Day 8 - Tackling the Beehive and Sea Kayaking

The weather finally cooperated and we had a beautiful day ahead of us - upper 70's and sunny. A perfect day to do some hiking and warm enough for some water fun!

We started the day with a hike on the Beehive Trail, which is a trail straight up the side of a small mountain.  The hike was tough, climbing over rocks, up rebar rungs that were placed to make the hike easier and over a small iron bridge that connected one ledge to another.  It was one of those hikes that makes you feel like you can tackle anything.  We all loved it.  It was amazing, wish we had time to do it again, but there was just too much to do and get to and not enough time on our schedule.

Hiking up the Beehive Trail

After lunch, we did a little shopping in Bar Harbor.  Bar Harbor has tons of stores and lots of places to eat, including plenty of ice cream shops!  Of course, we needed some ice cream to help keep us going for our 2.5 hour sea kayaking trip that was coming up pretty quick.

We closed out our day with a sea kayaking trip.  Sea kayaking was one thing we looked forward to long before we left on our trip and this was the place to do that.  We managed to find a company that allowed all our kids to participate.  Most groups want one adult per kid under the age of 16, so we were concerned we wouldn't be able to go.

The day was warm, but not too hot and the water was like a sheet of glass, perfectly smooth.  We couldn't have asked for a better day.  So all 10 of us suited up, paid close attention to our instructor as he explained the how-to's of kayaking and we were off!

The views were beautiful.  We paddled around Bar Island just across from Bar Harbor and around the Porcupine Islands in Frenchman's Bay.  We saw a bald eagle perched on a pine tree and even caught a glimpse of a harbor seal playing in the water behind us.  It was an awesome trip.

Lobster dinner  to go!

We ended our day kind of late, so we needed to get dinner out.  I was hoping to get a traditional lobster dinner, but knew the kids wouldn't care for it.  So we picked up pizza for the kids and did take out lobster for the adults.  There's a Lobster Pound on just about every corner, so we thought we'd give it a try.  Fortunately for us, it was a good choice!  And since it was a beautiful night, we lit a fire across the street in an empty campsite that was on the water and ate our dinner there.  Pretty much the perfect ending to a perfect day.

I think I could just stay here all summer!

Beehive Trail warning sign

The Beehive Trail from below