That’s right. Mainers speak their own language and are proudly and fundamentally rooted in their communities and their culture. Though English is the language here “er” and “ar” is pronounced “ah”…r’s don’t get a lot of respect in Maine.
Originally known as Eden, the town’s name was changed to Bar Harbor in 1918. Nowadays a very popular tourist town on Mount Desert Island, it is the birthplace of vice-president Nelson Rockefeller and, during the Gilded Age, the town rivaled Newport Beach as the summer resort for the wealthy, prominent east coast families. It is surrounded by beautiful Acadia National Park with Cadillac Mountain looming over the island.
My friends who summer here a few bays away arranged to meet me with a plan to visit some sights just outside of town. While I waited for their arrival, I took a quick walk around before the cruise ships all disembarked on this perfect day. The town was just starting to open. In the heart of downtown Bar Harbor, you’ll find some quirky shops, many restaurants, tourist and gift stores, local arts and handicrafts, quaint brightly painted homes and shops, many ice cream shops with every flavor including lobster ice cream, as well as the glorious and well-preserved Art Deco styled Criterion Theater, which opened in 1932. While the theater has gone through some rough patches over time, it appears to now be an active venue for movies and live entertainment.
There is nothing better than being greeted by familiar faces in your cruise port, so I was thrilled that my friends agreed to come. We drove to nearby Northeast Harbor, where they had planned a visit to the lovely historic Asticou Inn and stroll the nearby Azalea Garden and Thuya Garden.
Across from the Inn, the Azalea Garden was created in 1956 by Charles Savage, lifelong resident of the village and heir to the Inn. Styled after a Japanese stroll garden it features raked fine gravel paths, meandering small streams with ponds, well-behaved mounding shrubs, gnarly, twisted but disciplined pines and firs. All the structure of a classic peaceful Japanese garden, including the zen.
Lobster is king here in Maine. It is always fresh, usually plentiful, so delicious, and a primary industry of the state. No visit to Maine is complete without a lobster meal. On the deck of the Asticou Inn, overlooking Northeast Harbor, we treated ourselves to “Lobstah” rolls and popovers, another local tradition. For lobster dinner, my friends Greg and Marcia only have to go to their local wharf to buy it just-caught from the fishermen.
To work off the calories, we take the nearby gentle uphill path to Eliot Mountain and the Thuya Lodge and Garden. The path overlooks fishing boats and luxury pleasure boats on the hook dotting the harbor. The Lodge was built between 1912 and 1916 for landscape architect Joseph Henry Curtis and later placed in a trust directed by his friend Charles K. Savage, of the Asticou Inn. The garden is a semi formal herbaceous garden in the style of Gertrude Jekyll, a famous British horticulturalist and garden designer from the late 1800s and early 20th century.
We enjoy some time under a pavilion at the garden, basking in the beautiful summer day and catching up on our lives, when i realize we may have just enough time to return me to the ship before all aboard, and the lazy, lovely spell is broken with a start. Like waking up suddenly from a dream of lobster rolls and popovers, and discover it’s not real.
Had an uncle in Bar harbor that supplied cheese cakes to one of the local restaurants made from my mother’s secret recipe.
I had an uncle there who supplied one of the restaurants with cheese cakes made from my mother’s recipe.
I can see why they called it Eden
You write so beautifully Kristy! Happy to be traveling along with you!