12/31/16-1/1/17 - Location: Bar Harbor, ME
The drive east to Acadia National Park was beautiful! We arrived into Acadia at about 4:24, about 24 minutes after the visitor center closed. The lights were on and we could see that people were walking around inside so we decided to try our luck and pull on the door handle. Much to everyones surprise the door opened! (I don’t think the park rangers were happy that the door wasn’t locked) After a brief chat with the rangers, we realized we could be in for some real difficulties finding somewhere to sleep for the night. We called several places hoping they would be open.After resigning ourselves to the nearest Walmart parking lot, we got a phone call back from Hanscoms, a cabin rental property that is open year round on the outskirts of Bar Harbor. The decision to drive the 30 minutes back to Bar Harbor was an easy one, although we weren’t excited to be spending money on accommodations. The return to Bar Harbor meant that we could stick to our original plan of visiting the mostly closed Acadia National Park, something that was high on our list of places to visit.
We spent New Years Eve Day exploring the park. While most of the park was closed, it was a great time to sight see without more than a dozen cars driving around. The day was filled with hikes along the shoreline to sit and watch the surf on what will likely be our eastern most point. We decided to take the bikes off the roof and tour around the closed section of road near Otters Point. Added bonus- dogs are allowed in the park, so Rooney had his first run while we rode bikes experience. We had a great day in the sunshine with the park basically to ourselves.
We wandered around Bar Harbor for dinner and drinks with the locals on one of our quietest New Years Eves. No dice for January 1st sunrise atop Cadillac Mountain (first spot in the US to see sun) as the forecast is not cooperating. New Year, a whole new lifestyle!
Tomorrow’s destination: New Hampshire