Everything You Need to Know to Witness the Incredible Horseshoe Crab Migration


Date Published: Nov. 12th, 2025 | Last Updated: Nov. 12th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: June 9-10, 2025

Contents:

  1. What is the Horseshoe Crab Migration?
  2. Where to see the Horseshoe Crab Migration?
  3. Timing is Crucial to Witness the Migration!
  4. What to Bring to See the Horseshoe Crab Migration?
  5. Now you’re ready!
  6. One more thing, if you see any overturned horseshoe crabs…Just flip ’em!
  7. Some Final Thoughts

Being veterinarians, Toby and I get super excited about nature and different species of wildlife so of course when I found out about the horseshoe migration in Delaware, we just had to go! Toby had actually never seen a horseshoe crab in person before until last year at the New Jersey Science Centre and it blew his mind (they don’t have them in Australia)! The chance to see thousands of them in their natural habitat was something we just couldn’t pass up.

Horseshoe crabs are an amazing ancient species with fossils dating as far back as 445 million years – predating the dinosaurs! Despite the name, these incredible “living fossils” aren’t actually related to crabs at all! They’re related to the extinct trilobites and more closer related to spiders. They have fascinating anatomy and look unlike anything else on this planet – they kind of remind me of a Pokémon 😅.

When we were planning for our Delaware trip, there was surprisingly very limited information available on seeing the horseshoe crab migration. I thought this would’ve been a big tourist attraction for this amazing once a year event, but apparently not! After scouring the internet, I managed to piece together enough information for our trip and I’m sharing it here with you all!

If you want to learn more about horseshoe crabs, I found this website very helpful and informative in our research and education on the horseshoe crab, I highly recommend checking it out: https://horseshoecrab.org/

What is the Horseshoe Crab Migration?

Once a year, millions of horseshoe crabs make the journey from their natural habitat in the deeper ocean to the shallow coastal areas to spawn. This is one of the world’s oldest and largest wildlife migrations – it’s like witnessing a Planet Earth special in real life!

During spawning, the egg-laden females emit pheromones to attract the males and a single male will attach to the back of the female with special clasps. Once attached the pair will make the journey to the shore (pretty much a free piggy-back ride for the male who is usually much smaller in size than the female) where the female will deposit her eggs in the sand and the male will externally fertilize the eggs at the same time she deposits them. Although there can only be one male that attaches, often there are “satellite males” that huddle around one female in hopes of also fertilizing the eggs.

Incredibly, one female can lay 80,000 eggs in one season!!! 🤯🤯🤯 You’ll see millions of little tiny dark green eggs on the shore during the migration. These eggs provide a nutritious source for migratory birds, so you’ll also see tons of signs for migrating birds in the area at the same time.

Horseshoe Crab Eggs!
Horseshoe Crab Eggs!
Look at all the eggs getting washed around the shore! 🤯

Where to see the Horseshoe Crab Migration?

Map of spawning habitats of the Horseshoe Crabs (https://www.horseshoecrab.org/nh/habitat.html)

The Delaware Bay is the most popular place to see the horseshoe crab migration due to its location and protection from large ocean waves as well as sandy beaches. The states of Delaware and New Jersey surrounds the Delaware Bay so you should be be able to see them on either the Delaware side or the New Jersey side. Luckily there is a ferry that connects Lewes/Cape Henlopen and Cape May so you can check out both sides if you have the time (trip takes 1.5 hours one-way)! We had better luck on the New Jersey side this year but we were also two days away from the full moon on the Delaware side and only one day away from the full moon on the Jersey.

Selection of the perfect spawning site can depend on a number of factors including how coarse or fine the sand is, how quickly the sand drains, sediment of the beach…etc. The most preferred sites are usually next to large intertidal sand flat areas. Thankfully horseshoecrab.org provides a map of the popular spawning sites with the highest densities on their website seen above.

You can try your luck at any of these beaches, but since there’s only so much time between evening high tide and last light, you won’t be able to visit all of them to see the crabs before the sunset. Here are a few recommended beaches that I came across in my research:

A map of the popular beaches to see the horseshoe crab migration

Pickering Beach, DE: An official horseshoe crab sanctuary with limited public parking spaces along the road near the public access to the beach. Roughly 15 minutes south of Dover.

