Southwest Harbor , Maine
The Quiet Alternative on Mount Desert Island
The doors opened at 7:00 PM for two dollar beers and four dollar mixed drinks, cover tunes from local favorite band Stiff Whisker, and free nachos. On August 15 the Lazy Moose Bar and Grill in Southwest Harbor, Maine, celebrated its closing night. Their last night was also the last night my boyfriend and I would be vacationing in town so it was fitting we should be there.
Cheap, brightly-colored crepe paper decorations and red plastic cups to serve the liquor added to the fun and tacky ambience. The crowd grew, and one by one the bottles of liquor emptied off the shelves. Sometime late in the night and long after we had left, the Lazy Moose closed its doors for the last time. The town won’t have a watering hole now, and that will make three things you can’t find in Southwest Harbor, Maine.
If you need a watering hole, a whale watch, or extreme shopping you can always fight the traffic and the crowds and the expensive parking in Bar Harbor, a half hour drive from Southwest Harbor. Both Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor are towns on Mount Desert Island, Maine. If you’re content with quiet and simple harbor vacationing, a better choice could be the lesser known and smaller town of Southwest Harbor. Everything you need is right there, much within walking distances.
Southwest Harbor is on the westerly side of Mount Desert Island, also known as the “Quiet Side”. The town lies on Somes Sound, the only natural fjord on the United States east coast. Although summer visitors are catered to, the town is predominantly “local” with fishing and boat building as primary occupations for about 2,000 year-round residents. The summer weather can vary greatly with high temperatures from 60 to 80 degrees within a week. Fog rolls in many afternoons, but can be gone by the sunset.