Day 17 - September 24, 2026
Today after breakfast at the Golden Egg, a nice little local breakfast/lunch place, we were off to Freeport, Maine. The purpose of this stop was to check out the L.L. Bean Flagship Store. This is a new construction and just opened on September 18.
It is a large and beautiful store, complete with a children's play area, an indoor trout pond, archery range, hunting and fishing gear and tons of clothing. We shopped carefully and managed to leave with our wallets intact.
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| Children's Play Area - Notice the mural |
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| Part of the mural - more below |
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| Very well done |
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| Trout Pond |
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| With Trout |
We then continued north up Maine Highway 1 on the way to Ellsworth, ME. The route took us through some beautiful fall foliage and nice views of the ocean. We arrived later than normal, and after checking in went to a restaurant that was recommended by the hotel staff. The Union River Lobster Pot did not disappoint.
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| Union River Lobster Pot |
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| Union River |
Deb had a lobster roll, while I had lobster mac & cheese. A very good meal.
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| Lobster Roll |
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| Lobster Mac & Cheese |
Day 18 - September 25 2026. 29015
After partaking in breakfast at the hotel, it was off to Bar Harbor, more specifically Acadia
National Park and a drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain. The road to Cadillac Mountain is
restricted to reservations. Reservations are given in 30 minute blocks. You must reserve
through the Recreation.gov website. We drove to the top and spent about 30 minutes there exploring the top of the mountain and the various views.
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| Bar Harbor and the outer Islands |
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| Village of Bar Harbor, the outer Islands |
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| Village of Bar Harbor, notice the Ferry just to the right of center |
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| Looking toward the top of Cadillac Mountain |
After coming off the mountain, we followed the Park Road and came out at Seal Harbor.
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| Seal Harbor |
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| Seal Harbor - looking toward the Village of Seal Harbor |
After a short photo op, we continued west (I think) over to Northeast Cove, along Somes Sound, into the Southwest Harbor area. We decided to stay on Route 102 and continued west (I Think) to Tremont, then onto Pretty Marsh and the Pretty Marsh Boat Launch.
By this time we were getting tired and hungry, so we let the GPS take use to The Chart Room Restaurant. This basically had us backtrack to the intersection of Route 102 and Crooked Road, east to Route 3. We covered about 100 road miles during our tour of the island. We were taking another recommendation from the hotel staff, on a place to eat by choosing The Chart Room, just north of Bar Harbor. We both had excellent lobster rolls. Then back to the hotel for the night. More adventures tomorrow.
Day 19 - September 26, 2026
On the road back to Mount Desert Island for the day. Yesterday we drove just a portion of the Park Road. Today we drove the portion that we did not travel yesterday. The drive took us on the east side of Champlain Mountain, to the Schooner Overlook.
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| From Schooner Overlook |
The road then continues south coming to Sand Beach. This is a beautiful little cove on the shoreline. With the winds increasing, part of which may be related to the storm in the Atlantic, the surf was high and many warning signs advising people to stay out of the water.
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| Sand Beach |
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| Sand Beach |
The road continued on to Thunder Hole, which is a rocky outcropping into the Atlantic Ocean. Lots of people there watching the waves crash onto the rocks. This was another photo op stop.
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| Thunder Hole |
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| Top of the Rocks - Thunder Hole area |
The road continues across Otter Cove,
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| Otter Cove |
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| Looking across Otter Cove - Wouldn't you like to live there? |
past Wildwood Stables and finally we exited back at Seal Harbor as we did yesterday. Today we turned NE on Route 3 and went into Bar Harbor proper. This is a quaint town, a coastal town, and a tourist town. The homes we passed were all well maintained and looked outstanding. The downtown area was cramped, narrow streets, but clean and inviting. Parking is all paid and either in lots are parallel. We spent some time (and money) in the area and then headed back to Ellsworth.
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| From DashCam - Bar Harbor |
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| From DashCam - Bar Harbor |
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| From DashCam - Downtown Bar Harbor |
Dinner was at Legends. A small fast food/deli in Ellsworth. The food was good. Then back to the hotel.
Day 20 - September 27, 2026
Today after doing laundry and a trip to Wal-Mart and Home Depot, we took a drive around the peninsula. The scenery was nice with heavy clouds and impending rain. Leaves just beginning to show lots of color as the fall season progresses.
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