In July 2025, we took a 9 day trip to Bar Harbor, Maine. Since it is an 8-10 hour drive, we decided to stay for two nights about half way between, in Portsmouth NH, right on the border of Maine. Portsmouth seemed like a neat little town to visit, and we were not disappointed.
Stay tuned for more posts on this.
Highlights of the trip:
Portsmouth:
The Sailmakers House – great place to stay. (Water comes out of one spigot, not two! ? ) 1
Portsmouth town center – lots of great restaurants, coffee shops, etc.
The Strawbery (sic) Banke Living History Museum. (Strawbery was historically spelled incorrectly, and it stuck throughout the years.) Especially, “The Little Corner Store” at this museum
Prescott Park on the waterfront. Gardens, live music
The Cava tapas restaurant. We never had tapas before, but these must be at the top of the list. Delicious!
Bar Harbor / Mt. Desert Island:
Anne’s White Columns Inn. Friendly staff, great service, ok food for a B&B
The scenic Bar Harbor Waterfront
The Shore Walk. A scenic path along the waterfront, with pocket parks, gardens, the Balance Rock
Beautiful town center, a big park with a permanent piano that people come by and play, live orchestra every Tuesday and Thursday. Great restaurants and espresso
The Land Bridge
Acadia National Park, with Thunder Hole, Cadillac Mountain, many beautiful scenic spots. Especially, Sand Beach, where we went at night to take Milky Way pictures.
Thurston’s Lobster Pound, Lobster fresh off the boat that day, not stored for days before the restaurants get them.
Lighthouse and Puffin boat tour. Ok, but it’s a large whaling boat and not allowed to get too close to the puffin island.
Popovers at The Stadium …Great Blueberry preserves and Maple Butter accompaniments to the oven hot popovers!
Footnotes:
- In many older “historical” lodgings and B&Bs we stay at, the hot and cold water comes out of two separate faucets. Very inconvenient. ↩︎
Great Shots ! Especially Dan with the lobster- fantastic!