Traveling with the Jones

We have visited Bar Harbor on Maine’s Mount Desert Island multiple times. In addition to being a popular summer vacation destination, the town of 5,200 is a popular port stop on Canada and New England cruises.

The town of Bar Harbor offers a picturesque backdrop for exploring on foot, with a shore path that dates to 1880.

When we visited last September via Holland America’s 7-Day Canada and New England Discovery cruise, we were lucky to be in port during low tide.

It is only during low tide that visitors are able to walk on the gravel sandbar to the small, uninhabited Bar Island that is situated just across from the town of Bar Harbor.  This tidal island is a part of Acadia National Park.

To reach the path, we turned right out of the waterfront pier — where cruise ship tenders drop passengers — and headed up West Street. A signpost indicates where to turn onto Bridge Street to reach the Bar Island Path.

If your visit coincides with high tide, you will run into water at the end of Bridge Street. During low tide, however, a sand and gravel bar appears that connects Bridge Street in Bar Harbor to Bar Island.

At low tide visitors often walk across, or park cars on the exposed bar. The gravel and sandy surface remain somewhat wet at low tide. As you walk, it is possible to dig in the sand, find shells, seaweed and other organisms that live on the bar through its twice a day tidal flow of up to 12 feet.

This natural land bridge is accessible as much as 2 hours before low tide and 2 hours after low tide.  

Once you reach Bar Island, a sign indicates that you are entering part of Acadia National Park. A park pass is required to continue into the island, but you need to have purchased a pass before crossing the sandbar.  There are walking trails on the uninhabited, forested island.

Despite the warning signs, visitors have been known to return from a hike to find their cars submerged, and/or that they are stranded on the island until the tide recedes.

If you are lucky to be in Bar Harbor during low tide, we recommend this scenic walk across the sandbar on a sunny day. Just be sure to take some water and watch the tides.

You might be interested to know that the tiny Bar Island inspired the town of Eden, Maine, to be renamed to Bar Harbor on March 3, 1918.  The town now called Bar Harbor was incorporated on February 23, 1796 as “Eden”, after Sir Richard Eden, an English statesman. Learn more about this area in 17 Fun Facts About Bar Harbor, Maine.

Another interesting fact about Bar Island: despite repeated attempts by the town of Bar Harbor to obtain jurisdiction over its namesake island connected by a sandbar, a 1903 court decision confirmed that the distant town of Gouldsboro, Maine retains jurisdiction over Bar Island under its 1798 articles of incorporation.

Learn more about Bar Harbor, Maine with these resources:

Lost Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor in the Roaring Twenties: From Village Life to the High Life on Mount Desert Island

Acadia: The Complete Guide: Acadia National Park & Mount Desert Island

For more on cruising in Canada and New England: 

• A Walk Around Halifax, Nova Scotia During Our Visit By Cruise Ship
• In Search of the Best Lobster Roll During Our Canada and New England Cruise
• A Do-It-Yourself Port Day in Quebec City, Canada
• Highlights From Our Visit to Prince Edward Island Via Cruise Ship
• Culinary Walk in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
• Visiting Baddeck and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum from Sydney, Cape Breton Island

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Located on the eastern side of the Mersey River in northwest England, the city of Liverpool has a population of 478,580, and is part of a metropolitan area with 2.24 million residents.

Most people associate Liverpool as the birthplace of the Beatles. The band that began in Liverpool achieved 17 number one hits during their time together, and named two of their songs – Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields — after areas in their hometown.

There’s much more to Liverpool, we learned, while researching for an upcoming visit to the city via a cruise ship.

18 Fun Facts About Liverpool

1. King John made Liverpool a borough in 1207.

In addition to granting it a royal charter, King John designed Liverpool’s original street plan of seven streets laid out in an “H” shape.

2. Liverpool experienced slow population growth until the late 1600s and early 1700s. The city owes its dramatic growth during this period to the fact that the nearby River Dee became an silted.  Since Roman times, the port city of Chester and the River Dee had been used used maritime trade. When larger ships could no longer sail into Chester, they switched to the port city of Liverpool on the River Mersey.

3. In 1699, the Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship set sail for Africa from Liverpool. Fueled by the profitable slave trade and other West Indies trade, the port city of Liverpool grew rapidly during the 1700s.

4. Although the city was a key part of the slave trade, Liverpool also was home to three prominent men who pioneered the abolitionist movement: Willaim Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton.

5. In 1715, the world’s first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool. This 3.5 acre dock was built on the River Mersey by building walls in a natural tide pool into lock the “dock” off from the river.

6. Although Liverpool’s original dock accommodated up to 100 ships, it was considered too small and obsolete by the 19th century. In 1826 the “Old Dock” was filled in, and Liverpool’s fourth Custom House was built on the site — only to later be demolished by WW II bombs. Today part of the excavated Old Dock site can be viewed as part of the Liverpool One shopping and residential complex that opened in 2008.