Kitts Hummock, DE: Another official horseshoe crab sanctuary, also with limited public parking spaces along the road near the public access to the beach.

Bowers Beach, DE: A public beach within a small bay community. There’s plenty of beach parking in a public lot on South Flack Avenue a block away (type in “Bowers Beach Parking Lot” on Google Maps or 102 South Flack Avenue, Frederica).

DuPont Nature Center, DE (2992 Lighthouse Road, Milford): This is NOT a place to see horseshoe crabs in their nature, but instead it is an education centre with interactive exhibits if you want to learn more about the horseshoe crabs!

Slaughter Beach (354 State Road 15, Milford): One of the most popular hotspots, has plenty of parking.

Reeds Beach, Middle Township, NJ: One of the more popular spots on the New Jersey Side to see the migration due to its closer vicinity to Cape May.

Our actual experience: Due to timing and our travel itinerary, we chose Slaughter Beach as our beach of choice to see the migration. Even though we went at the perfect time of day, unfortunately being that it was the end of the season and we were still 2 days out from the full moon, we only saw one mating pair. I was really disappointed after all of the effort we took to plan our trip around the migration. Luckily we had already planned to take the ferry to Cape May the next day to continue our road trip, and decided last minute to try our luck on the New Jersey side at Reeds Beach. On our way to Reeds Beach, there was a small tiny beach between a few houses on the side of the road that had TONS of horseshoe crabs!! I was ecstatic! After spending a good half an hour or so here, we headed up to Reeds Beach which surprisingly, although was a MUCH bigger beach, the number of horseshoe crabs here were a lot less (but definitely more migratory birds), so we went back to the original tiny beach 2 minutes away. My take on this experience is that if you don’t see many crabs, try driving around the area along the waters to see if there’s a pocket of beach with more crabs! (But also more importantly, try to go on a full moon or new moon unlike us to increase your chances at seeing them.)

Here are some photos of our experience at Slaughter Beach (Toby found a HUGE female that was unfortunately dead but super cool to see the anatomy up close):

Here are some photos of the little beach we found between some houses on our way to Reeds Beach in New Jersey:

Here are some photos of Reeds Beach, NJ – not as many horseshoe crabs but TONS of eggs on the shore and migratory birds in the distance:

Timing is Crucial to Witness the Migration!

The horseshoe crab migration happens every year in the spring between the end of April to the start of June, with the peak season in mid May-June. We were late to the migration when we went on June 9th-10th 2025 and although we didn’t see as many on the Delaware side, we saw plenty on the New Jersey side (more on this later).

Peak spawning occurs on a full moon or new moon and in the evening at high tide. You want to arrive at least 30 mins before high tide (it actually lines up nicely with sunset to make it all the more magical!).

The monthly tide charts on the US Harbors website is useful when picking a date and time since it has both the moon phase and the tide times in their charts. Check it out here (I have it set to Bowers Beach, but you can always google more specific tide times depending on which beach you choose to go): https://www.usharbors.com/harbor/delaware/bowers-beach-de/tides/#monthly-tide-chart

Here is a sample of the May 2026 tide chart from the US Harbors website. In case you’re unfamiliar with reading their tide chart, I’ve circled the important areas in blue and red:

To read the chart to pick the best day:

1) First look at the Moon column on the right and determine which dates are full moon and new moon. From the chart, the full moon is on Sat May 2nd and the new moon is on Sun May 17th.

2) From those dates, find the PM high tide time of the day. From the chart, it’s 10:49pm on May 2nd and 10:38pm on May 17th (circled in red).

3) Since you want to arrive 30 minutes ahead of the high tide, your ideal time to witness the migration in May 2026 would be on either May 2nd 10:19pm or May 17th at 10:08pm. (I’m writing this post in November 2025, so double check the charts before you go to ensure this forecasted information is still accurate if you’re going in May.)

