Up with the sunrise to greet the day (approximately 5:00 am). Since quiet hours at Blackwoods campground are until 8:00 am. We headed out of the site by 6:00 am, with Peanut Butter sandwiches in hand, so we didn’t disturb too many campers with our daughter talking up a storm. She was really taking to the camping thing by this point.
We headed out for a drive on part of the park loop on our way to Sandy Beach to hike part of the Ocean Path. It was the hi-lited trail of the week so we figured it must be worth checking out. It was so nice and quiet on the drive and we were able to enjoy some great views while we watched the sun coming up more.
Sandy Beach has large washroom facilities and change rooms which made us wonder if this beach gets pretty packed on a hot summer’s day. It was quite cool when we headed out so we were dressed in our sweats and hoods were up. There is a very nice beach down a set of stairs here which dogs are not allowed on. It was so peaceful standing at the top watching and listening to the waves crashing into the pink granite cliffs.
The ocean path is a relatively flat gravel path that follows the road for a portion of it. There are some stairs on trails leading from this path to lookouts along the way. You could probably do this path with a stroller as long as it was one meant for “off-road”. We decided to hike as far as Thunder Hole which is a 2.8 mi hike return. We were the only ones on the trail going out to Thunder Hole so it was so nice and peaceful. We reached Thunder Hole shortly after low tide and it was putting on an impressive show. Our daughter was a little uncertain of it when we neared the hole, so I mostly stayed up top while Dave and Tessa spent some time right down there watching the waves and the spray.
After our short hike we ventured into Bar Harbor. Our first stop was breakfast at the Ivy Inn located on the main strip as you are heading south out of town. The service was incredible, and the food was amazing. I had oatmeal with fruit compote and burnt sugar (never thought I would rave about oatmeal, but this was so good, even my husband who only like the instant oatmeal packets thought this was really good) with a bowl of fruit (nice fresh fruits and berries), and Dave enjoyed the local egg breakfast with a side order of praline bacon. If you enjoy coffee with your morning breakfast then you must stop in here. They have the best coffee I have ever tasted. The breakfast was quite reasonable for the 2 of us and our daughter enjoyed a little of our breakfast while chatting up a storm with some of the other guests.
After enjoying our breakfast we then thought it would be a good morning to browse the shops and maybe pick up a few items to take back with us. It was still early so many of the shops were not yet open, but as we made our way towards the harbour more were opening up. We picked up a couple locally written books for our daughter at Sherman’s books that were recommended by the staff there. Tessa also got a new lobster stuffed chew toy to play with.
Once we were shopped out we drove out to the Oceanarium to check it out, but you have to do the 1.5 hr tour (can’t pick to do only some of the sites) so we weren’t sure our daughter could handle that since she hadn’t yet napped.
So it was back into Bar Harbor for some lunch before heading back to the campsite. We tried Stewman’s which is right on the harbour. The service was terrible, the food was not very good (I ordered 2 piece fish & chips – one piece of fish was cold and soggy and the other was ok) and much pricier than many of the other restaurants around. Dave said that his lobster was cooked properly and he enjoyed the lobster. I would definitely not return here. The high chair they brought us was coated in dried food and when I asked for a cloth to clean it, the server told me I could just use the paper napkins sitting on our table.
To read about what else we got up to on this trip check out the links below:
Day 1 – Lake Placid
Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT
Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT
Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME
Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park
Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME
Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NS
Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits
Day 12 – Halifax, NS
Day 13 – Catching up with an old friend
Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT
Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME
Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park
Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME
Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NS
Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits
Day 12 – Halifax, NS
Day 13 – Catch up with an old friend
