Ba habar (we come for ya labsta and cahwda)
Written: May 18 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Views, Lots to do, Excellent restaurants!
Cons: Can be crowded!
The Bottom Line: Visit this place and you will not be dissapointed I promise!
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| cusnwalter's Full Review: Bar Harbor |
Bar Harbor is a wonderful town located on Mount Desert Island in the great state of Maine. Whether you are just visiting Mount Desert Island or surrounding areas Bar Harbor is the place to be.
What’s in the town?
The town is filled with gift shops, Restaurants, Ice cream shops, two-movie theaters, and other small shops. There are other things too do. All the main passenger boats leave from Bar Harbor. You can go whale watching, Kayaking, Deep Sea fishing, Oceanarium, schooner trips, underwater video tours, mini golf, or take a trip over to Nova Scotia Canada on the CAT!
What’s the Cat?
The cat is a Jet Powered Boat that is kind of like a ferry. You bring your car or just yourself! It takes about 3 hours to get to Nova Scotia. On the boat there's a lot to do. They have two restaurants a couple gift shops and a casino. (18 or older) The boat costs adults $55 one-way. Along with your ticket you will get a voucher for the boat. It includes a $10 food voucher, $5 bar voucher, and $5 Gambling Voucher. You are able to bring your car on the cat for an additional fee of $95 one way plus that does not include any passengers in the car. Their are a lot of thing to do in Nova Scotia! The Cat can set up tours and travel arrangements up for you. You can tour the fishing areas, the houses, the near by towns, go on a biking tour, or stay over night. Remember your dollar does go father in Canada. I would recommend going through the cat if you are planning on booking a hotel or vacation. Information for the CAT and novia scotia is available in Bar Harbor at the CAT information Store. Or by calling 1888-249-7245 or visiting www.catferry.com
What about the other stuff:
Whaling trips are offered by two different places, the Bar Harbor Whale Watching Co. or Acadian Whale Adventures. I have been on both of these whale watching tours before. They both were really good. Although the Bar Harbor one plays to "dumb tourists" they offer over priced gift shops and pictures that they take before you board by the boat and they offer them to you when you leave. The Acadian Whale Adventures just bought a brand new boat! This offers everything the Bar Harbor one does but they have under water cameras and audio too. So you can be inside and still view the animals and even get a closer look! The images are projected on the plasma screens through out the cabins. They also offer a better food bar. Both boats cost about the same price $44 and offer a half money back guarantee if you do not see any whales. Both tours last around 3 hours. It’s a little expensive but worth it plus some of the money goes back to help the whales. Which is very important. The number for the Bar Harbor whale watching co is 207-288-2386, or www.Whalesrus.com. The Acadian Whale Adventures number is 888-533-WALE or visit www.acadianwhaleadventures.com
The town also has many offices that provide information about tours in and around Bar Harbor, especially kahking and hiking in arcadia national park.
The town can get crowd manly (no pun) because of the cruise ships that come in. That is why it is best to visit the town after 5pm when the cruises usually leave.
Movies and restaurants:
There are two movie theaters in Bar Harbor. They are both small, only one theater in each. They always have different showings and times. The smaller one is reel pizza. This is a small movie theater and pizza place combined you eat while you watch. The other theater was actually a theater. It’s so beautiful they just redid the theater. The number for reel pizza is 207-288-3811.
There are a lot of restaurants in Bar Harbor about something for everyone. Right out side of the busy town mains streets you can find fine dinning places. In town there are some very fun places to eat. Here are my favorites.
Route 66 is a type of theme restaurant. You’ll recognize it by the taxi outside. It is filled with stuff from the 60’s. Very fun for families. They have the typically diner food, hamburgers, nachos, salads, sandwiches, etc. Not to expensive.
Greddy’s is also a very fun place. The store is filled with unusual stuff like funny signs, and weird license plates. The menu can also be weird at times the pizzas are to die for. My favorite being the ceaser Salad. THE BEST!!! And I’m from NY so you know it has to be good! On a little side note you apparently must be 21 to get in this restaurant, the first year I went they let myself and three under 21 friends in. The three years after that I was not able to get in without someone over 21. Not that I am 22 looking forward to getting to eat here again.
For dessert I recommend Bill and Bens Chocolate emporium. Yes there may be a line out the door but I would wait in line for days for this ice cream. It is all home made! The scoops are big and plentiful. Not that expensive either. Just to give a little taste the chocolate chip ice cream has chocolate chunks in it. They have over 40 flavors including lobster and even a sundae for dogs that come with two dog biscuits.
Can I Stay over night?:
Of course you can! The town offers tons of options of where to stay overnight. It really depends on what type of place you want to stay in and how much you want to spend. The town offers high-end hotels to bed and breakfasts. On the out skirts there is also some brand name hotels- Quality Inn, Fairfield Inn, etc. If you are looking for something very nice I would recommend the Bar Harbor Inn, you can get a room right on the ocean with a balcony and this hotel is located in the heart of downtown. www.barharborinn.com . For bed and breakfasts there are so many to choice from and they all are different. This year I am going to be staying in cliff’s edge. I will let you know how it goes. Almost all the bed and breakfast are located within walking distance of downtown. I would recommend asking how far away downtown Bar Harbor is before booking.
You can visit this website for other info on restaurants in Bar Harbor:
http://www.barharbor.org/dining_frame2.html
Other numbers for activities.
Mini golf- 207-288-2133
Underwater video tour-207-288-DIVE
Kayak tours 207-288-0342
Oceanrium-207-288-5005
Schooner trips-207-288-4585
Abbe museum-maine Indian Heritage Museum - 207-288-3519
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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Epinions.com ID:
cusnwalter
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Member: Melissa
Location: Kew Gardens, NY
Reviews written: 89
Trusted by: 18 members
About Me:
Fun loving opinionated
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