Don’t worry if you can’t make it exactly on a full moon or a new moon, we were 2 days early before a full moon and still saw tons of them on the New Jersey side, but we did have to drive up and down the coast a little to find a good spot to see them.

As beautiful and amazing as this event is to witness, know that once the sun goes down, the horseshoe crabs will continue to come to shore and can get to horror movie-level numbers. I still found it really cool, but realize that it may not be for everyone – one of my coworkers was not a fan of my night time migration photos at all 😂.

Here are some night time photos of the migration so you know what to expect:

If you get all 3 things correct in terms of timing (1. season, 2. full moon or new moon, 3. evening high tide), you should be able to see hundreds if not thousands of horseshoe crabs!

If you come back to the beach early next day, you may be able to see the migratory birds feeding on the eggs!

What to Bring to See the Horseshoe Crab Migration?

  • Sturdy waterproof shoes (ie. rain boots or waterproof hiking shoes)
    • The horseshoe crabs will hang out just on the shoreline where the water and the beach meet, so if you want to get up close, waterproof shoes are recommended to avoid your shoes from getting wet.
    • Depending on the beach, there can be a lot of debris, sticks, and dead horseshoe crabs that didn’t quite make it, so a sturdy pair of shoes will be best to walk through it.
    • I’d recommend rain boots as the shoe of choice because it can smell a little fishy on the beach (after all, they are spawning), so you want to wear shoes that are easy to rinse off afterwards.
  • Bug spray or covered clothing
    • We learned this the hard way. There were so many teeny tiny flies and although I wore leggings (albeit thin), they managed to bite through and around my uncovered ankles. Although not painful, I was hella itchy for a few weeks. I counted 14 bites on both legs when we got back to our hotel. 😫
  • Headlamp or flashlight
    • Depending on the day, if the evening high tide occurs after sunset, you’ll want a light source to see these guys best. The most abundant numbers occur at night and a headlamp will keep your hands free if you’re walking through debris or taking photos.

Now you’re ready!

Now that you know the season (spring, May-June), the day (full moon or new moon), the time (30 minutes prior to the evening high tide), and the location (beaches within the Delaware Bay), you’re now ready to see the amazing horseshoe crab migration! I’d love to hear about your trip in the comments!

One more thing, if you see any overturned horseshoe crabs…Just flip ’em!

Due to their wide anatomy and the rushing waves, unfortunately you’ll more than likely see a few overturned horseshoe crabs. Sometimes they’ll be able to correct their own position with the right tide or passerby, but more often than not many of them will die stranded. So if you see an overturned horseshoe crab, just flip them over! Although they can look a little scary and pointy up close, horseshoe crabs are very gentle creatures and they do not sting nor bite. The best and gentlest way to flip them over is to grab them by the edge of the shell and flip them over. Do not grab them by the tail! Although it doesn’t look like it, they actually have very delicate tails and can damage easily.

Spread the word! Save the stranded overturned horseshoe crabs!

The ERDG (Ecological Research & Development Group), a non-profit wildlife conservation that focuses on the conservation of the world’s four horseshoe crab species, has a “Just flip ’em program” that promotes flipping stranded horseshoe crabs (https://www.horseshoecrab.org/act/flipem.html) and has made a fantastically catchy song that can be found on the website or directly linked here: https://www.horseshoecrab.org/poem/img/makinmusic/justflipem.mp3. The lyrics are amazing and I’ve literally already listened to it 3 times back to back while writing this post 😂. I wish it was on Spotify.

PS: Horseshoe crab numbers are declining due to habitat destruction and you can volunteer to be a part of the horseshoe crab survey to keep an eye on the numbers: https://www.delawarebayhscsurvey.org/.

Their website has posted volunteer survey dates every year which is a good guide to when you should go see the horseshoe crabs. I’ve attached a copy of their 2025 dates top the left.

Some Final Thoughts

  • Horseshoe crabs are super cool.
  • The annual mass migration will blow your mind 🤯 and is 100% worth it.
  • There are only 2 “perfect” days every month (new moon and full moon), so make sure you plan ahead!
  • Wear good shoes you can wash – yes, it will smell fishy.
  • Flip over any stranded overturned horseshoe crabs!

