Sequel to Bar Harbor Pajama Sale

After reading the papers about Black Friday sales, it made me think of our own Pajama Sale in another light. As I read about people waiting outside stores for hours to wildly rush in and grab whatever they could before items disappeared off shelves and altercations over who was in line first, it made me think that our walking around town in PJs is not so crazy after all.

Our Pajama Sale has a civility to it. True, most people are there for the sales, but the real draw is to dress up in your pajamas and shop and feel completely at ease doing so. There is a festive mood to our sale- not the frenzy that you read about or see on TV.

People stop and chat as they see friends and neighbors that were lost in the summer crowds. They discuss their plans for Thanksgiving and share the finds they found. Even Acadia National Park sells its annual passes at half-price off in appreciation of all the locals who support the park year 'round.

It's a time to support the local shops as well and feel good about doing so. Oh I could buy my books cheaper on Amazon but I prefer to support Sherman's Book Store and buy my Christmas cards, calendars, books and toys there. It's the sense of belonging to a community and doing what you can to keep local stores stay open after the tourist dollars fade away. After all this is our town and we have a pride about living here and keeping it a viable community.

I used to love to shop at Port in a Storm- a wonderful bookstore in Somesville outside of Bar Harbor. But they could not keep up with the competition from online stores and closed their doors last year to our dismay. Maybe if they had been embraced in the arms of our small town community they might have survived.

So you can go shop your big box stores and stand in lines with people you do not know and fight over merchandise, but I will take our small town sales supporting shopkeepers you know, rubbing elbows with friends and acquaintances and helping to sustain our year-round community.

Next up is our Midnight Madness sale the first Friday after Thanksgiving- and that has another whole mood to it. Stay tuned.

Survival Skills

Locals have learned certain tourist survival skills and pay the consequences when they do not abide by them. One of them is to never shop on a Sunday morning in the local supermarket which I made the mistake of doing. Actually anytime during the summer is a challenge but Sundays are the worst. Weekly renters usually arrive either late Saturday or early Sunday and all flock to the supermarket to start their week off.

Our market is small and meets the the locals' needs barely in winter though you will run into quite a few of us in the bigger stores 25 miles away on weekends. But in the summer it becomes impossible to move down the crowded aisles as people wander aimlessly trying to find items they need and probably don't exist in our store.

Shopping becomes a family experience and so you now have all these kids running around adding to the confusion. Cell phones abound as people loudly carry on their conversations or talk to others in their parties mere aisles away.

I had my first traffic jam just trying to get into the store- just like the tourists who stop and talk in the middle of the street to their friends on the sidewalk, this woman was talking to her son trying to coordinate what they were going to do after shopping. She had to do this just inside the doorway and could not move a few feet in so others could get by her.

Being 4 deep in the waiting line, I remarked that people should go around her and I got a look like I was oh so rude. This also happens in the lines at the Farmers Market- but that story is for another day.

So I became totally un-Maine like and shouted- hey move in so others can get by- the woman just looked at me and the long line of people waiting to get in and continued talking. She then moved her cart about a foot so we could squeeze by.

Imagine standing at turnstyle in the subway in NY or Boston just as you are starting to go through and begin a conversation with the person behind you and not go through until your conversation is finished. You might get away with your life intact! It continues to amaze me how people leave their common sense behind while on vacation.

Tourist Crossing

Well summer weather has finally arrived after a very wet season and Bar Harbor is overflowing with the tourists who have arrived in droves. Now I guess people must think because they drove so far to get here that they have reached the end of the world and all laws and conventions don't exist in this mythical town of Bar Harbor. After all we used to be called Eden so why have rules in Paradise?

For the times one has to drive downtown, it can be perilous. There are crosswalks aplenty but people seem determined to create their own. What constantly amazes me is that the tourists are a few feet away from a crosswalk but still insist on crossing wherever they feel like. Without realizing it, they are putting themselves and the mental health of locals at peril.

Some of the ways that they try to defy the natural law of stepping out in front of a moving vehicle are many. The one I cringe at the most is the stroller approach- this is where some mother thinks if she pushes a stroller out between parked cars that moving vehicles will stop out of concern for the child- which the mother obviously has none ( concern or brains). What they seem to be oblivious to is the fact that the stroller is so low to to the ground that we do not see this until our wheels are almost upon them!

The ways they cross are many and driving becomes a game of skill to make sure you can dodge them all without any injury! Of course all the locals say tourists are fair game when not in crosswalks. There are the ones who cross diagonally in front of you, those who just run out, those who start across then stop halfway- undecided if they really want to go in that direction and then turn around and head back. There are families who cross in droves- teaching their kids that you do not have to obey traffic laws and there are those who just stop in the middle and talk to their friends still on the sidewalk trying to decide where they want to go.

Of course there are those motorists who encourage these bad habits by stopping every 2 feet to let the stampede go by and back up traffic. I prefer the scare tactics myself- if tourists are not in the crosswalk I keep driving- hoping they will speed up their crossing and their heart rates by the time I get close!

