Day 6: Aug. 8, 2009

Got up a little early again today to enjoy our full country breakfast at Pentagoet Inn. This morning they had raisin scones and some sort of sausage breakfast bake. We got our things together and relaxed in our room for a little while longer. When it was time to check out around 10:30am, we loaded up the car and talked with the owners of the inn, Jack and Julie. They personally helped us check out and cashed out a few special things we found in their tiny but adorable gift area. Since they knew it was our honeymoon, they gave us a gift of two of the awesome mugs they use for coffee every morning. They are hand thrown pottery mugs with a carved little picture of the inn on them- Julie even wrapped them up all pretty with tissue paper and ribbon. Jack runs the Passports Pub at the inn himself, and he gave us some great suggestions of new things to check out and do when we got to Bar Harbor. Plus he was hilarious to talk to! Great people :) and very down to earth.

The drive to Bar Harbor was pretty short- only about an hour and a half, including a stop to Cadillac Mountain Sports- Phil wanted to stop and admire some kayaks. Got into Bar Harbor way too early to check in, but we drove around to check out how much things have changed since I was here with the fam about 12 years ago. It has gotten MUCH busier around here, but there is also a lot more to do and a lot more to see. Some of it is tourist garbage, but there are a lot of new (to me) cool shops and places to eat, too. We also took a quick drive through part of Acadia National Park to see where we might want to take some photos there within the next couple days. Stopped for lunch at Cottage St. Bakery & Deli: good sandwiches and potato salad- amazing blueberry squares and turnovers! Vacations are soooo for eating!!

Checked into Wonder View Inn- sure isn't as nice as the Pentagoet, but I don't think any place we ever stay again will be! Even though it's a little further from town than we thought, it's nice and quiet here and we have a balcony with a nice view of their courtyard and the mountains and ocean in the distance. I took a short nap while Phil tried to figure out the map for Acadia and the surrounding areas.

Once we got situated, we found a parking spot downtown (which was a damn miracle) and did some of the shops. Phil and I fell in love with a store called "Window Panes" that has a lot of awesome and fun housey kind of stuff. I wanted to buy a lot of stuff for other people! Things are also very pricey there, sadly.

Beat the dinner rush and got a patio seat at Parkside Restaurant. Very relaxing to sit out there, with their little lights on under the awning, just people watching. I got a frou-frou drink called "Nutty Monkey"- it was amaretto, banana, and ice cream. Our waiter had never served one before, and it turned out to be so delicious! Phil had clams for the first time ever- he loved them- and also got some amazing lobster bisque. Not that my soup wasn't good, but I totally regretted not getting that bisque! After dinner, and once it seemed most people were settling in for dinner, we walked the now less-crowded strip. I totally freaked out when I saw they still had the "Cool As A Moose" store that we went to so many years ago. Phil had to tell me to shut up- but I could tell he was excited too :) For as many tourist-oriented shops they seemed to have added over the years, there are still many new unique shops. It was really enjoyable to walk around downtown and at the harbor at night. Slowly made our way back to the car and back to the inn for the night.