AbbyLeave a comment

Green Curry Mussels


Date Published: Sept 21st, 2025 | Last Updated: Sept 21st, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: mains, Asian, <15mins, <30 mins, easy
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 10 minutes

Jump to recipe |

This Green Curry Mussel recipe has been on the back burner since I started this website during COVID. I’m glad to finally be able to publish it! Back during the lockdown pandemic era (seems like so long ago now!), like many, I was really into experimenting in the kitchen and I had just recently discovered how to make my own Thai Green Curry Paste from scratch! From that recipe, I became more and more adventurous in ways I could use up that curry paste. Toby’s favourite recipe from that adventure is the fried prawn toasts (see the posts below). Mine is this recipe. I would have never thought to pair green curry and mussels together until I saw it on the menu at the mussel stand in Queen Victoria Market one day and it was mind-blowingly delicious!

This is my take on green curry mussels. This recipe uses the bold and rich flavours of a traditional Thai Green Curry paste, cooked together in coconut milk, then tossed together with fresh mussels to give an aromatic and creamy mussel dish. I hope you enjoy!

Thai Green Curry Paste


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Green Curry Prawn Toast


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Green Curry Fish Soup


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This recipe is easy and cooks up quickly!

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Directions:

Heat a large pan or wok on MED heat and sauté the green curry paste in a drizzle of oil until the paste dries out a bit and turns slightly brown (2-3 minutes). Add in the can of coconut milk and mix it all together. Let the sauce simmer until you get a thickened sauce.

Add in the mussels and stir. Put the lid on and let the mussels steam for 4-5 minutes until they all open up. Turn off the heat and serve!

Summarized Recipe:

Green Curry Mussels

Date Published: Sept 21st, 2025 | Last Updated: Sept 21st, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: mains, Asian, <15mins, <30 mins, easy
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Heat a large pan or wok on MED heat and sauté the green curry paste in a drizzle of oil until the paste dries out a bit and turns slightly brown (2-3 minutes).
  2. Add in the can of coconut milk and mix it all together. Let the sauce simmer until you get a thickened sauce.
  3. Add in the mussels and stir. Put the lid on and let the mussels steam for 4-5 minutes until they all open up. Turn off the heat and serve!

AbbyLeave a comment

Golden Diner Honey Butter Pancakes


Date Published: Sept 9th, 2025 | Last Updated: Sept 9th, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: breads, dessert, snack, easy, vegetarian
Serves: 4 pancakes | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 5-7 minutes per pancake

Jump to recipe |

The Honey Butter Pancakes at Golden Diner in NYC has been the latest viral craze. My friend back home in Canada was the first to show me the TikTok and since seeing the video, I’ve been hearing about this place non-stop. Although I’m not a huge fan of pancakes, I am however OBSESSED with the honey butter chips that this dish was inspired from. If you’ve never had the chips, you should definitely try it before going – it’s sweet, it’s savoury, it’s umami, it’s everything!

After getting off two trains and waiting 2 hours for a table on a weekday, we were finally seated. I’m glad to report that their Honey Butter Pancakes were indeed worth it. The honey butter syrup really does taste just like the chips and the thick but light and fluffy pancakes were the perfect texture to carry the heavy syrup. It comes in a single or double serving. I’d recommend the single – it’s quite heavy and after a while it can be a bit much if you don’t have a sweet tooth. You can read the rest of my review on the diner and some other local Manhattan Chinatown eats here.

Honey Butter Pancakes at Golden Diner

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Manhattan Chinatown is full of amazing authentic Asian food but in a neighbourhood full of Chinese signage and shop keepers that barely speak English, it can be daunting to find the best food spots amongst the literal hundreds of restaurants in this neighbourhood. This food guide highlights some of my favourite places to eat in Chinatown…

Since visiting Golden Diner, I added the Honey Butter pancakes on my list of things to try and recreate, but lucky for me, chef and owner Sam Yoo already shared his recipe through NYT Cooking. After following his recipe to the tee, I made a few adjustments to streamline the cooking process and also dissected out the ingredients list for more clarity. I’ve shared them in this recipe below.

