Beyond Acadia: Excursions in Southwest Harbor, Bar Harbor, and Ellsworth, Maine

When we took our trip to Acadia in 2019, we chose to stay in an Airbnb in the town of Ellsworth. This is the town just north of Mount Desert Island, and it's Acadia's closest town with true civilization. If you want national grocery stores and Walmart, Ellsworth is your town. This civilization also brings more private residential homes, which is how we found our Airbnb, a small 1-bedroom cottage that was our host's guest house. We were 30-40 minutes from the main park loop.

There was one place we vividly remember going while staying in Ellsworth, and it isn't a national store or a chain. This was a place we've told many people about over the past 6 years, and as soon as we planned to return to Acadia, we knew we needed to stop again. Only, towing the trailer there would be a big challenge. If we couldn't stop by on the way to our campground, we would need to unhitch and then backtrack a half-hour. We knew this place was worth it either way, but stopping on our way to the campground would be a huge time-saver.

Momo's Cheesecakes is a cheesecake shop run out of a house on Main St. You know us and cheesecake; it's a dessert we simply can't pass up! Beyond our love of cheesecake, though, is our love for this shop. It feels like a step back in time, when things were simple and people actually trusted one another. The whole shop runs entirely on the honors system. You choose your cheesecake and deposit your cash in a lock box. There is also a guest book you can sign, and you can write messages on Post-Its and stick them to the wall. Because no one mans the shop, it's open 24/7. During our 2019 trip, we went late at night.

I scoured Google Street View and satellite maps to see if there was any place we could pull over in our rig as we passed through Ellsworth. There is ample parking in front of Momo's for cars, but our 56ft of combined length would be far too long. Across the street is a cemetery that looked to have a wide shoulder in front of it. We decided to try that, but we knew it would be a long shot. Just in case, I also looked for places we could turn around if needed.

Sometimes Google can't give an accurate idea of the terrain, and I totally missed that, in that wide shoulder in front of the cemetery was a large drainage ditch. Between that and the hills on Main St, we were out of luck. We turned around in a landscape/gravel business parking lot that was closed for the day, and as we made our way back towards Momo's, I knew we couldn't give up that easily. A short ways down the street was a VFW hall, and we thought no one would mind us quickly parking in their lot. It was huge and no one was there anyways. We took the risk. We left the pets in the truck with the engine still running, locked it up, and went .2 miles up the hill to Momo's. We tried to choose our cheesecake slices as quickly as possible, but boy had a lot changed since 2019! The little cheesecake display box was now an entire wall! We had dozens of flavors to choose from. In addition to cash payments, there were also instructions for paying with Venmo. It was great to see how Momo's has grown over the years. With places like this, we worry that they could go out of business or stop making the cheesecakes altogether. This place was thriving. We didn't have time to sign the guest book or write on a Post-It, but we were thrilled to have some slices for dessert over the next few days.

We wish we could advise our RV community on how to tow to Momo's, but we can't condone our VFW stop. However, if you're staying near Ellsworth or don't mind taking a drive, this place is a must.

That was our only Ellsworth stop this year, but we had other towns to explore for the first time, starting with Southwest Harbor, the town where our campground was located. There were several campgrounds to choose from near Acadia, but we were looking for suitable RV campsites as well as cabin accommodations for our friends. We booked a pull-thru, full hookup site at Smuggler's Den because of their ample non-RV options, including cabins, apartments, and stationary RV rentals. Our friends chose one of the apartments.

The roads at the campground are tight, but we purposely booked a site at the end of a row so we could have some extra pleasure-side yard space. This also put us a short walk to the apartments, situated near the campground's entrance. These apartments are new and very glamp-worthy, decorated with a cottage theme and adorned with both enclosed and outdoor patios.

We all paid a pretty penny for our accommodations (our site cost us almost $100/night), but the campground had lots of amenities and put us in a great location for exploring. We took advantage of the playground, cornhole, and hiking trails (though better signage was definitely needed for the trails). The campground also has its own stop along the Island Explorer, the free shuttle that runs on Mount Desert Island. We were about 20 minutes from Acadia's main entrance and a 30-minute shuttle ride to downtown Bar Harbor.

We have nothing to complain about with our campground or campsite, but we don't know if we would stay again. There are other campgrounds nearby that have waterfront sites and more of a rustic nature feel, but a lot would depend on our circumstances. For a trip with friends, we think we made the right choice.

