ABC Chronicles: Maine - Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor

My first visit to Maine was to Kennebunkport and Portland, so for my second trip, I wanted to see Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor. My family and I only had one weekend, so what I've laid out below is a 2-day itinerary. I liked that it was an easily doable weekend trip, but I would also love to go back and take our time to see more of the park (and eat more lobster).

Activities

Exploring Acadia National Park

Drive the 27-mile Park Loop Road
Various hikes -- I found this site very helpful; here's what we did

Ocean Path: very scenic and easy roadside trail (more of a walk than a hike) that runs from Sand Beach to Otter Cliff, with Thunder Hole roughly mid-point

Cadillac Mountain Summit Loop: Cadillac Mountain is the highest peak on Mount Desert Island; we attempted to go 4 times before successfully making it to the top! The first two attempts (day 1), the road was closed due to some accident; we went again the next morning but it was extremely windy and foggy, but fortunately the rain and fog cleared by the afternoon, so we finally made it to the top for some spectacular views

South Bubble: Bubble Rock is a large boulder carried by glaciers and deposited at the edge of a cliff

Jordan Pond: beautiful fresh-water pond; we didn't have time to walk around the entire pond, but we did enjoy the view over lunch at Jordon Pond House

Educational lobster boat ride: we hopped on the Lulu Lobster Boat to learn about lobster fishing and see seals at play; Captain John was great, and I'd highly recommend them

The next time we go back, I'd love to explore more of Acadia, whether it's more hiking, biking, or even kayaking.

Food

The short summary is we ordered at least one whole lobster and one lobster roll every meal, and it was amazing. The best place we went was Thurston's Lobster Pound. Jordon Pond House had decent food (also famous for their popovers) but it's worth going just for the view. We also stopped by Side Street Cafe, West Street Cafe, and Peekytoe Provisions. As for dessert, we went to Mount Desert Island Ice Cream both days.