A Breakdown of the Golden Diner Pancakes:

There are 4 components to the pancakes at Golden Diner:

  1. The pancakes, of course – these are beautifully light and fluffy pancakes that perfectly soaks up the honey butter syrup. The batter goes through a fermentation phase (called the preferment) that gives it an extra depth of flavour and also a better rise.
  2. The Honey Butter Syrup – this is the star of the show. The genius combination of maple syrup, honey, and soy sauce makes the perfect blend of sweet, umami, and savoury.
  3. Maple Honey Butter (optional) – this topping is made using similar ingredients as the honey butter syrup, minus the soy sauce. It’s easy to make, but honestly, the honey butter syrup is already so flavourful with the same flavour profile that it masks the taste of this maple honey butter. Unless I’m eating this butter alone, I can barely notice it. I’ve included it in this recipe anyway to keep it true to how they serve it at Golden Diner, but regular butter would suffice in my opinion, so I’ve noted this as an “optional” component in the dish.
  4. Berry Compote (optional) – this is an optional add-on at Golden Diner for an extra $4. We didn’t have it originally but after making it at home it was a good choice to omit it. Although the Berry Compote is delicious, I found that the bold berry flavours completely masks the flavours of the honey butter syrup, which is the whole point of this dish. If you’re going to add the Berry Compote, you might as well just use regular maple syrup on the dish.

In summary, although there are 4 components of this dish, I find that the only essential two are the fluffy pancakes and the honey butter syrup. I tend to skip making the maple honey butter and just use regular butter instead and if I’m making the berry compote (which is Toby’s favourite part), I’ll pair it with regular maple syrup.

With the syrup and maple honey butter
With the berry compote

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Equipment you’ll need:

  • One or two small non-stick pans (16cm/6.5-7 inch diameter)
    • Two will make your life easier and cook the pancakes faster, but one is enough if you don’t care about speed.

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Pancake Batter:
    • Pre-Ferment:
      • 2.25 tsps (7g or one 1/4 oz packet) active dry yeast (instant yeast is fine too)
      • 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
      • 1.25 cups (300g) buttermilk (or mix 1.25cups whole milk + 1.25 Tbsps lemon juice, let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it lightly thickens)
      • 1/4 cup (60ml) water
    • 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
    • 2 Tbsps (28g) granulated sugar
    • 3/4 tsps (5g) baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp fine salt
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1/4 cup (60g) neutral-tasting oil (ie. canola, vegetable…etc.)
  • Maple Honey Syrup:
    • 1/2 cup (113g or 1 stick) unsalted butter
    • 1/3 cup (100g) honey
    • 1.5 Tbsps (22g) maple syrup
    • 1 tsp soy sauce
    • 1/2 tsp fine salt
    • 1.5 Tbsps water
  • Maple Honey Butter (optional):
    • 1/2 cup (113g or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
    • 3 Tbsps (57g) honey
    • 2 Tbsps (28g) pure maple syrup
    • 3/4 tsp fine salt
  • Berry Compote (optional):
    • 14oz (400g) mixed berries (ie. blueberries, raspberries, strawberries), cut to the same size as the small berries
    • 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
    • 1.5 tsps cornstarch
  • Zest of 1 lemon for garnish

Directions:

A) Make the Pancake Batter:

Pre-Ferment the batter (this step helps the pancakes have better rise, with deeper flavour by a fermentation process):

1. In a large microwave-safe bowl, add in the 1.25 cups buttermilk with 1/4 cup water. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until lukewarm (~38-40˚C/100-104˚F). (If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, mix 1.25 cups of whole milk with 1.25 Tbsps of lemon juice and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it slightly thickens/clumps.)

If you don’t have buttermilk, mix 1.25cups whole milk with 1.25Tbsp lemon juice.
Heat the buttermilk with water until lukewarm

You can also do this in a small saucepan on LOW-MED heat and heat until it becomes lukewarm.

