Navigating around the island since last year? Here are some helpful hints

MOUNT DESERT, May 23, 2025 - Welcome back, campers!

When I was a monthly vacationer, crossing the Thomson Island bridge onto the island held both anxiety and excitement at once - anxiety because there were always changes.

So here is a quick update of some of the changes in no particular order:

The owner of the Salt Market coffee shop on Main Street in Northeast Harbor has taken over the space of 123 Main Street, which closed. A new restaurant, “Good Wolf,” is planned but not until the spring of 2026. Meanwhile, the space will be used to prep food for Salt Market’s retail and catering business, so I was told.

The Asticou Hotel in Northeast Harbor apparently will not make its June 1 opening date. It pushed back reservations to June 12 or later on its online calendar. A person who answered the phone at its sister hotel, The Claremont in Southwest Harbor, said early July is probably the best guess when all the rooms in the hotel, cottages, restaurant and pool will be ready.

Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound is moving from its previous location on Seawall Road to Seawall Motel down the road. The motel is owned by Charlotte Gill, who said she expects a soft opening in mid June and proceed to add services throughout the summer. Live music is planned.

The wharf which previously was the site of MDI Lobster on Clark Point Road is being demolished, according to Code Enforcement Officer John Larson, who granted a demolition permit for the owner Sheryl Harper, who was granted a $400,000 matching grant to repair the wharf after extensive damage from the storms of January 2024.

Larson said a demolition permit also was granted for the restaurant Rogue Cafe on Rt. 102 to fill in a troublesome basement which required the removal of the the restaurant’s main building. Repeated efforts to reach the owner about future plans were unavailing.

Babson bridge repairs

The repair of Babson bridge just south of Freshie’s in Somesville has been one of the least disruptive projects on the island owing to the DOT’s ability to minimize having to close one lane during construction of the temporary bridge.

The DOT agreed with the town not to force one-lane traffic during the day.

Construction of the new bridge is slated to begin Aug. 5. The completion of the temporary bridge by the fall should allow for normal two-way traffic.

The roughly $5.2 million project has been in the works for some time. The aging bridge, which is located less than one-tenth of a mile from the intersection with Route 102 in Somesville, was identified by the Maine DOT as needing to be replaced back in 2019.

BDN: Bar Harbor businesses pessimistic about 2025

Bar Harbor businesses may be ruing the day they started choosing tourists over local customers. Bangor Daily News reported on their pessimism today about the coming season.

I haven’t patronized any of the restaurants along Cruise Ship Way - the disembarkation route from Golden Anchor dock on West Street all the way up to the corner of Main and Mount Desert streets - since Covid.

This group of restaurants called attention to themselves by creating the Association to Protect and Preserve Local Livelihoods as a vehicle to sue citizens over their effort to limit cruise ship passengers.

Now that the cap to the passenger limit in town has been codified, I still will find it hard to drive into Bar Harbor, search for a parking spot and patronize those establishments with similar menus, especially since Southwest Harbor has become the hub for foodies and gourmands. More on that another time.