Bar Harbor boasts a festive 4th of July parade that snakes through town, and we were delighted to start our holiday watching it. This year’s theme was “hometown” – apparently every hometown has Shriners in little cars!

Capturing another aspect of Mt. Desert Island, we then hiked Beech Mountain as the final summit of our visit. Listed as one of the most popular mountains on the west side of the island, it features a short steep hike to a fire tower with expansive views throughout. Ben conquered the “glory rock” in the parking lot too.

In the late afternoon we stumbled upon a combination “pizza and a movie” theatre, complete with built-in tables to eat while watching – what a treat!

The rain held off all week, but by Friday night, tropical storm Arthur had made its way to coastal Maine. The fireworks were moved a little earlier to accommodate the oncoming storm, but they still had to contend with light rain. Nick and Susannah watched the show from across Frenchman Bay (the kids didn’t want to venture out) – the fireworks’ brilliance was only slightly diminished by the clouds of smoke and rain that accumulated.

All in all a very satisfactory holiday and a wonderful to our trip to Acadia! (We headed home the next morning, stopping in Portland ME for lunch and a short walk downtown.)