2. Whisk the 2.25 tsp yeast and 1 cup (130g) flour into the warmed buttermilk/water mixture until smooth.

3. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature.

Cover and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.

You can make the maple honey syrup, butter, and berry compote in this time.

Finishing off the batter:

4. After 1 hour check on the batter and give it a stir. It will have risen a little and formed clumps.

After 1 hour it will have risen a little and formed clumps.

5. In a separate small bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients for the batter: 1 cup (130g) of flour, 2 Tbsps (28g) sugar, 3/4 tsps (5g) baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside.

Dry ingredients for the rest of the batter

6. In another larger mixing bowl, whisk together 2 large eggs and 1/4 cup neutral oil until smooth. Add in the pre-ferment batter into the egg/oil mixture, then slowly add in the combined dry ingredients prepared in the previous step (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt). Gently stir with the whisk until the dry ingredients are incorporated, it’s okay if the batter is lumpy.

2 eggs + 1/4 cup neutral oil
Whisk until smooth
Add in the preferment batter
Add in the dry ingredients
Gently whisk until smooth
Batter is ready for cooking!

B) Make the Maple Honey Syrup:

In a small saucepan on LOW-MED heat, add in the 1/2 cup (113g) butter, 1/3 cup (100g) honey, 1.5 Tbsps (24g) maple syrup, 1 tsp soy sauce, and 1/2 tsp fine salt. Whisk until the butter melts completely.

Add 1.5 Tbsps water and continue whisking until emulsified then reduce the heat to the lowest setting to keep warm until ready to use.

Melt butter with honey, soy, maple syrup, and salt
Add water while whisking
Whisk until emulsified

C) Make the Maple Honey Butter (optional):

In a bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup (113g) softened butter, 3 Tbsps (57g) honey, 2 Tbsps (28g) maple syrup, and 3/4 tsps salt. Keep at room temperature if using within a few hours, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Pro-tip for storing leftover butter: spoon out the butter onto plastic wrap and roll into a log then refrigerate. Once the butter firms up, you can slice it and use as needed!

D) Make the Berry Compote (optional):

In a bowl, add in the mixed berries, 1/3 cup (67g) sugar, and 1.5 tsps cornstarch. Gently mix until the berries are evenly coated.

Heat a deep pan on HIGH heat. Splash a drop of water onto the pan and if it sizzles right away, then the pan is ready. Add the berry mixture from the previous step and cook until the blueberries are soft and easy to squish (~3-5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.

E) Cook the Pancakes:

Heat one or two small non-stick pans (16cm/6.5-7 inch diameter) on MED heat.

Once the pan has heated up, pour in 1 ladle of batter into the pan, which should fill up about 1/3 of the depth of the pan.

Let the batter cook for 2-3 minutes until the edges are cooked (see photo), then gently loosen the pancake from underneath and flip it over. Turn the heat down to LOW and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes until the center is cooked (the internal temp will by 31-32˚C/88-90˚F).

Note the cooked edges will separate from the edge of the pan
Flip when golden brown underneath

Pro-tip: It can be tricky to flip a pancake when it’s in a small pan, so here are a few cheat ways to make it easier:

Method 1: If you have two of the same size pans, you can loosen the pancake first, then place the other skillet over top and directly flip it into the other pan and continue cooking.

Method 1: Use two small pans and flip onto each other (make sure to loosen the pancake first!)

Method 2: You could alternatively flip it into a large base non-stick pan and continue to cook since the pancake should hold its shape from the first pan. Tuck in any loose batter into the pancake.

Method 2: Flip the pancake onto a larger heated pan

Method 3: If your small pans are oven/broil-safe, you can just pop the pan under the broiler on LOW until it cooks through without having to actually flip it. I haven’t tried this method before, but this was how I saw them do it at Golden Diner for a perfectly shaped pancake each time.

Repeat this process for the remaining pancakes, ensuring you heat up the pan each time between pancakes.

