Saturday, August 8, 2015

The Smiths Go Northeast Day 4: Bar Harbor, ME

We were so excited to start exploring Acadia National Park!  We kicked off our morning with delicious muffins from our inn and decided to start at Cadillac Mountain.  This is a big tourist spot, so we thought first thing in the morning might be best.
It's the highest point along the Atlantic seaboard, and it was just so beautiful!  So many shades of blue!

Jackson was excited with his new compass we gave him!  Too bad the cord to hang around his neck broke soon after :(
Commence Mommy's heart palpitations...
We wandered around for a while checking out all of the different views

Getting an even better view
Family selfie on top of Cadillac Mountain!
Our second stop was a really neat off-the-beaten-path spot called The Ovens.
This area is only accessible at low tide, so we had to time our visit carefully!  
Three boys in an "oven"
Just the little boys
Jackson holding up the oven!
Graham could have stayed here for hours throwing rocks!
There was a letterbox cache we found with this special stamp in it that said "OVENS"
We all enjoyed the walk along the rocky shore and then walked back to the car.
We found these beautiful flowers along the way!
We went back to Cadillac Mountain for a picnic lunch and just could not get over the view!
That's Josh all the way down there!
Cairns are plentiful, and it was like a sea of them in this one area
Jackson worked on completing the Junior Ranger program while we explored Acadia, and one requirement was attending a ranger-led program.  I think we found the perfect one for our two Junior Rangers--all about tide pools!
The kids all had to wash their hands before touching anything from the tide pool
The ranger who led the program was fabulous, and we all enjoyed it!  She definitely fostered an excitement in Jackson for exploring tide pools during the rest of our trip :)
We went over to Sand Beach for a bit, but our energy was fading.  The boys and I sat on the rocks and people-watched while Josh hiked out on the rocks a little further for some more views.
So much to look at with the huge rocks, the pebbly beach, the sand, the green of the trees and the beautiful ocean!
We went back to our hotel and relaxed, planned out dinner and showered before heading back out.
We tried Geddy's for dinner, and we loved it!  Starting with the kids' drinks coming with twisty straws and little fish that hung on the straws!
Josh tackled a whole lobster, and Jackson tasted it!  It got two thumbs up!
Josh broke off one of the claws for Graham to play with, and he proceeded to use it like chopsticks to pick up the bites of food in his frisbee (that's right--the kids' meals were served on frisbees we got to keep)!
YUM!
We had tried earlier in the day to visit Bubble Rock  I would love to know what the boys were envisioning when we told them to look for a rock that looked like a bubble... 
So close to the edge...just concentrate on the beautiful scenery!
SO pretty!
I love this picture of the mountain casting such a huge shadow!
Bubble rock!!!
We met a group of friends also doing this hike and enjoying the area, so we swapped photo ops!
This was a wonderful plan!  We got a little rest back at the hotel and then were able to stay out a bit later exploring all of the cool things to see!

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