We awoke bright eyed and stub -tailed to greet our first full day on the island. In the absence of an alarm clock, it appeared that what woke us was the pitty pat of rain drops on the skylight above the bed (Yes, there is a skylight above the bed that looks up into the trees-how cool is that?). Rain. Heavy rain. Predicted for the whole day. *sigh* I killed some time unpacking, blogging, researching things to do, reading, and putzing about. Truth be told, after two full days of work and driving (and two pretty full weeks before that) it was nice to have a little down time. But I also had a whole list of things I NEEDED TO DO before the week was out.

Finally, a little before 11 there was a bit of a break and I decided to try and check out the local Farmer’s Market that runs on Sunday mornings.

And what a find it was-TONS of fancy cheeses-most of which looked like works of art, honey, yogurt, the sugar snap peas of my childhood, AND a guy selling smoked dog bones and frozen pig tails! What more could one ask for? Naturally, every other small child there wanted to pet Annie as well.

Apres market, I checked the map and saw we were only a short walk from both the local gourmet dog shop AND the fancy ice cream place. So we took a little stroll through downtown Bar Harbor (which is adorable and little changed from its heydey) and while I never could find the two shops we were looking for, I did find a yummy bakery aptly named A Slice of Eden which not only welcomed Annie inside with a treat but also had THE BEST chocolate cake donuts ever.

Of note, Bar Harbor is extremely chill and mega dog friendly, and many stores had this sign in the window:

Eventually we hit the pier, and stumbled upon Shore Walk-a half mile gravel path that winds between the ocean and some of the fancy pants old school mansions that line it. The day was pretty overcast, and at several points during the walk, the skies opened up and we got drenched (glad I left my rain jacket in the car) but the views were still pretty spectacular, and sure beat anything I can walk by on my lunch hour (sorry random chunk of Berlin wall) .

 

After the shore stroll we wandered back into Bar Harbor proper, but by then the sun had come out, the streets were TEEMING with huddled masses, and I was about 5 minutes away from having a hangry meltdown.

In short order we found a spot to enjoy a tasty clam roll and requisite Diet Coke. Of course traveling solo-ish means random strangers feel compelled to start talking to you. I was beset upon my an older woman (with her even older and more feeble looking husband in tow) who yammered on in a seemingly friendly manner until I asked a question of her man. As soon as he attempted to stutter out an answer she promptly admonished him that he needed to be calling the park immediately to reserve a spot for them on the afternoon’s lecture unless he needed her to do it herself.*heavy sigh* Annie and I made a quick exit.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, and come 7ish we strolled down to our local beach where Annie endured the standard forced paw wetting that accompanies all our visits to the shore.

(The water here is ridic clear).

Just another perfect Maine evening watching the sun set.