F) To Serve:

Place 1 or 2 pancakes onto a plate and evenly drench the maple honey syrup over top right away. Spoon the berry compote on top (if using) then a dollop of the maple honey butter (if using) over the berries. Sprinkle some fresh lemon zest over top and serve immediately! Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Golden Diner Honey Butter Pancakes

Date Published: Sept 9th, 2025 | Last Updated: Sept 9th, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: breads, dessert, snack, easy, vegetarian
Serves: 4 pancakes | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 5-7 minutes per pancake

Equipment you’ll need:

  • One or two small non-stick pans (16cm/6.5-7 inch diameter)
    • Two will make your life easier and cook the pancakes faster, but one is enough if you don’t care about speed.

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Pancake Batter:
    • Pre-Ferment:
      • 2.25 tsps (7g or one 1/4 oz packet) active dry yeast (instant yeast is fine too)
      • 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
      • 1.25 cups (300g) buttermilk (or mix 1.25cups whole milk + 1.25 Tbsps lemon juice, let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it lightly thickens)
      • 1/4 cup (60ml) water
    • 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
    • 2 Tbsps (28g) granulated sugar
    • 3/4 tsps (5g) baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp fine salt
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1/4 cup (60g) neutral-tasting oil (ie. canola, vegetable…etc.)
  • Maple Honey Syrup:
    • 1/2 cup (113g or 1 stick) unsalted butter
    • 1/3 cup (100g) honey
    • 1.5 Tbsps (22g) maple syrup
    • 1 tsp soy sauce
    • 1/2 tsp fine salt
    • 1.5 Tbsps water
  • Maple Honey Butter (optional):
    • 1/2 cup (113g or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
    • 3 Tbsps (57g) honey
    • 2 Tbsps (28g) pure maple syrup
    • 3/4 tsp fine salt
  • Berry Compote (optional):
    • 14oz (400g) mixed berries (ie. blueberries, raspberries, strawberries), cut to the same size as the small berries
    • 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
    • 1.5 tsps cornstarch
  • Zest of 1 lemon for garnish

Directions:

A) Make the Pancake Batter:

  • Pre-Ferment the batter (this step helps the pancakes have better rise, with deeper flavour by a fermentation process):
    • 1. In a large microwave-safe bowl, add in the 1.25 cups buttermilk with 1/4 cup water. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until lukewarm (~38-40˚C/100-104˚F).
      • (If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, mix 1.25 cups of whole milk with 1.25 Tbsps of lemon juice and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it slightly thickens/clumps.)
      • You can also do this in a small saucepan on LOW-MED heat and heat until it becomes lukewarm.
    • 2. Whisk the 2.25 tsp yeast and 1 cup (130g) flour into the warmed buttermilk/water mixture until smooth.
    • 3. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature.
      • You can make the maple honey syrup, butter, and berry compote in this time.
  • Finishing off the batter:
    • 4. After 1 hour check on the batter and give it a stir. It will have risen a little and formed clumps.
    • 5. In a separate small bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients for the batter: 1 cup (130g) of flour, 2 Tbsps (28g) sugar, 3/4 tsps (5g) baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside.
    • 6. In another larger mixing bowl, whisk together 2 large eggs and 1/4 cup neutral oil until smooth. Add in the pre-ferment batter into the egg/oil mixture, then slowly add in the combined dry ingredients prepared in the previous step (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt). Gently stir with the whisk until the dry ingredients are incorporated, it’s okay if the batter is lumpy.

B) Make the Maple Honey Syrup:

  1. In a small saucepan on LOW-MED heat, add in the 1/2 cup (113g) butter, 1/3 cup (100g) honey, 1.5 Tbsps (24g) maple syrup, 1 tsp soy sauce, and 1/2 tsp fine salt. Whisk until the butter melts completely.
  2. Add 1.5 Tbsps water and continue whisking until emulsified then reduce the heat to the lowest setting to keep warm until ready to use.

C) Make the Maple Honey Butter (optional):

  1. In a bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup (113g) softened butter, 3 Tbsps (57g) honey, 2 Tbsps (28g) maple syrup, and 3/4 tsps salt. Keep at room temperature if using within a few hours, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
    • Pro-tip for storing leftover butter: spoon out the butter onto plastic wrap and roll into a log then refrigerate. Once the butter firms up, you can slice it and use as needed!