I mentioned in the last post that we were 12 minutes from Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, which is technically a national park site. Same with Echo Lake Beach, which we actually had walking access to from our campground, but it was much quicker and easier to drive up the street. Aside from the NPS-owned sites, Southwest Harbor has lots of little gems. One morning before we met up with our friends, Anthony and I ventured down to Milagro Coffee Bar for breakfast and coffee, which we then took across the street to the Charlotte Rhoades Butterfly Park. The food and coffee were decent, made better by the beautiful scenery of the butterfly garden. We took a stroll among the flowers and had a lovely chat with the docent, Sarah. September is too late in the season to see most of the butterflies, but many of the flowers and herbs were in full bloom. This was a nice, relaxing start to our morning and gave us a glimpse into local culture in Southwest Harbor.

The town has no shortage of cafes, and the morning we left, our friends checked out Vacationland Coffee Roasters, which has outdoor seating right on the harbor. They said the vibe was great and the coffee was alright. We think that's the take-home message for Southwest Harbor. You might not get top-notch cuisine here, but it's all about soaking in the vibes and views.

After the butterfly garden, we gathered with our friends for an afternoon in Bar Harbor. Anthony and I would have loved to visit here during our Acadia trip in 2019, but we had limited time and stuck with national park excursions instead. Growing up in New England, I had heard many great things about "Bah Hahbah" and its quintessential small New England town essence. Of course, a gorgeous New England town on the water also comes with some downsides, like crowds and high costs. I was interested to form my own opinion of the place, especially after spending 4 years traveling to all kinds of towns all over the USA.

We took the free shuttle (The Island Explorer) in. Many of the lines, including our Southwest Harbor line, drop off right at the town square. Our experience with the Island Explorer was overall very positive. The shuttles ran mostly on time, and while some schedules were more convenient than others, we had no issue timing our visit to Bar Harbor around the bus routes. We're surprised that we saw no PSAs encouraging visitors to take the shuttle instead of driving. Parking in the busy areas of Acadia and the gateway towns can get tough, and usually in similar situations in and around national parks, we see lots of signs saying "Don't drive! Take the shuttle!" We imagine this is a great option in the busier seasons, but since we visited on the cusp season between summer and peak foliage, our choice to take the shuttle was for fun and experience. We would definitely utilize it more the next time we're in the area.

Walking from the Village Square, we were greeted by distant views of the blue water of the harbor and marina, and the wafting aromas of butter, seafood, and toast. That can only mean one thing: lobster rolls! Really, can one go to Bar Harbor and not get a lobster roll? I mean, I can, since I don't eat them, but I gladly joined my friends and soaked in the experience vicariously. There is no shortage of places to get lobster rolls in this town, but we settled on The Travelin Lobster, mostly because their menu was more expansive than just lobster. Turns out there are 2 locations, and the Bar Harbor one had a more limited menu, but I was still able to find something to eat. My group said the lobster rolls were good, and the line to order food got pretty long while we were there. Expect to pay premium prices for lobster rolls around here, but it's an experience. The restaurant is just a hole-in-the-wall with a counter and no seating, and so we took our food down to the harbor and ate with water views. After that, we walked up the street to look at the boats.

Across from the harbor walk is the Bar Harbor Inn and a hillside lawn, where there was a man playing live music on his guitar. Walking past the lawn, hearing the music, smelling the lobster rolls, and looking at all the quaint buildings, we definitely felt the quintessential New England vibe that we were hoping for.

We spent the rest of the afternoon bouncing in and out of the different shops and then got ice cream at Mount Desert Ice Cream in the town square. The Maine sea salt caramel ice cream was fantastic!

Our friends headed back to the campground with the kiddos, and Anthony and I stuck around for a little while, popping into more shops and taking a look at the trolley tours offered around town. We're putting a trolley tour on our list for next time. Then we hung out in the Village Square while we waited for our shuttle to arrive. The gazebo has a piano open to the public, and I always take advantage when I find one. It's been fun to see the various states of (dis)repair of different pianos that we come across in our travels. This one was in disarray, with out-of-tune notes, coating stripped from the keys, and a far-too-low chair. I did the best I could given the circumstances, but didn't attract a crowd this time. The square was pretty empty at that point. Not every experience can be the San Francisco Botanical Garden, now can it?

We covered only a tiny bit of gateway town excursions during our short time on Mount Desert Island, and like with Acadia National Park itself, we have lots on our list for our return visits. We've still yet to explore areas like the Schoodic Peninsula, and we would love to actually get on the water, perhaps for a lighthouse cruise. If we ever get up to the area in mid-to-late summer, it's a goal of mine to see puffins as they come to land for their mating season. We're sure there are more sights and activities that we don't even know about yet. We have lots to look forward to as we spend more time RVing New England.