Must see, do, eat? Never been to Bar Harbor, or the state of Maine for that matter, so any recs will be appreciated. Thanks!

Might be too cold in October, but did a great sea kayaking trip off of Rum Island. Eat / drink anything and everything blueberry

Bring some wet/cold weather clothing. It is a crap shoot at that time of year. If you get a some calm weather, you will have a memorable trip. Will still be cold at night. You will be treated to fall colors (depending how September temps are up there?), a pretty quiet town, most of the businesses will still be open, and be in prime lobster season.

Acadia of course for hiking, Cadillac Mt, and other
Jordan Pond (scenery and popovers)
Two Cats (best breakfast)
Havana (Cuban)
Blaze (wood fired pizza and great beer)
Ben and Bill's ice cream (but all ice cream up there is very good)
Getty's (iconic bar, bar food)
Galyn's (best food IMO, more upscale atmosphere)
Thirsty Whale and Finback (basic restaurants for lunch, both very good)

There are no chain restaurants up there, very casual town. Good food, coffee, and beer. We stay away from the lobster 'pounds' like Stewman's, food occasionally is overcooked and/or average quality.

must do....practice saying Bah Hahbuh

We went to the East Coast in October. Bar Harbor is a great place. It was cold at night, fine during the day.

My daughter and I took a sunset flight in a classic biplane.

It was a blast and highly recommend. Airport in Bar Harbor. All of the restaurants have heaters. Comfy.

Also go to Cadillac Mountain.

BAHH Hawbahh is wicked good!

We were told that a lot of shops in Bar Harbor shut down the week after Columbus Day, so keep that in mind. We were there that holiday weekend. The colors were beautiful.

If you like rock climbing, you can hire a guide to take you climbing above the sea at Otter Cliffs.

We also did a private sunset cruise with Sail Acadia that was pretty awesome. We even got to pull up a lobster trap.

BSD said:

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We were told that a lot of shops in Bar Harbor shut down the week after Columbus Day, so keep that in mind. We were there that holiday weekend. The colors were beautiful.

If you like rock climbing, you can hire a guide to take you climbing above the sea at Otter Cliffs.

We also did a private sunset cruise with Sail Acadia that was pretty awesome. We even got to pull up a lobster trap.

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We did the same somewhere else on the east coast. We banded the lobstas, then brought them next door to a restaurant for them to boil them for us. I'll ask my wife on location and edit my post.

Portland, Maine

OP,

Mountain Desert Island is a cool place. Of all the east coast towns, that and Newport, RI were my favorites. We also detoured in Vermont to see an apple farm. Only it was the weekend of a festival there. We picked a bushel of various apple species. Fun experience on a whim!

My son is running the Bar Harbor marathon on the 20th. Wife, DIL and I are tagging along with him. Hopefully they'll keep everything open through the weekend and the week after.
Thanks everyone for all of the great tips, keep em coming and looking forward to it!

Anyone have updated thoughts on the best place to go for dinner in Bar Harbor? Today I started an impromptu road trip through Maine and into Canada. In Portland tonight and did very well at Blyth & Burrows and Twelve.

Also, if you know the best bar/restaurant to watch the tide change in the Bay of Fundy, I'll be there in a few days.

Then I need to figure out where to go in PEI and Nova Scotia.

Bar Harbor:
- Jordan pond house (inside Acadia NP)
- stewmans lobster pound
- Atlantic brewing company
- the annex

Thanks for the tips. I hit the Annex for dinner and had a great scotch cocktail. The food was very high quality bar food, which I enjoyed. When I first got there, a dude was playing Mr Brightside acoustic, which was better than you might think. Then a four piece blues band played and that was great.

Grabbed some cans from the Atlantic tasting room and they are good as well.

If my phone worked on this island the afternoon would have been much chiller. Had to book my room the old fashioned way, by walking into a place and seeing if they had anything.

Glad you enjoyed it!

There is something simple about knocking on doors. Not great during the busy season, but hopefully the crowds have died down. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Twelve is sooo good. Hope you got the Prix Fixie!