Going to Portland Maine mid May. We are driving up to see Acadia Nat'l Park. What else should we do?
Going To Maine
- Thread starter Semiologist
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I haven't been yet, but I'm going up in June for a friend's wedding.
This was the most concise "guide" I've found so far on things to do.
http://mainetoday.com/maine-travel/most-beautiful-places-in-maine/
Oh and almost universally on the various foodie websites, Bob's Clam Hut comes up as THE place for lobster rolls and clam chowder. Other contenders get mentioned but this one seems to show up the most.
This was the most concise "guide" I've found so far on things to do.
http://mainetoday.com/maine-travel/most-beautiful-places-in-maine/
Oh and almost universally on the various foodie websites, Bob's Clam Hut comes up as THE place for lobster rolls and clam chowder. Other contenders get mentioned but this one seems to show up the most.
Ogunquit , ME, a neat little town before portland, small cove with a nice cliff walk and some restaurants.
Portsmouth Nh also a great beer town like portland(tons breweries) good shopping in portsmouth too. Both are superb food towns far more than just lobster. Portland more like Pacific Northwest, portsmouth more upscaled water town.
Kittery maine next door to Portland has outlets I've never been too.
Acadia is gorgeous, I recommend a kayak tour once there, and biking maybe too. bar harbor tiny but quaint.
Sweet trip you have planned
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Portsmouth Nh also a great beer town like portland(tons breweries) good shopping in portsmouth too. Both are superb food towns far more than just lobster. Portland more like Pacific Northwest, portsmouth more upscaled water town.
Kittery maine next door to Portland has outlets I've never been too.
Acadia is gorgeous, I recommend a kayak tour once there, and biking maybe too. bar harbor tiny but quaint.
Sweet trip you have planned
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Lobster Shack at 2 Lights, look it up. Just over the bridge from Portland, neat little casual place for lobster rolls,etc right on the coast, overlooking the water. Ill post pics later when ilI get back to my laptop.
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We went there last October. Sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. Earliest sunrise in the US. We flew a biplane tour which was fun.
Acadia is great, near Bar Harbor which is worth a look for sure. Maine is cool - if you don't mind the seasonal traffic just drive the coastal route and stop at the little towns along the way. There's always something interesting. Old Orchard Beach is pretty accessible and a nice Atlantic beach.
If that bores you then head for the interior. It's certainly outdoors focused but you could do pretty well hanging out at a locals bar for an afternoon and hearing the stories (if you can understand them).
If that bores you then head for the interior. It's certainly outdoors focused but you could do pretty well hanging out at a locals bar for an afternoon and hearing the stories (if you can understand them).
Agreed with this. We did this last year and it was great. Beautiful view of the Atlantic with a nice breeze and good food.
We hit up Liquid Riot Brewing for some beers and rather enjoyed that as well. It is right in the heart of Portland. Alagash Brewing has quality beers and is in Portland as well.
Holy Doughnut had some quality doughnuts.
If you want to make a side trip while going up the coast, go see Pemaquid Point lighthouse (it's on the back of the Maine quarter). Then have lobster at Shaw's in New Harbor. Sitting on the deck at Shaw's is quintessential Maine. The Lobster Shack at two lights, mentioned above, is great and owned by friends of my family but I'll take Shaw's over it any day for atmosphere.
Went there a decade ago. In addition to the aforementioned Maine experiences we made a side to the the White Mountains of New Hampshire and had a blast. Great hiking. Mt. Washington if your up for it, and the Flume gorge is worth the admission and easy for those less inclined to punish themselves.
Absolutely. And, if you're in that area, Arethusa Falls is a must. About an hour hike in, and well worth it. Highest waterfall in New Hampshire. We have been going twice a year for the last 10 years or so. Never disappoints.
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My wife and I did that same trip 3 years ago. Make sure you eat at Jordon Pond House at the park.
The Skowhegan Moose Festival will run throughout this weekend, with the annual moose permit lottery taking place at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Skowhegan Fairgrounds.
I would guess everyone who has been to Maine has their favorite lobster pound. Mine was Estes Lobster House and it’s three 1.25 lbs lobster dinner (that’s right three live lobsters murdered for my pleasure) for $19.99. It had a great lobster roll and haddock chowder as well.
That’s true, it’s world famous for its popovers and strawberry jam and make sure you take the hike around the pond as the “bubbles” are the most photogenic spot in all of Maine imo, even more so than other famous spots in the NP.
Well this is a three year old zombie thread resurrected by someone who wasn't going, but since there's at least one person interested I'll post a couple of things I liked.
Here's one of my iphone pics from Jordan Pond with the "Bubbles" in the background.
Here's one of my iPhone pics of the Portland Head Light which has a little too much filter applied.
And a Sunrise shot not of the Portland Head Light but nearby. SUPPOSEDLY the park rangers are supposed to be there thirty minutes before sunrise to let in photographers but they didnt show up until well after sunrise for me (and it's a repeated problem complained about frequently on travel sites). Which is too bad as it was a gorgeous sunrise.
And some shots around Acadia NP
I will say that the view from the tallest mountain, Mount Cadilac is very....meh. So you can decide if it's worth the hike, I didn't think so.
