Day 2

Jordan’s Restaurant

This is one of the places on Trip Advisor that claimed to be one of the best breakfasts in Bar Harbor. We got there about 10:30am – 11:00am and we sat right down. The restaurant itself is small so the seating was limited (and especially small with COVID rules). From the start, the staff was super nice and helpful. Our waitress came right over a few minutes after we sat down.

My boyfriend split two Wild Maine Blueberry Pancakes with Wild Blueberry Syrup, home fries, and bacon. The pancakes were HUGE so one was MORE than enough for both of us. The blueberries tasted different than the blueberries back home. They weren’t as sweet, but they had much more flavor! My boyfriend and I ate the pancakes with butter AND the wild blueberry syrup and they were VERY good! I would definitely recommend this place if you want a quick and yummy breakfast. The menu is a little small (not sure if it was because of COVID or it’s normally like that but everything is very good).

Park Loop Road

After breakfast, we headed into Acadia to drive Park Loop Road. Park Loop Road is about a 20-mile loop that takes you through parts of Acadia along the coast. Our plan was our first stop to be Sand Beach, which is the first stop on Park Loop Road. However, there was about a mile long of cars and another parking lot full of cars all at Sand Beach, so we decided to skip it. There was no way we could social distance with that many people. Even when we passed Sand Beach on Wednesday around 11:00am it was incredibly packed! My suggestion would be to get there SUPER early! Park Loop Road is a MUST if you want to hit all the good spots in Acadia.

TIP: The “Entrance Station” is located right before Sand Beach on Park Loop Road. This is where you get your pass which is $30 (you can pay with cash or card) and is valid for 7 days. They also give you a map of Acadia which is super helpful!

Thunder Hole

The next stop was Thunder Hole which was a lot less crowded. Thunder Hole was not originally on our list, but we decided to stop anyways. I’m glad we did, it was a must see! Normally water shoots up out of the “hole” and soaks everyone close to it. It was low tide when we went so, we did not get to see much. It did offer some good views of Sand Beach! It was still an awesome place to stop regardless.

Ocean Path

Ocean Path is a 4.5-mile trail from Sand Beach to Otter Point. You can choose to walk the whole path or make stops along the way. We stopped a few times along the way (you can park anywhere throughout the 4.5 miles on the right-hand side of Park Loop Road. There are so many good views along this path I would highly recommend either walking the whole thing (it is an easy walk) or stopping and getting out to get pictures along the way.

TIP: We did not hike all of Ocean Path, we got out occasionally to get pictures but I could not imagine not having some sort of good quality sneaker/hiking shoe when climbing around the rocks.

Otter Point and Cove

Another must see on Park Loop Road! It offers views towards the cove and also out towards the bay. There were no signs for Otter Point so it was much more secluded than Sand Beach or Thunder Hole. There was a parking lot labeled “Fabbri” right next to it which is where we parked. This is the end of the Ocean Path walk – I noticed a few people who started the Ocean Path walk here as opposed to Sand Beach which I thought was a good idea!

TIP: Anywhere there were cars stopped on the side of the road we stopped. There are a lot of beautiful secluded places we would not have known about because not every place has a sign!

There was no sign for Otter Cove either. There was only a few people on the beach with us so it was quiet and calming. The farther we got from Sand Beach and Thunder Hole the less people there were which was incredibly nice. Despite being in the middle of a pandemic, there were a CRAZY amount of people.

Little Hunters Beach

This was another hidden gem off of Park Loop Road! It was very hidden from the main road and there were no signs showing the beach. A few cars had pulled off so we decided to check it out…we were not disappointed! Although

A few people had the great idea of bringing beach chairs and a blanket to sit and enjoy the waves. The sound of the waves was very relaxing and much needed after the craziness earlier on Park Loop Road.

Jordan Pond

Our next stop on Park Loop Road was Jordan Pond! As shown on the map we received at the entrance station, there are SO many trails off of Jordan Pond for all skill levels.

Jordan Pond Full Loop Trail

This trail is easy/moderate. The reason I say that it’s borderline moderate is because of its length. It is 3.4 miles however you don’t need to walk the whole loop to get amazing views. We walked about 1.0 – 1.5 miles to get to the Bubble Trail and were satisfied.

South Bubble Mountain

There are three main ways to get up to South Bubble Mountain. Accidentally, we took the hardest way which involved some rock scaling and climbing.

South Bubble Mountain – Moderate/Hard

Park at Jordan Pond at the Jordan Pond Boat Launch take a right. You will walk about 1.0-1.5 miles until you reach a sign marked Bubbles Trail. This trail is about 0.4 miles and will take you to South Bubble.

This is the way we took and although the actual trail was only 0.4 miles, it was difficult. I would not recommend taking this trail for anyone with kids or dogs! But if you’re up for the challenge go for it!

South Bubble Mountain – Moderate

Park at Jordan Pond and at Jordan Pond Boat Launch take a right. You will walk about 1.5-2.0 miles until you reach a sign marked Bubbles Divide. After 0.2 miles you will turn right onto Bubbles Trail and you can climb up South Bubble.

South Bubble Mountain – Easy/Moderate

Park at Bubble Rock Parking (which is past Jordan Pond on Park Loop Road). Take the Bubbles Divide Trail for about 0.4 miles the take a left turn onto the Bubbles Trail for about 0.2 miles until you reach South Bubble.

This is the way most people went and it seems the easiest. You can also cut over to Jordan-Pond Carry on the hike down which connects to the 3.4 mile loop around Jordan Pond.

Pemetic Mountain

If we had more time, I would have loved to climb Pemetic Mountain because the views looked beautiful! The mountain is considered moderate and is short in length so it’s perfect for anyone looking to climb!

Jordan Pond House

It was about 3:30pm when we finished South Bubble and we were STARVING! Without service, we did not know how far away we were to grab a quick lunch in Bar Harbor so we stopped at Jordan Pond House which is right on Jordan Pond. It was very quick and convenient.

The food was okay, nothing special. The prices were a little high too – I’m guessing they knew people hiking around Jordan Pond would be starving so they would eat wherever. I had a lobster roll which was good and Matt had a turkey and cheese which was very average. After that we headed back to the hotel to shower and relax (we were EXHAUSTED).

Walked around Bar Harbor

I like to collect shot glasses and Matt likes to collect snow globes so we did some hunting around downtown Bar Harbor. There are so many little shops to explore around Bar Harbor from gift shops to popcorn to maine-based artists/photographers. It reminded me a little of a mini Portsmouth, New Hampshire!

A NOTE: Maine took their rules and regulations very seriously when it came to COVID-19. Each restaurant we went to asked us for a name and phone number because of contact tracing. All restaurants and shops asked people to wear masks in order to enter. Free masks were available throughout the town if need be. There were also signs anywhere there was a congested areas reminding people to wear their masks. I really liked how seriously they were taking the pandemic – no wonder their numbers are going down!

Tailgate Sports and Pizza

We wanted something quick/cheap for dinner. We ordered a large pizza and parmesan garlic wings. The pizza was decent, both of us were starving so anything tasted good. The wings were fantastic! This restaurant wouldn’t be my first choice but it is a safe choice.

Because we came during the weekdays, many restaurants are closed Monday and Tuesday. I’m guessing this is a COVID thing because they are not getting enough business during these days its more beneficial to not open. This limited our options a lot of dinner! There were many different brewing companies my boyfriend and I had on our list to try – but unfortunately they were all closed!