1. Alone Moose Fine Crafts
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-4229
Address: 78 West St.
Description: The name may be cutesy, but the wares certainly are not. Proprietors Sherry and Ivan Rasmussen put the work of prospective artisans through an application process much like a juried competition, so not much second-rate stuff shows up on their shelves. You will find an array of fine arts and crafts—sculpture, pottery, photography, furniture, and jewelry.
2. Bark Harbor
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-0404
Address: 150 Main St.
Description: Be sure to visit this kooky shop when you bring Fido to Acadia. From gourmet treats to “paw-tery” dog bowls, you’ll discover a lot of neat stuff for man’s best friend here. Leashes, collars, doggie towels, and breed-specific T-shirts for you—it’s all here.
3. Get Clocked
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-1149
Address: 119 Main St.
Description: This must be where Father Time shops. Every imaginable timekeeping device is stocked here, from cuckoos to fancy marble clocks. You’ll never be late again. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (check your watch).
4. Sherman’S Books And Stationery
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-3161
Address: 56 Main St.
Description: There are not many Bar Harbor businesses that can claim to have been founded in 1886, but that’s exactly the case at this favorite, which has rescued generations of vacationers from rainy days. Bill Sherman opened up that year, printing the local paper and selling books. They don’t print papers and more but have plenty of books; there’s a good Maine section and a fine lineup of maps and trail guides. You’ll also find gifts and stationery and a smattering of toys, but it’s the books that make Sherman’s. A visit to Bar Harbor just wouldn’t be the same without this old place, and there are now stores in Freeport, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, and nearby Northeast Harbor as well.
5. Bar Harbor Music Festival
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-5744
Address: 59 Cottage St.
Description: Still more fine classical music can be found in Bar Harbor, where this annual festival has been hosting concerts since the early 1960s. But you’ll also see Dixieland, opera, jazz, show tunes, and more contemporary fare as well. Concerts are at 8:15 p.m. at venues across town.
6. Carmen Verandah
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-2766
Address: 119 Main St.
Description: This local cafe has a full slate of musical offerings in the summertime, usually local and regional performers in a wide range of styles. Check the Web site to see what’s coming up.
7. Lompoc Cafe
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-9392
Address: 36 Rodick St.
Description: Another cafe with music in Bar Harbor, the Lompoc books bluegrass, jazz, rock, and blues for Friday and Saturday nights. Thursdays are for open mikes. Check the Web site for the lineup.
8. Island Artisans
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-4214
Address: 99 Main St.
Description: Also in Northeast Harbor, this crafts gallery represents more than 75 artisans working in Maine. They have a nice collection of fiber, jewelry, blown glass, stoneware, tiles, ceramics, and basketry. (Check out the sweetgrass baskets of Abigail Goodyear and the contemporary jewelry of Cherie Magnello.)
9. Criterion Movie Theater
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-3441
Address: 35 Cottage St.
Description: This is another one of those Maine downtown cinemas that screens first-run flicks in repertory. Each week movies play for two-night runs, which allows the single-screen theater to show all sorts of offerings in the average week. Going to the movies here is worth it simply to get inside this art deco gem, circa 1932. Concerts and special events—plays, puppet festivals—happen here on occasion, too.
10. Reel Pizza Cinerama
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 288-3811
Address: 11 Kennebec Place
Description: Whoever thought of pairing pizza and movies—good arty and independent movies, at that—is a minor genius and they added beer and wine. That’s what’s offered at this hip little spot, along with a healthy dose of community.