Otter Cliffs is a pretty nice hike though
Here's one of my iPhone pics of the Portland Head Light which has a little too much filter applied.
And a Sunrise shot not of the Portland Head Light but nearby. SUPPOSEDLY the park rangers are supposed to be there thirty minutes before sunrise to let in photographers but they didnt show up until well after sunrise for me (and it's a repeated problem complained about frequently on travel sites). Which is too bad as it was a gorgeous sunrise.
And some shots around Acadia NP
I will say that the view from the tallest mountain, Mount Cadilac is very....meh. So you can decide if it's worth the hike, I didn't think so.
Otter Cliffs is a pretty nice hike though
But my favorite spots were when we hiked around Schoodic Point which is still in the NP but past where most of the tourons go.
Oh, for the Estes Lobster Pound Three Lobster lunch here's a couple of pics.
After eating at Estes we went out to "Land's End" on the Peninsula as well as to the "Giant's Stairs" which were both decent but not extraordinary photo spots.
After eating at Estes we went out to "Land's End" on the Peninsula as well as to the "Giant's Stairs" which were both decent but not extraordinary photo spots.
Bring a light jacket....47 Monday morning in Portland (my daughter lives there)
Here's some pics from our hike around the pretty common touron "Ocean Path" although we took a lot of unofficial paths off of it to better photo spots.
A couple of other thoughts.
1) Miyake in Portland Maine was a fantastic Japanese restaurant, one of the few on the East Coast I would compare with the best on the West Coast. Not only do they use fresh local Maine seafood rather than frozen (*&(& from Alaska like most Florida sushi/Japanese restaurants, but they own their own farm where they raise an heirloom species of Japanese pig known for its flavor in a free range ie eat acorns and weeds way.
2) The "Bar Harbor Lobster Pound" in Bar Harbor we thought would be touristy and terrible, but of the four we went to on the trip it wasn't noticeably different. I would say their lobster roll wasn't as good as the others, but the whole lobsters were identical in quality and they had the best softshell clams I had on the entire trip. And if you haven't had softshell clams...make sure you try them while in Maine but first make sure you learn how to eat them (you have to literally skin their siphon which looks like a small penis).
3) I've been on four official whalewatching tours. At the one in Kaikoura New Zealand we saw several sperm whale up close (the only place in the world you can commonly do that), the world's smallest dolphins, NZ fur seals, several species of albatross including the biggest the wandering and Great White Sharks. At the one in Vancouver, we got to watch a pod of transient killer whales including two small babies, hunt and then share eating some California Sealions. At the one in Monterey California, we saw about twenty different humpback whales including two feeding "balls", one where there were only seals and seabirds and another where an enormous "superpod" of dolphins numbering in the thousands according to the researcher on board joined about a dozen humpbacks and hundreds of seals in destroying a giant sardine school. The water literally had an inch thick of sardine fat floating on the surface afterwards. At the one in Maine.....we saw two puffins and one singular porpoise near shore. That's it, for a four hour tour.
1) Miyake in Portland Maine was a fantastic Japanese restaurant, one of the few on the East Coast I would compare with the best on the West Coast. Not only do they use fresh local Maine seafood rather than frozen (*&(& from Alaska like most Florida sushi/Japanese restaurants, but they own their own farm where they raise an heirloom species of Japanese pig known for its flavor in a free range ie eat acorns and weeds way.
2) The "Bar Harbor Lobster Pound" in Bar Harbor we thought would be touristy and terrible, but of the four we went to on the trip it wasn't noticeably different. I would say their lobster roll wasn't as good as the others, but the whole lobsters were identical in quality and they had the best softshell clams I had on the entire trip. And if you haven't had softshell clams...make sure you try them while in Maine but first make sure you learn how to eat them (you have to literally skin their siphon which looks like a small penis).
3) I've been on four official whalewatching tours. At the one in Kaikoura New Zealand we saw several sperm whale up close (the only place in the world you can commonly do that), the world's smallest dolphins, NZ fur seals, several species of albatross including the biggest the wandering and Great White Sharks. At the one in Vancouver, we got to watch a pod of transient killer whales including two small babies, hunt and then share eating some California Sealions. At the one in Monterey California, we saw about twenty different humpback whales including two feeding "balls", one where there were only seals and seabirds and another where an enormous "superpod" of dolphins numbering in the thousands according to the researcher on board joined about a dozen humpbacks and hundreds of seals in destroying a giant sardine school. The water literally had an inch thick of sardine fat floating on the surface afterwards. At the one in Maine.....we saw two puffins and one singular porpoise near shore. That's it, for a four hour tour.
I put the "bar" in Bar Harbor one weekend several moons ago while visiting a buddy of mine. I couldn't tell you a thing about Maine or Bar Harbor, except those fishermen love to drink.
You really can’t go wrong, went to Portland/ Acadia in the summer of 2016. Bar Harbor is a cool little town, though the hotels were expensive as hell when we went. We stayed a little outside of downtown, in some other town I can’t remeber the name. Portland is cool, check out the dock area plenty of good food down there.
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