Road Trip - Ministers Island and Bar Harbor

It was a relief to finally wake up to a dry tent after the last few days of rain or early-morning dew making us pack it up wet. After our standard morning routine, we drove down to the waterfront just outside the campground to do some drone photography! I had intended to do much more of this during our trip, but it’s hard to find locations that I think are suitable, at the right time, with the right weather. I’m quite conscious of not annoying people with it, so I don’t want to fly from crowded lookout points, or over places where people live. Katie thinks that most people don’t care, and she’s probably right, but I’m worried about perpetuating the stereotype of the annoying and invasive drone pilot.

5 minutes along the coast was the road to Ministers Island. This road is made of sand and gravel, and is part of the sea floor! You’re only able to drive between the mainland and the island for a five-hour period spanning low tide, outside of which the ‘road’ is underwater. The drive across was a bit scary, as we had to avoid sections of soft sand and deep seawater-filled potholes, but we made it!

Ministers Island is home to the estate of Sir William Van Horne, who was president of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the late 1800’s. He is responsible for building the transcontinental railway that runs across Canada from coast to coast, and expanded CPR into the luxury hotel business from which came the ultra-magnificent Fairmont castles that we’ve seen throughout Canada. In 1891 he began building a summer house on Ministers Island, which eventually grew to include a farm which bred prize-winning Clydesdale horses and rare Dutch Belted cattle.

We explored the massive barn where his horses, cows, and pigs had lived, and marveled at both the design and labour that had gone into building it. The outside is coated entirely in shingles, which had weathered to a shimmering silver. We listened to a short talk about the history of the barn and farm, and learned that farm and garden produce grown here had been shipped to the Van Horne family’s main residence in Montreal by overnight train throughout winter, giving them access to fresh produce year round.

Over the other side of the hill we found the main house, named Covenhoven. We spent almost an hour exploring the 55 rooms, many of which reminded us of scenes from Downton Abbey. Van Horne had been a prolific artist, and many of the walls were hung with his own original art.

The estate had changed hands several times since he had lived there, and eventually there was an auction in 1977 where most of the contents were sold. The Province of New Brunswick stepped in at the last minute to buy the property and has been making efforts to recover many of the artifacts that originally furnished the house and grounds.

We made the treacherous drive back over the sandbar to the mainland and headed straight for the border crossing to cross into Maine, USA. In our minds crossing the border feels like a big deal, even when in reality it is fairly uneventful. The stern border patrol agents, big guns, and no-nonsense signage don’t ease the nerves either. We couldn’t drive straight through, as we needed to get a special I-94 visa-waiver form stapled into our passports which costs US $6 each. This took about 15 minutes and required a copy of our fingerprints, but otherwise went without a hitch.

On the way to our next campsite, Acadia National Park, we stopped in a small town called Ellsworth for a few slices of pizza and some groceries. Katie had seen a glowing review of a small pizza restaurant here on the Bon Appétit YouTube channel, so we went there for a delicious lunch. From here we carried on to Blackwoods Campground, stopping one last time to buy some firewood from a side of the road honesty-box.

After we had checked in to the campground and found our spot, we drove back out onto the main road and down to Bar Harbor. This is a bustling little tourist-trap town, full of cafes and restaurants selling local seafood of all varieties. We walked down the main street, and after calling in at a boutique ice-cream store walked down to the shore. The view out into Frenchman Bay and the Mt Desert Narrows was breath-taking, and only slightly ruined by an enormous cruise ship anchored offshore. We sampled some hazy Maine IPAs at a rooftop craft beer bar, and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing by our campfire.