It's only couple of hundred miles from Sebago to Bar Harbor. For a change, the roads were good, much of it on I95 which is a toll road in Maine.
We must of gone through 4 toll booths, by the time we were done had paid about $20 in tolls, at one point we went through two toll booths within 15 minutes, got to be a better way.
We are staying at an older campground on Bar Harbor, Hadley's Point. We had been assured that we were getting a "big rig" site. Told us that they have had 40' motor homes in our site. I told them no way, did not think we could get our 38' in. They sent over their maintenance person who helped me shoehorn the rig in, with my mirrors hanging over on the the road. When I complained they said they were sorry, and changed their campground map from 40' to 38'. At best nothing larger than 36' should be allowed.
That said, we are here, went into town last night and had Italian food at Rosalie's. Great pizza crust, unfortunately sauce was bland, and topping very salty.
Barb's eggplant parmesan had an "out of the can" sauce. Makes us appreciate our favorite Italian restaurant in Rock Hill, Luigi's.
Okay enough of the griping, the town has lots of shops, but what made it different was the green spaces, shaded parks with benches one could just veg out in. The harbor is beautiful, we spent time on a park bench just watching ships and people. Virtual "United Nations" passed by with tourists from all over the world.
Tomorrow we are spending the day at Acadia National Forest.
Some pics of the Harbor
Bar Harbor Facts
The town of Bar Harbor was founded on the northeast shore of Mount Desert Island, which the Wabanaki Indians knew as Pemetic, meaning "range of mountains" or "mountains seen at a distance." The Wabanaki seasonally fished, hunted and gathered berries, clams, and other shellfish in the area. They spoke of Bar Harbor as Man-es-ayd'ik ("clam-gathering place") or Ah-bays'auk ("clambake place"), leaving great piles of shells as evidence of this abundance. In early September 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain ran aground on a rock ledge believed to be just off Otter Cliffs, and when he came ashore to repair his boat he met local natives. Champlain named the island Isles des Monts Deserts, meaning "island of barren mountains" — now called Mount Desert Island, the largest in Maine.
First settled in 1763 by Israel Higgins and John Thomas, the community was incorporated on February 23, 1796 as Eden, after Sir Richard Eden, an English statesman. Early industries included fishing, lumbering and shipbuilding. With the best soil on Mount Desert Island, it also developed agriculture. In the 1840s, its rugged maritime scenery attracted the Hudson River School and Luminism artists Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, William Hart and Fitz Henry Lane. Inspired by their paintings, journalists, sportsmen and "rusticators" followed. Agamont House, the first hotel in Eden, was established in 1855 by Tobias Roberts. Birch Point, the first summer estate, was built in 1868 by Alpheus Hardy.
By 1880, there were 30 hotels, with tourists arriving by train and ferry to the Gilded Age resort that would rival Newport, Rhode Island. The rich and famous tried to outdo each other with entertaining and estates, often hiring landscape gardener and landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, a resident at local Reef Point Estate, to design their gardens. A glimpse of their lifestyles was available from the Shore Path, a walkway skirting waterfront lawns. Yachting, garden parties at the Pot & Kettle Club, and carriage rides up Cadillac Mountain were popular diversions. Others enjoyed horse-racing at Robin Hood Park-Morrell Park. President William Howard Taft played golf in 1910 at the Kebo Valley Golf Club. On March 3, 1918, Eden was renamed Bar Harbor, after the sand and gravel bar, visible at low tide, which leads across to Bar Island and forms the rear of the harbor. The name would become synonymous with elite wealth. It was the birthplace of vice-president Nelson Rockefeller .
In mid-October 1947, Maine experienced a severe drought. Sparks at a cranberry bog near Town Hill ignited a wildfire that would intensify over 10 days, and not be declared out until mid-November. Nearly half the eastern side of Mount Desert Island burned, including 67 palatial summer houses on Millionaires' Row. Five historic grand hotels and 170 permanent homes were also destroyed. Over 10,000 acres (40 km²) of Acadia National Park were destroyed. Fortunately, the town's business district was spared, including Mount Desert Street, where several former summer homes within a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places operate as inns.
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