OCT 20: Bar Harbor, Maine

After picking our way through the islands under cloudy skies, we dropped anchor off Bar Harbor at 0840.

Royal Caribbean's SERENADE OF THE SEAS beat us here.

Around 10:30, we headed to shore. Since we were anchored out, this involved boarding one of the ship's tenders. This is always a cozy process.

An interesting fact is that in November 2022, the residents of Bar Harbor voted to limit the number of passengers off cruise ships to a maximum of 1000 per day. I am unsure how that reconciles with the number of passengers aboard INSIGNIA and SERENADE OF THE SEAS, but I will leave it to others to worry about such discrepancies.

Once ashore, we just wandered around. There are many more gift shops than the last time we were here. In fact, the tone of Bar Harbor is more honky-tonk. It nevertheless retains its old charm if you look for it.

   

And, of course, Sherman's endures here, the oldest store (of nine) of the oldest bookstore in Maine.

I admired this establishment's preparedness should the food be drastically less than fine.

The throng of people having fully dispelled the last vestiges of being in a quaint Maine community, we returned to INSIGNIA for lunch and a nap.

Lunch was good. The nap was better.

We watched Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park cloud over and then clear all day.

On the subject of clouds, they became heavier and more ominous throughout the afternoon. It did not bode well for our time in Eastport tomorrow. After getting underway that evening, we encountered another harbinger of what could be ahead.  As soon as we were in the open ocean, the ship disappeared into heavy fog.