Downeast Maine A-Z [LIST]

How fitting to start with Acadia National Park, especially given the fact that it’s celebrating it’s 100th Birthday! To stay current with everything that’s happening during the Centennial Year, you’ll want to bookmark this CALENDAR

You can't go Downeast without visiting Bar Harbor! Shops, food, drinks there is so much to see and do! Bar Harbor is a 4 season community and the pace changes dramatically during the summer months! Locals know that your don't want to have to make a left handed turn driving in town in July and August! But there's no better place to celebrate the 4th of July! In fact The Today Show recognized Bar Harbor as THE place to celebrate the 4th of July!

John D. Rockefeller Jr. financed and oversaw the construction of 57 miles of Carriage Roads for hikers, bikers, horse riders, and horse-drawn carriages on the Island. There are 45 miles within Acadia National Park.

Honorable Mention to Cadillac Mountain!

Bar Harbor is decidedly dog-friendly! I mean after all your dog is part of your family and you don't want to go on vacation without him/her! Many stores actually place water bowls out of their stores for your furry friend. Bar Harbor is in the early stages of building a Dog-Park for man's best friend! Just be sure to keep them on a leash, and please don't bring them to the firework's show!

There's no bigger rivalry Downeast than the Ellsworth Eagles - MDI Trojans. The Ellsworth Boy's Basketball Team is the defending Class B North Champion. The Boy's Soccer Team are perennial State Champion contenders. The Girl's Basketball Team is on the upswing. Ellsworth High School is known for it's Visual and Performing Arts Programs. Want to get someone from MDI fired up? Just let someone from Ellsworth sing the Raindrop Song!

So much to eat! Why they even created a festival The Taste of Bar Harbor! Celebrating the Tastes and Flavors of Downeast Maine. In 2016 The Taste of Bar Harbor will be held May 19th-22nd. Click HERE for all the events and to purchase your tickets

I scream! You Scream! We all Scream for Ice Scream! Nothing says summer Downeast more than Ice Cream! There is Morton's Moo and Blueberry Hill in Ellsworth, Ben and Bill's, CJ's, and Mount Desert Island Ice Cream in Bar Harbor to name but a few. I have never been brave enough to try Lobster Ice Cream!

I love a parade and the Bar Harbor 4th of a July is a heck of a parade, lasting almost a hour! There's a blueberry pancake breakfast in the morning on the ballfield starting at 6 AM. At 11 AM after the parade at 10 AM, there's the Seafood Festival. There are the MDI YMCA Lobster Races! There are live bands playing music in Agamont Park, the Bar Harbor Town Band in the Village Green at 7ish and then around 9:15 there's a HUGE fireworks display! Here is the 2016 Bar Harbor 4th of July Schedule

Built in 1888, Kebo Valley Golf Club is the oldest golf club in Maine and 8th oldest golf club in the United States! In 1911 President Taft carded a 27 on the 17th hole! You know you can do better than that!

There's something comforting about this! I know it's Christmas time on the Island whenever I see this at the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound

Honorable Mentions to Lobsters and Lighthouses

Go Trojans! We have broadcast MDI Basketball, Football, Baseball, and Soccer Games on WDEA. We have interviewed 23 MDI Teachers as part of the Meet the MDI Teacher Video Series. It's just not a MDI Basketball game unless the MDI Pep Band is playing "Jesus Christ Superstar"

If you're from New York, you better realize that when you say clam chowder, or "chowdah", you're going to get a cream based soup. Not that tomato based soup that people in New York refer to as Manhattan Chowder! You're in Downeast Maine and you'll like our chowdah there bub! New England Chowder the way Chowder Should Be!

Voted the Best Tour Company in Bar Harbor, taking a fully narrated tour on a trolley is a fun way to explore Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. Whether you're a tourist or a year round resident, I guarantee you you'll come away learning something you didn't know before about the Island and Acadia National Park!

Parking in Bar Harbor, especially during the summer months can be "Creative". It's so entertaining that there's a whole Facebook group devoted to it "Welcome to Bar Harbor's Famous Parking Show" . A couple of rules to remember (1) Lines are not to park on!  (2) Lines are not suggestions!  (3) Park with the direction of traffic (4) Park like an idiot and risk having your car's picture on the Facebook Page!

Known as the Quietside or Backside, the Quietside refers to Southwest Harbor.

New England's Team! The Boston Red Sox! The team of David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Brock Holt, Hanley Ramirez and David Price. You can keep your Sox on AM 1370 WDEA

Dreaming of summer? You might want to head to Sand Beach in Acadia National Park. Sand Beach was just selected by readers of USA Today and 10 Best as the 5th Best National Park Beach in the United States.

The National Park Service provides lifeguards at Sand Beach, which is accessed by the Park Loop Road. The water is extremely cold, usually not exceeding 55 degrees even in the dog days of summer. Speaking of dog days, pets are not allowed on the beach from May 15 through Sept. 15.

Changing rooms and restrooms are located next to the parking area and the free Island Explorer has stops there, at :25 past and :55 past the hour from the end of June through Columbus Day.

If you're going to drive to Bar Island you better pay attention to the Tide Charts! Unfortunately, a couple of times a year someone doesn't and they end up needing to be towed off the Island!

Honorable mention to Thunder Hole

If you tell someone that you'll meet them under the Umbrellas in Bar Harbor, they know you'll be meeting them at the Terrace Grille at the Bar Harbor Inn. There's something special about eating outside by the water overlooking Frenchman's Bay and the Porcupine Islands

The Village Green in Bar Harbor is the home to many events throughout the year. There's the Christmas Tree Lighting, the Bar Harbor Town Band plays under the bandstand. The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce's Legacy of the Arts is held there. This year it's the 66th Annual and will be held June 18-19. One of my favorite events is the Carol Dyer Memorial Luminaria Evening, which will be August 6th this summer.

That has to be us! We've been broadcasting to Downeast Maine for over 55 years and now around the world via our website. You can hear local news from ABC, Red Sox baseball, the weather at the top of the hour, and local high school sports games, featuring MDI and Ellsworth High Schools. We were Hancock County's first radio station!

There are 3 great hospitals in Downeast Maine, so if you ever need X-Rays, or need medical attention you're in good hands. There's MDI Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth and Down East Community Hospital in Machias

Yankees Suck! If you're a die hard Red Sox fan you have probably chanted that at least once in your lifetime!

There are so many places to sleep in Downeast Maine, and you can find the perfect place to fit your budget and tastes! There are hotels, motels,  inns, B&B's, campgrounds and more!