By Everett Potter

A few years ago, my wife and I stayed on the quiet side of Mt Desert Island in Maine. This is where you find towns like Bass Harbor, Otter Creek, and Seal Harbor, which are a lot less busy than the other side of the island, where you’ll find Bar Harbor with its hotels, motels, restaurants, ice cream parlors, and yes, midsummer crowds. Bar Harbor is the major gateway for Acadia National Park, which is the reason for so many people flock here in the first place. Acadia is indeed a gem, for hiking, beachcombing and bike riding on the famed Rockefeller carriage trails.

Yet at day’s end, a little peace and quiet suited us better. That’s why the quiet side appealed to us and it was tranquility that we found by spending a few nights in Southwest Harbor, staying at The Claremont Hotel, an 1884 New England grande dame shingle-style hotel that had a painter’s view of Somes Sound, the east coast’s only fjord, as well as of iconic Cadillac Mountain in Acadia … continue reading