Our final port of the cruise was at Bar Harbor, Maine, which is on an island. We started the morning in O’Sheehans for breakfast and then headed to deck 2.

We had to tender from the ship to the port, using the ship’s life boats and some of the island’s ferry boats.

We had some time before our tour, so we walked around the town and we brought along Spuddy Buddy and Willy P.

In Maine, you advertise using a lobster, even though you are selling ice cream…LOL. We made a stop for donuts, which had crazy flavor combinations.

The area was explored by the French explorer Champlain in 1604, and he called the island “isles des Monts Deserts” meaning island of barren mountains. It was not until 1761 the first European village was established on the island by Abraham Somes. The town was incorporated in 1796 under the name of Eden and later changed to Bar Harbor.

The surrounding area of water became known as Somes Sound. It is the only natural fijard on the east coast of the US. A fijard is a large depression from glacial activity that fills with water.

We were in Bar Harbor at high tide. During the low tide, you can walk to the island in the background.

Starting in the 1870s, the wealthy citizens from nearby states, came to Bar Harbor to enjoy the cool summer temperatures. It is estimated that in July of 1875, 75% of the US wealthiest citizens were in Bar Harbor.

In 1884, a series of paintings were created of the Bar Harbor area and displayed in New York City, creating an influx of visitors. They were known as rusticators. Being in Maine, they wanted to “rough it” which to them meant staying in the homes of the area residents. Soon there was not enough space for all the visitors, so hotels and boarding houses were built.

Eventually, the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts became large landowners in the area, either by buying existing buildings, or building cottages.

In the afternoon, we had a tour to Acadia National Park with Steve as our guide. He is a retired wildlife biologist from Florida and this is his summer job.

In 1916, the Sieur de Monts National Monument was established. In 1919 it was renamed Lafayette National Park and then renamed Acadia National Park in 1929. The park currently encompasses over 49,000 acres.

George B. Dorr and Charles Eliot originally proposed the preservation of the area and supported it through private donations of land. The park would probably be larger in size, if not for the Stock Market crash of 1929, which halted donations.

Steve drove our tour van to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which is 1530 feet in height. It was named after a French explorer, who was also known to be a con man. For 6 months of the year, Cadillac Mountain has the first sunrise in the US. We got there just as the fog was rolling in. (You can see our ship anchored in the bay)

Cadillac Mountain is made of granite and has a smooth surface due to glacial movements. It was an absolutely perfect afternoon, as the mountain is often covered in fog.

The Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, constructed most of the roads in the park using their own money. These are still known as carriage roads.

In the early days of the park, Cadillac Mountain was known as Green Mountain. There was a cog train known as GMR or Green Mountain Railway that transported guests to the mountaintop.

In the small valleys surrounding Cadillac Mountain, there is a diverse and beautiful landscape

The park has a blowhole known as Thunder Hole. The ocean was very calm so there was not a lot of “thunder occurring .

Steve showed us pictures of what Thunder Hole looks like during a storm.

The ocean views surrounding Thunder Hole were amazing

It was a brief stop but we truly enjoyed ourselves

Back at Bar Harbor, we did abit of shopping and couldn’t resist the lobster hats.

Last view of Bar Harbor as we headed to the ship

As we sailed away, the ship passed Egg Rock Lighthouse. It was built in 1875 for $15,000 and sits at the mouth of Frenchman’s Bay. It was built to help guide the increasing seasonal ferry traffic. It receives it’s name from the large amount of seabird nests located on the island.

Wow what an amazing week we had on the NCL Gem…it’s always sad when you watch the last sunset of a cruise…

We spent the evening at Cagney’s Steakhouse, celebrating an early anniversary for Jodi and Wade. The ribeye steaks were delicious and the variety of desserts were the perfect ending.

During the previous 7 days, we had so many laughs, great memories, amazing food, and good conversations. You can’t ask for anything more…oh wait we had one more fun adventure when we arrived in Boston!!