Like a Local
Discover Bar Harbor’s Golden Age while exploring its modern-day charm.
Close the guidebooks and let a Bar Harbor local lead the way.
DESPITE BAR HARBOR’S MANY CURRENT CHARMS ITS REPUTATION remains rooted in its Golden Age, more than a century ago — long before the creation of Acadia National Park, in a time when the clomping hooves from elegant horse-drawn carriages echoed down gas-lit streets. Music poured from the verandas of 200-room summer hotels and grand 30-room summer “cottages” lined the shore. The attributes that attracted visitors then — cool sea breezes that take the edge off humid days; a diverse, worldly social scene; and the lure of long “tramps” (walks) on trails that scale the nearby mountains — were more than enough to convince this then-recent college graduate to stay long past the end of a stint as a summer bartender. More than 30 years of editing local weekly newspapers has provided me with a front-row seat as the island has learned to cope with the pressures that come with hosting more than 2.5 million visitors annually, some 150,000 who arrive by cruise ship. Welcome ashore.