Holiday to New England in Oct 2023: Day 3 – Rockland to Bar Harbor

We continued with our exciting day in New England with a visit to two lesser-known attractions on our way to Bar Harbor.

The next target was Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory, which ended up being an interesting mix of attractions, potentially at opposite ends of the spectrum!

They are co-located on the same well-organised site in the town of Prospect, Maine.

The entry cost was only $7 each for both attractions – I think all of this cost was in respect to the observatory, as would become apparent very quickly.

We started with the observatory, which meant a ride up a 420ft lift plus a few flights of steps to the observation deck, where we could see the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and the surrounding area.

The only issue was the glass which was really dirty and the reflections that glass caused. It made taking decent photos really difficult.

We also got a good view of the surrounding forest and maturing trees, which was great. For $7 per person, it was good value for money.

Next up was Fort Knox, which at a cost of basically nothing was well over-priced!

It was built in the mid-1800s but due to the impending Halloween celebrations, was decked out with all manner of tacky trick or treat adornments.

We walked into the fort and up the stairs on to the roof to take in the views, but we were not there for very long. We had tired and really wanted to get to the hotel to rest.

So the final segment of our drive today was getting to Bar Harbor and the Hampton Inn.

Traffic was starting to build now as we headed into the tourist capital of New England in the Fall.

It took another hour to complete the 35 mile final drive, arriving at around 2:30pm.

We knew check in didn’t officially open until 4pm, so we were hoping that our room may be ready early.

Amazingly, it was available and we took the opportunity to catch up on some well-earned sleep.

After our much-needed snooze, we walked out into Bar Harbor, where we found more tourists than we have seen for months.

It felt more like Blackpool than a quiet town on the north-east coast of the US!

We had hoped to get a table at Gaynor’s on Main Street, but they were fully booked and the guy at the front desk made it clear he didn’t need our custom, so we ended up at Testa’s Bar & Grill, where we sat outside up an alley with some of those very inefficient gas heaters.

The food was pretty decent: I started with some clam-chowder fries and Vick had a salad.

I went for a prime-rib steak for main and Vick had a chicken dish.

Washed down with a local beer and a cocktail. All good, but we started to feel the chill by the end of our meal.

We headed back to the hotel via a supermarket to pick up some milk and the day was done.

Follow the whole story here: Holiday to New England in Oct 2023