite a mouthful of fresh lobster when you come for lunch and have one of their absolutely delicious lobster rolls. We dined here on a warm sunny day, overlooking the waterfront and watching the seagulls accompany the fishing boats as they returned to the dock with lobsters in their tanks. Our lunch was one of the best meals we’ve had since we left home a little more than two years ago!

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JUNE 8, 2015

The town of Bar Harbor is irresistible! Shops, galleries, eateries and lots of activity on the piers…it’s easy to spend an afternoon just walking around town. We did…more than once.

WE MADE IT! We’ve finally arrived on Maine’s rugged, craggy coastline, to begin our much anticipated summer-long trek down the eastern seaboard. I’m thrilled! The last time I visited this part of the country I was just 15 years old. My parents had taken me on a road trip across the United States. Bless their hearts…they believed it was important for me to have a look at our country at a young age, a geographic and historical “primer,” if you will.

Ever since that first glimpse of New England, I’ve wanted to return. I recall watching lobster boats chugging into little rock-bound harbors at day’s end against the setting sun, seagulls following, gongs on the red navigation buoys announcing the harbor’s presence as they lazily roll in the ocean’s swells…words can’t properly describe it. After all these years, I’ve finally made it. Spending summer and fall driving down this beautiful rockbound coastline while immersing ourselves in early American history marks the high point so far in our Great American Adventure.

Bar Harbor Inn, an institution in town. It’s a little like the Hotel Del Coronado in the San Diego area.

TOWN OF BAR HARBOR. Located on Mt. Desert Island and surrounded by Acadia National Park and located at the edge of the sea, Bar Harbor is a New England vacation spot beyond compare. With a commanding location on Frenchman Bay, it was a haven for the Astors, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and other super-affluent elite American families during the 19th century. William Howard Taft enjoyed golfing in the are. More recently, Martha Stewart and John Travolta have become homeowners and are frequently seen around town. I looked for them, but didn’t see either of them. Oh, well. In addition to being an absolutely gorgeous place, Bar Harbor offers boating, fishing, live theater, shopping, museums and historically significant architecture.

A LITTLE HISTORY. In the beginning, it was mostly artists, scholars, scientists, and writers who journeyed to Bar Harbor for inspiration and tranquility. With only a slight interruption by the Civil War, more and more visitors came to the rugged coastal community. Now and then even theater troupes stopped by and concerts became more frequent. Some local citizens ventured into the tourism business and more hotels were built. By 1870 there were sixteen hotels in Bar Harbor. At one point, reservations for rooms had to be made two years in advance! Supply and demand: More and more hotels were built and “the hotel era” dominated the resort for about two decades. Ultimately, the “cottages” built by America’s rich and famous took over the landscape. These “cottages” weren’t what we think of today as cottages. Quite to the contrary, they were waterfront mansions. Some remain. Some have been replaced. Some new ones have been added. One thing’s for sure, if you’re looking for a place to build or buy a home in an unforgettable and stunningly beautiful part of the country, this is it!

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