July 4

We had a solid plan for our one full day at Acadia, but instead we arrived to Bar Harbor to find the entire town shut down for their Fourth of July parade. The shuttle service we were counting on was suspended most of the day. We wasted an hour hoofing from our parking spot outside town to the bus stop and back, then driving to Thunder Hole. It was beautiful, but the tide wasn’t right for the full effect. We decided to head to the larger spot at Jordan Pond for bathrooms, except that after 35 minutes of driving around, we learned that the closest parking spot to that was a mile away. Hiking two miles to and from the car plus the 3.5 miles around the pond without having lunch was not in the cards, so I cried a little and we headed back to Bar Harbor. The parade was over and we had lunch and did some shopping and then our paddle tour, which was absolutely wonderful and peaceful and just what I needed. But then everyone was setting up for fireworks and there were insane lines everywhere for dinner. We decided to head out of town for dinner, except that by the time we got back to the car and found a place, almost everything was already closed. And when we got to the one place we thought would be open, it was closed for the holiday altogether. We ended up getting back to the campsite at 9pm and ate bagels and peanut butter by lamplight until surprise, it started raining again. Not the best day, but not the worst, and at least we enjoyed time together, which is the point.