You have to keep an ever watchful eye but someday I fear that I will become a victim of a tourist crossing as I carefully slow down for all the crosswalks and am ever vigilant for the errant tourist.

The sun shines on Bar Harbor

Ok- no tourist rants - just enjoying a beautiful day in Bar Harbor. The sun was out all day- it may have even hit 80! The evening is a typical Maine summer night that we all thought was lost to global warming- pleasant night, slight breeze, not humid and makes everyone want to be out and friendly.

I hit my favorite local hangout- McKay's- kinda like a Cheers in the winter but always great food and welcoming anytime. I sit at the bar and order the always popular McKay's salad- greens, apples, golden raisins, hazelnuts and a white truffle oil dressing- yum. Pair that with the ahi tuna appetizer with avocado and a wasabi oil and you have the perfect light meal for a late evening out- of course paired with a nice glass of wine.

Locals and tourists mix at the bar and talk about their respective hometowns and best places to go to eat and have a drink. Distinctive southern accents give away their locales. We chat and include newcomers to the bar and the conversation flows smoothly.

I bid my farewells and start on my way home but am tempted by the sirens' call to stop at MDI Ice Cream- I know I shouldn't but.... Local homemade ice cream with unusual flavor mixings that are always a delight. Stout with fudge, girl scouts gone wild( mints cookies mixed into chocolate ice cream) wasabi chocolate, blueberry basil and many more. I decide to keep with the light theme and go for a orange tarragon sorbet - not too sweet - topped with candied lemon peel.

As I proceed up the street to my house , my boss comes out of the YMCA sweaty from a game of basketball and jibes me about eating ice cream- guess I can't talk about my diet but such a nice summer days deserves to be topped off with the perennial summer treat!

Bar Harbor, tourist mecca or oblivion?

Living in a small town on an island In Maine that also happens to be home to a very popular national park, Acadia, presents interesting observations of people on vacation. Our small town of Bar Harbor is very quiet from November through April, dead in fact some people may say. But from May through October there is an increasing buzz of activity that becomes a loud roar in July and August.

I decided to write this blog as a commentary on life in a small town that bursts at the seams during the high season as B&B's like to name their highest rate. These observations come from someone who lives here year round and who wanders among the tourists soaking in the vitality that comes in the summer and early fall before we all go back into hibernation for the winter.

But it is also a commentary of how tourists act while on vacation and wonder if some of this behavior is unique to those who visit a place that takes so long to travel to and seems removed from civilization or if this is true of all tourist towns across the world. Comments and observations from others who live their lives according to tourist seasons are welcome.

So what got me started on this blog was the typical behavior that seems to beset those who come to a small town on vacation. Tourists become oblivious to their surroundings except as it pertains to their immediate needs. Today I decided to tackle the crowds and grab a cappuccino at one of the few places that stays open all year- Cafe Milagro. Although their coffee may be a little on the pricey side it is always good and locals like to support these shops so they will stay open year round. Now I knew it would be crowded in town as the weather was threatening rain ( when hasn't it this season) and the fog still clung to the shorelines- not many people ready to venture into The Park ( as we locals refer to Acadia National Park) if they could get wet.

After making my purchase and walking down the street I noticed this woman staring into the shop windows as she pushed a jogging stroller in front of her. Not only was this stroller preventing anyone from getting around her, she was also moving at a pace that made one wonder if she really did jog! I kept my distance as I recognized this type of browser and knew their behavior could turn erratic at any point. And just to confirm this she abruptly stopped and then immediately starting walking backwards, obviously drawn back by an object that was calling to her. Of course she did not turn around to go back nor did she look over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind her, but just started walking backwards drawn by the sirens silent call.

Unfortunately, the people walking behind her were not tuned into the same frequency and therefore were blocking this woman's backward movement ( as she continued to stare sideways into the shop's windows) and were nearly knocked over by her. Now this seems to be a typical reaction of people who become so immersed in their surroundings that they forget that others exist- this woman looked at these people she just nearly bowled over as if to say- what are you doing here blocking my way- can't you see I am in my own vacation world and you should not be in it! No apologies- just this hard stare at these people to let them know they should not have been there in the first place.

I chuckled to myself and crossed the street to avoid any possibility of my incurring her evil eye and chalked it up to another oblivious tourist. We locals all know they can be dangerous and try and spot the signs for self preservation.

I will post more of these Bar Harbor tourist aberrations to amuse you and comment on. Now mind you, I am not against our tourists- after all they do bring money to the town and support The Park, and I have spent more than a few evenings chatting pleasantly with them at local hangouts over a few drinks and for the most they are well behaved. Bu there are those that we can always count on to act in certain ways that do bring either a smile or a smirk and it is those I will recap along with our seasons' ups and downs. And wait until the cruise ship season is at its height- that brings a whole other type of tourist to Bar Harbor!