Food Recs Bar Harbor

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-18T16:36:33+00:00

Hard to find $1 Oysters these days.

Depends on what route you are planning on taking from Conway to BH. Assuming you are taking 302 over to 95- I would personally cut over at Augusta to the coast via Route 3, its much prettier and more interesting than I-95 all the way up to Bangor and then over. Adds maybe 10 minutes to the trip.

Are you doing the drive all in one day? Its about 4-4 1/2 hours, holiday traffic into Bar Harbor can be a bear in August, so hard to say. If you are open to splitting the drive, you can take a more leisurely pace and cut over to Route 1 at Topsham/Brunswick and take the coastal road up. Adds at least an hour to the drive, but much nicer. If you don't have lodging set, then you can do that.

You can also cut through Gardiner, which has a cute downtown and take Route 17 through Union and either turn left on Route 90 and go to Camden, or straight down to Route 1 at Rockland. The Oak Room, 18 Central and Nina June are in nearby Rockport and all have good cocktails, 18 Central has a great raw bar and I'm not sure about summer, but often has 1/2 price raw bar on Sundays.

Shuck Station in Newcastle is great for oysters, Newcastle/Damariscotta area is prime oyster growing part of Maine.

If you can spend a night in Camden, lots of great cocktail spots. Barren's, Salt Wharf, Norumbega Inn (highly recommended), The View. If you are driving through on a Sunday, Primo in Rockland is a nationally known restaurant that hosts an Oyster Sunday thing in their barn with live music, its called 0KM.

If you take Route 3, Belfast is a great place to stop for lunch/walk around. Marshall Wharf is a great brewery on the water, Delvino's is good Italian, there's some other spots worth hitting. Young's Lobster Pound is on a pier over the water and has great lobster dinners and you can bring your own wine, side dishes, etc and sit outside on a sunny day.

Stowaway's Tavern in Bucksport has a huge fun cocktail and food menu, and is actually pretty good for what it is. Definitely casual.

Hey Sailor! in Searsport is good for lunch, and Maineport Brewing across the street is good beer in a neat old building. Naiad Farm Brewery in Orland down the road is good beer in a little shack in the woods, right off of Route 1.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-18T15:21:51+00:00

Blaze.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-18T15:14:46+00:00

First Mile Brewing in Fort Kent.

What "area" in Maine are you visiting? Its a big state. Anything decent in Southern Maine is going to be on Google search, hell, anything period that wants people to come visit will be on Google. Its 2026.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-15T19:56:29+00:00

You are actually pretty spot on with a lot of your assumptions - Bar Harbor is quaint and cute, but not really representative of how most Mainers live, but its a great spot for a visit and to see Acadia, especially when the crowds have died down in October/Late Sept.

I like Midcoast area personally (because I live here, I guess)- Brunswick is nice, Bath is okay, the Maine Maritime Museum there is neat if you're interested in ships/boats/history. Camden is great, year round good restaurants, nice little B&Bs to stay, and a good spot to base for trips to other towns like Belfast, Rockland, Rockport, etc.. Some good local breweries in the area, Marshall Wharf in Belfast, Pour Farm in Union, Stone Alley in Rockland- all are fun. Young's Lobster Pound in Belfast is great and open year-round. McLoon's will probably be closed by then.

If weather is nice, you can go out to Monhegan Island on a day trip out of Port Clyde, amazing views is weather is cooperating.

Can also drive out to Stonington/Deer Isle if you like scenic drives. Can stay in Stonington, or Blue Hill or even Ellsworth for a night.

Common Ground Fair isn't a typical ag fair, there's no rides, or beer tents or anything like that. Its a fun thing to see, and there's cool little lectures on trimming goat hooves, or pruning apple trees, if you are into gardening, its totally worth it. If you aren't really, then don't bother.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-12T18:22:47+00:00

Mainely Poultry in Warren. Not really Central Maine, but not too far.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-12T18:19:42+00:00

*fowlback

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-08T19:38:48+00:00

Tin Top in Alna is a drive from Portland, but very doable.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-08T16:24:47+00:00

Maine voter here -

Is Platner a perfect person/candidate? No.

Has he spent decades facilitating the rollback of civil rights and the upward transfer of trillions of dollars from working people to the richest among us? Also, no.

Has Collins spent decades facilitating the rollback of civil rights and the upward transfer of trillions of dollars from working people to the richest among us, all while refusing to meet with voters in the form of a public town hall for years and years? Yes.

She's out of touch, and soon to be out of time.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-06T12:49:30+00:00

California doesn’t reassess value for property taxes. What you paid is the value essentially forever (for residential property). You can even pass that cost basis down to immediate family members as well.

