Bite Into Maine at Portland Headlights

We did a road trip to Acadia National Park and hit up a few popular food spots.

On our way from New Jersey, we stayed overnight in Rockland, MA and had dinner in town, area called Bearskin Neck.  There are a lot of restaurants and we saw good reviews for Roy Moore Lobster Co.  The lobster roll was fresh and chowder was good too.

The next day as we drove north we stopped at Bob's Clam Hut in Kittery, Maine.  They are popular for their fried clams, especially whole belly clams.  I forgot which was the more popular one and asked the cashier what is their recommendation, which she said fried clam strips.  I'm disappointed I didn't get to try the whole belly, as the strips are pretty thin so it's mostly fried breading.

After snacking on clam strips we continued driving past Portland until we reached Red's Eats in Wiscasset, ME.  Probably one of the most popular lobster roll spots I found in Maine and I can understand why.  We waited about 1.5 hours (in August, after lunch hours)  The rolls were LOADED with thick and juicy lobster pieces.

Food around Acadia National Park

Since we were staying in Bar Harbor, we got take-out for dinner twice and ate by the water with a picnic blanket.  We tried Geddy's.  Nothing particularly special but the food was good.  

We also got take-out from Side Street Cafe.  One of the most popular restaurants in town and I saw a lot of recommendations for their lobster mac n' cheese.  Food was good, but the mac n' cheese was disappointing.  It was a small amount of lobster topped on a container of mac n' cheese.  The pasta was shells and the taste was just ok.

Beal's Lobster Pier is also highly rated for lobster.  We tried a warm roll and a cold roll, both delicious!

If you're looking for desert, try the ice cream at Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream.  They had a unique and fun menu of flavors.

Bonus: I wanted to try Cafe this Way for breakfast, but our B&B at Hearthside Inn included an excellent breakfast every morning.

Food around Portland, ME

Here are the top 3 spots I found in Portland and they did not disappoint.

Holy Donut - There are several locations downtown.  We got a box of six, and my favorite flavor was the Sea Salt Chocolate.  Made with Maine potatoes, these donuts were very moist and had great flavor.

Duck Fat - we tried their delicious poutine fries, duck confit panini and vanilla bean milk shake. A must try!

Eventide - We tried a few things off their menu and enjoyed everythinggg.  We started with some fresh oysters and drinks.  We got the crab roll and fried chicken sandwich.  I was hoping to try a pork katsu sandwich but it was not on the menu.  Usually not impressed with chicken sandwiches but this was the best I ever had.  

Hope this was helpful in planning where to eat on a trip to Acadia and Portland, Maine.  Thanks for reading! 

We took a road trip from New Jersey to Maine at the end of August last year during the pandemic.  We took all precautions and practiced social distancing.  A road trip to Acadia National Park was a perfect way to travel on our own and spend time outdoors in nature.  On our way to Acadia we stopped one night in Rockport, Massachusetts and on our way back we stopped two nights in Portland and one night in Newport.  I will share where we stayed and some activities we did.  I'll dedicate my next post to the best places to eat at.

Rockland, MA

We decided to stay one night on the way up at the Emerson Inn because I found a travelzoo deal that gave a discount rate with breakfast.  After checking in we took a short drive to explore Halibut Point State Park.  For dinner we went to the nearby town area called Bearskin Neck.  We got our first lobster roll at Roy Moore Lobster Co.  It was nice area to take a stroll. Plenty of local restaurants and shops.  Even though it was during a pandemic, there was a lot of people walking around.  We kept our masks on and kept to ourselves.  Check out other foodie stops we made on the way up to Acadia in my next post.

Acadia National Park

We stayed at Hearthside Inn in Bar Harbor.  Summer is normally high season and everything in Bar Harbor would be booked early.  We wanted to stay in that area for the convenience.  Due to the pandemic there was still a good selection of B&B's available.  We booked about 2 weeks in advance and got a discount rate for August, stay 2 nights get 1 free.  We stayed 4 nights for the price of 3.  I think 3 nights would have been enough for us but I had a lot of time off to use.  Over the span of our stay we picked out a few hikes and restaurants to try.  Will share them in photos below.

Easy Trails: Since it was a little rainy on our first day, we did a short walking hike in the morning nearby called Jesup Trail.  Jordan's Pond is also a nice area for a short stroll and stop by the Jordan Pond House Restaurant for their popular popovers.

Moderate Trails: Bubble Rock Trail, 1.4 mile loop.  There is actually a large rock wedged on the side of a cliff at the summit that people like to take photos at.

Beach Mountain Trail - Similiar to Bubble rock, this 1.2 loop hike offers beautiful views of Acadia.

Full Day Hike: A fun full day in Acadia would be to start at Sand Beach parking lot and walk the Ocean Path trail all the way down.  You can stop at the Gorham Mountain trail head sign or keep going and turn back around to the sign.  We continued up to the Gorham summit and it leads you back down to enjoy the rest of your day at Sand Beach.  You may want to start you day early because it was pretty hard to find parking.  The beach was also crowded so we didn't stay long.  Views were beautiful and water was surprisingly cold.

Hard Trails: We wanted to take it easy and the views are pretty similar for most of the hikes in Acadia but if you are looking for something more physical then consider the Beehive trail and Precipice Trail.  They don't seem too bad but requires some climbing and scrambling.

Portland, ME

On your way to or from Maine back to New Jersey/New York, you can stay a few days to explore Portland.  We stayed 2 nights and it was more of a foodie trip for us.  You could take a ferry to visit Peak Island and explore.  It was on the day we were leaving we visited a few lighthouses.  We started at Bug Light (Portland Breakwater Lighthouse), moved onto Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse (honestly, I can't remember what it looked like), then to Portland Head Lighthouse where we got lunch at an awesome lobster roll truck, Bite into Maine.  The last lighthouse to visit is Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse (Two Lights State Park) and there is another lobster roll (The Lobster Shack at Two Lights) to try here too.

Stay tuned for my next post, best places to eat in Maine!

 Merry Christmas!

It's been a year since I've gotten a Pusheen Box but the Black Friday deal convinced me to sign up for this Winter Box.  They offered a BOGO deal, if you order the Winter Box you will get one previous box for free.  Since I haven't gotten a box in a few years I was hoping it would be a box from the past few year.  I received my box a week before Christmas which would make it great for gift giving.  Here's what's inside:

Set of 2 Plastic Plates

I would say service at both resorts were amazing.  We usually don't care about service but it is important at all-inclusive.  It's convenient to be offered food and drinks while you are at your lounge chair or cabanas.  They will go out of their way to assist you.  At random times there may be someone offering fruit, small bites, and drinks.  At Live Aqua they had a lunch grill for hot dogs (and I heard on weekends they have chicken and more), taco station, paella station, and even crepe station (every day 4pm-6pm), Mexican coffee (evenings around dinner time)  at certain times and locations.  I had to find out about these things on my own from reading reviews.  I don't know what it's like during normal times but it would be nice if the resort gave a schedule of when these are offered and also entertainment schedule upon check-in.  We tried late night room service and also for breakfast.  Both meals came within 30 minutes and the staff set up the food for us on the table.  Food was still warm and delicious.  Tip: the creme brulee is a popular menu item.