I had wanted to visit the lighthouses of Maine for years. We had noticed that the Covid cases in New Jersey were slowly starting to rise so made a last minute decision to go at the weekend in case Maine put NJ back on their list of ‘States not allowed to visit’. We hadn’t done any research on where we should visit but had seen that Arcadia National Park was on the coast and that there was a lovely Hampton Inn on the outskirts so just booked it.

It was 8.5 hours away so we left 5pm on Friday evening with a planned stop over just outside Boston to break up the journey. We also did our normal dinner stop at the Cheesecake Factory where I had to order the Cajon Chicken Tenders again!

^{Cheesecake Factory}

We reached the hotel quite late, went straight to bed so that we could set off early the next morning as we still had 5 hours to go! The hotel was so quiet and there were probably only a few rooms booked.

Portland Head Light

I had googled ‘The Best Lighthouses in Maine’ and Portland Head Light came up which was on our route to Bar Harbour and only 2 hours away so we made it our first stop. We also needed lunch and saw that there was a lobster food truck by the lighthouse which had amazing reviews so decided to pay it a visit. When we arrived there was a queue which is always a good sign so Stu and I ordered lobster rolls whilst Tom went for a grilled cheese and Izzy chose pulled pork. We sat in a meadow to eat and the food was amazing – the best food truck ever!

^{Lunch from a food truck}

We then headed to the lighthouse. It really was the most picturesque lighthouse, set on rugged cliffs over the sea. We were able to walk around the outside and we then followed a short coastal path along the cliffs to get better views.

^{Portland Head Light}

Bar Harbor

After an hour or so at Portland Head we got back in the car to travel the 3.5 hours to Bar Harbor. It was a good journey and we arrived at the hotel about 4.30pm. We checked in, dropped off our bags and headed into the town to find somewhere for tea. A few places already had long queues (one in particular – Stewman’s Lobster Pound had a line going down the road) so we went to Paddy’s Irish Pub and Restaurant which had a table available. It wasn’t cheap but the food was really good. Both kids opted for Steak whist I had fish & chips and Stu had a burger.

^{Dinner at Bar Harbor}

We didn’t have room for pudding so promised the kids an ice cream and went to explore Bar Harbor. It was such a beautiful town. There were boats out in the sea, islands to look at and there was a real bustling feel to the place. Tom and Izzy found a slipway where they could take their shoes off and have a little paddle. There was a little pathway which followed the coast which we followed and it took us passed Bar Harbor Inn and Spa which looked like a beautiful hotel.

Arcadia National Park

The next morning we got up early as we wanted to drive the loop road of Acadia National Park before it became too busy. We did a quick stop at the supermarket to buy supplies for a packed lunch and then began the loop road.

The first stop was Sand Beach. The carpark was already very busy but we managed to find a space and we headed down the short path to the beach. The scenery was spectacular – blue sea, yellow sand and green trees on all the cliffs. We went for a paddle and the first thing we noticed was how much colder the sea was in Maine compared to New Jersey. It was freezing! Tom and Izzy also had a fort building competition.

Our next stop was Thunder Hole – so named because as the sea crashes into the rocks it is supposed to sound like thunder. It looked lovely and the rocks were quite dramatic but we didn’t hear any thunder!

It was only a quick 10 minute stop until we were back in the car to move on to Otter Cliff Overlook. Here we were able to follow a little trail along the top of the cliffs which took us to a viewing area where we watched people rock climbing. We also noticed loads of lobster pots in the water and watched as a little fishing boat sailed around them – unfortunately it didn’t collect any.

Next we headed to Otter Point where there were lots of rocks to sit on and just admire the scenery. At one point Stu had a beetle go inside his t-shirt and none of us would help him get rid of it so he got a bit stressed which was really funny. Also Tom had read a sign warning us about tics in the undergrowth so he was worried he was going to get bitten.

Our next stop was Jordan Pond. Unfortunately it was coming up to lunch time so the car park was really busy. Luckily as we drove around a car was leaving so we were able to take its space. We made our lunch and ate it at the car before heading to the pond. To be fair it was more like a lake than a pond. It was very shallow by the banks with lots of huge rocks so Tom and Izzy played stepping stones for quite a while. We then went for a short walk, had a look in the gift shop and returned to the car to go to Cadillac Mountain.

^{Jordan Pond}

The great thing about Cadillac Mountain is that you can actually drive right to the top! The views over Bar Harbor and the little islands off the coast are absolutely spectacular! There are lots of exposed rocks so Tom and Izzy invented a game whereby they could only walk around the top of the mountain if they were standing on rock which meant on a few occasions Stu had to lift them from one rock to another if the gap was too big.

We headed off the mountain but it was a bit too early for tea so we decided to drive over to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse as it was only about 30 minutes away. It was a nice lighthouse so we were glad we visited but there wasn’t really a walk or anything we could do there.

We drove back to Bar Harbor to find somewhere for tea. As we were early there was no queue at Stewman’s Lobster Pound so we ate there. It was a really cool restaurant with lots of lobster pots decorating the outside of the building. Stu and I both had a lobster salad. We had another wander around Bar Harbor before returning to our hotel for the evening. We took the kids to the hotel pool for an hour or so and then had an early night as tomorrow we were heading south down the Maine Coastline to slowly work our way home for the next couple of days.

^{Stewman’s Lobster Pound}