7. In 1830, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened, providing faster transport of raw materials (such as cotton shipped from America), and finished goods (such as fabric and clothing), between the Port of Liverpool and the mills in Manchester. This was also the world’s first passenger railway line, complete with a timetable.

8. When it was built in 1846, the Albert Dock was one of the most advanced docks anywhere in the world; it’s often credited with helping Liverpool become a global port.Today the Albert Dock houses restaurants, bars, shops, two hotels as well as the Merseyside Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Tate Liverpool and The Beatles Story.

9. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the RMS Titanic, the RMS Lusitania, the Queen Mary and the Olympic ocean liners.

10. The economic strength of Liverpool drew immigrants from around the world, rapidly increasing the city’s population during the 1840s through the early part of the 20th century.

11. During the 1840s, about half a million Irish people escaping the Great Potato Famine arrived in Liverpool. While many them embarked from Liverpool to travel to North America, a sizeable group remained in the city, significantly increasing the Catholic population.

12. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and as “Scousers”— a reference to a form of stew was eaten by the people of Liverpool in the 19th century. The word “Scouse” has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.

There are hundreds of words unique to the Liverpudlian dialect; they are translated in ‘Lern Yerself Scouse’ by Frank Shaw.

13. Liverpool has two cathedrals: one Catholic and one Anglican; they are each located at opposite ends of Hope Street.

14. The Anglican Cathedral, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1904, is the largest cathedral in Britain and the fifth largest in the world. Liverpool Cathedral has 13 bells weight a total of 17 tons, in addition to a monster bell known as “Great George“, which is larger than Big Ben, weighs 15 tons, and has to be rung with a hammer.

15. On the other end of Hope Street, Liverpool’s Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King features the world’s largest panel of stained glass. Construction of this cathedral began in 1962 after its design was chosen from a worldwide competition, won by architect, Frederick Gibberd. Completed in 1967, locals jokingly refer to the unique building “Paddy’s Wigwam” or”The Pope’s Launching Pad.”

16. The Queensway Tunnel opened in 1934 linking Birkenhead with Liverpool via roads in tunnels under the River Mersey. Today about 90,000 vehicles cross under the River Mersey each day via the two Mersey road tunnels. Visitors to Liverpool can take the Mersey Tunnel Tour, a 2-3 hour behind-the-scenes tour beneath the city through an underwater engineering masterpiece.

17. Opened in 2007, the Liverpool Cruise Terminal is a 1,150 ft. floating structure situated on the River Mersey. It allows large cruise ships to dock at Liverpool without entering the enclosed dock system or having to tender passengers.

18. Cruise passengers to Liverpool dock near Pier Head, renowned for it’s trio of buildings known as the Three Graces– the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building.  These buildings showcase the great wealth in Liverpool during the late 19th and early 20th century. They are part of the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Learn more about Liverpool, England with these resources:

Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide

Liverpool

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While sailing on Holland America’s 7-Day Canada and New England Discovery cruise last September, we visited Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

I took the 3.5-hour-long Taste of Charlottetown Culinary Walk, one of the shore excursions offered by Holland America Line.

The tour began with a walk along the waterfront where our cruise ship was docked.

Our local guide began our tour with a stop at a seafood shop that sells fresh lobsters, oysters and other P.E.I. seafood. We learned about these locally-harvested delicacies and sampled fresh oysters.

As we walked around downtown Charlottetown, we learned some of the history of Prince Edward Island, such as the role this Bonded Warehouse played in 1901 when P.E.I. was the first Canadian province to make it illegal to possess, consume or sell alcohol.

In between historical insights, we made stops to taste some of the islands specialty foods and olive oils.

Next, our group tasted locally-brewed handcrafted ales at The Gahan House, a brewery and pub.

Once we were informed on the local brews, we headed to another pub across the street, where we dined on steamed mussels from Prince Edward Island.

After a little longer walk back to the port area, we tried a lobster “taco” at Dave’s. It was as delicious as it looks.

A really fun part of the culinary tour was meeting some of the local personalities behind the food. This woman is known as the ‘Queen of Fries’ in Charlottetown. She explained her secrets for making the legendary fries at the Chip Shack.

After eating those hand-cut fries from the Chip Shack, most everyone in our group agreed with the owner’s title.

This Taste of Charlottetown Culinary Walk shore excursion was a tasty and fun way to learn about the history as well as the local food and drinks of Prince Edward Island. Be sure you are hungry when you take this tour.

To help you create your own taste of Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island:

Flavours of Prince Edward Island: A Culinary Journey

Potato Basics……a potpourri of recipes, how to and spud lore from Prince Edward Island

For more on cruising in Canada and New England: 

• A Walk Around Halifax, Nova Scotia During Our Visit By Cruise Ship
• In Search of the Best Lobster Roll During Our Canada and New England Cruise
• A Do-It-Yourself Port Day in Quebec City, Canada
• Highlights From Our Visit to Prince Edward Island Via Cruise Ship
• A Walk Around Bar Harbor, Maine via a Cruise Ship Visit

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