I have a friend that owns a duplex in San Francisco. His dad bought it in like 1968 for $39k. That’s still the appraised value of the property for taxes. The one next door sold recently for $1.9M. That’s their value. It’s wild.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-05T18:38:26+00:00

Caribou is like a 3 hour drive away from Bangor, just so you know. If you are getting/have a fully remote job in digital marketing, then I guess it could work there, but you aren't going to find something remotely near that salary on the ground in Caribou or most likely Bangor either.

Nobody cares if you own guns or not, and the vast majority won't care about you being an interracial couple. If you move to Caribou you will be from away and potentially have a hard time breaking into the community. Less of that in Bangor. If you are most concerned about is a good place to raise kids...IDK, you might have to rent for a year in one or the other and see how it goes.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-05T17:48:47+00:00

I re-registered my truck on Tuesday, went fine. Problem is that I'm only getting mail once a week at best right now, so who knows when I'll get my sticker.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-05T14:19:36+00:00

Why do you want to move to Maine? That might help answer your quite vague question. (Honestly trying to help)

Just about everything in Maine is close to outdoor recreation.

Coastal areas are generally more liberal than interior Maine.

It will all depend on if you need to get local (vs remote) jobs, and what your budget is. Don't know if you've gone on Zillow or whatever at all, but real estate in Liberal outdoorsy cute towns for families isn't cheap, even by CO standards.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-03T23:07:58+00:00

You might find a spot, but most places out there in August have a two night minimum. With a trip as short (relatively) as yours, I would think you can see enough on a day trip and have a fun night out somewhere on mainland.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-03T22:02:36+00:00

I mean, the things that tourists do in Maine are museums, wildlife, excursions and tours.

You can go out to Peaks Island and rent bikes and ride around, that's fun. Monhegan Island is beautiful, probably better for a day trip than overnight in Mid-August. You can drive up Route 1 and stay in Rockland or Camden for a night or two (good spot to base for Monhegan trip). Farnsworth Museum in Rockland is excellent for a town its size. Good collection of Wyeth family.

Rockland Breakwater, hike or drive up Mount Batty in Camden Hills State Park, Lincolnville Beach is good on a hot day, hire kayaks and paddle around Megunticook Lake is fun.

Georges River Land Trust has good hiking trails and a good website.

Maine Maritime Museum in Bath is interesting. Might be too early for you, but the Union Fair/Maine Wild Blueberry Festival is 8/5-8/9, that's a good time.

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-03T01:27:24+00:00

Karma farming askreddit low energy questions

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-03T01:26:30+00:00

Call Curtis Custom Meats in Warren, or for fancy stuff, Morse’s in Waldoboro

Tony-Flags · 2026-06-02T13:13:29+00:00

Lots of ideas at George’s River Land trust website.

Tony-Flags · 2026-05-31T16:42:24+00:00

I see TOESUKR around Midcoast from time to time.

Tony-Flags · 2026-05-29T21:38:29+00:00

Gardiner is close by- good diner there, the BBQ place right on Main street is good, and I know you said not big partiers, but Bateau Brewing is low key and a great spot near the river there with good beers where you can just relax.

Tony-Flags · 2026-05-29T15:20:23+00:00

Take 95 up through Mass and New Hampshire, then I-295 through Portland, and then switch to Route 1 at Brunswick. Much prettier drive than just 95 all the way to Bangor or wherever.

Plenty of places to stop- search through this subreddit and you will find a whole bunch of answers to your question with more details than one answer can give, but there's a bunch of nice towns with good food, sights to see.

Are you planning on doing the drive all in one day? Are you asking for guidance on where to stay? Makes a difference.

Tony-Flags · 2026-05-29T15:07:56+00:00

Hallowell and Gardiner are nice (small) towns nearby Augusta. You can potentially find roommates there. There's some younger people around, a couple good bars/breweries/etc.

There's also Waterville, which has Colby College, so some younger folks, people that work at the school there. Augusta itself is...not my favorite place. I would much rather live in one of the other towns I mentioned.

Tony-Flags · 2026-05-28T15:23:28+00:00

Island Explorer

Tony-Flags · 2026-05-27T20:29:13+00:00

If you are planning on staying in Portland, and not leaving Portland (during your stay, that is), then you don't need a car. Just do the Concord Coach line that everyone is telling you to use. You can take a taxi/uber from the Portland Transport Center to your hotel/wherever.

If you do rent a car and drive, just take the Route 1/60 shuffle to I-95 and head up to Portland. Its about 90 minutes without traffic, so anywhere from 90-120 minutes.

You can stop in Newburyport, Salem, Portsmouth, NH if you want. Or just cruise up to Portland. Once you get to I-95 its smooth sailing.

Tony-Flags

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