D) Make the Berry Compote (optional):

  1. In a bowl, add in the mixed berries, 1/3 cup (67g) sugar, and 1.5 tsps cornstarch. Gently mix until the berries are evenly coated.
  2. Heat a deep pan on HIGH heat. Splash a drop of water onto the pan and if it sizzles right away, then the pan is ready. Add the berry mixture from the previous step and cook until the blueberries are soft and easy to squish (~3-5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.

E) Cook the Pancakes:

  1. Heat one or two small non-stick pans (16cm/6.5-7 inch diameter) on MED heat.
  2. Once the pan has heated up, pour in 1 ladle of batter into the pan, which should fill up about 1/3 of the depth of the pan.
  3. Let the batter cook for 2-3 minutes until the edges are cooked (see photo), then gently loosen the pancake from underneath and flip it over. Turn the heat down to LOW and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes until the center is cooked (the internal temp will by 31-32˚C/88-90˚F).
    • Pro-tip: It can be tricky to flip a pancake when it’s in a small pan, so here are a few cheat ways to make it easier:
      • Method 1: If you have two of the same size pans, you can loosen the pancake first, then place the other skillet over top and directly flip it into the other pan and continue cooking.
      • Method 2: You could alternatively flip it into a large base non-stick pan and continue to cook since the pancake should hold its shape from the first pan. Tuck in any loose batter into the pancake.
      • Method 3: If your small pans are oven/broil-safe, you can just pop the pan under the broiler on LOW until it cooks through without having to actually flip it. I haven’t tried this method before, but this was how I saw them do it at Golden Diner for a perfectly shaped pancake each time.
  4. Repeat this process for the remaining pancakes, ensuring you heat up the pan each time between pancakes.

F) To Serve:

Place 1 or 2 pancakes onto a plate and evenly drench the maple honey syrup over top right away. Spoon the berry compote on top (if using) then a dollop of the maple honey butter (if using) over the berries. Sprinkle some fresh lemon zest over top and serve immediately!

AbbyLeave a comment

Best Places for Crab Cakes in Maryland: A Complete Guide to Local Favourites


Date Published: Sept 6th, 2025 | Last Updated: Sept 6th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA

Contents:

  1. First things first: Why Maryland?
  2. What is a Crab Cake?
  3. What Makes a Good Crab Cake?
  4. Without further ado… here are some of the top places to grab a crab cake in Maryland!
  5. In Summary

First things first: Why Maryland?

If you were to pick one food ingredient that perfectly encapsulates Maryland cuisine, it would be blue swimmer crabs (with Old Bay Seasoning as a close second). Due to the abundance of these crabs in the Chesapeake Bay that runs right through the Eastern half of the state, the crabbing industry in Maryland has been an important part of the Maryland economy and culture dating back centuries! You can find all sorts of crab dishes in Maryland, including steamed crab, crab soup, crab dip, crab egg rolls, and of course the famous crab cake.

The peak crab season each year is between April to December, with the largest crabs on offer in the fall season between September to mid-November.

What is a Crab Cake?

A crab cake is a delicious savoury type of fishcake that is made up of crab meat and a variety of fillers traditionally bread crumbs, eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, and a variety of seasonings. It’s either baked, fried, or pan-cooked. You can find crab cakes around the world, but a Maryland crab cake hits different. Maryland crab cakes are seasoned with Old Bay Seasoning and the best cakes use jumbo lump crab meat.

What is jumbo lump/colossal crab meat you ask? Jumbo lump crab meat is the most prized and highest grade of crab meat that comes from the swimming fins of the crab – unsurprisingly, it’s also the most expensive. This piece of meat should be unbroken and come in large chunks compared to regular lump crab meat which are in smaller pieces and extracted from smaller swimming muscles of the crab. The best Maryland crab cakes (and the most expensive) are the ones made with jumbo lumb crab meat which results in large chunks of crab in every bite rather than smaller broken and stringy pieces of crab you see in regular crab cakes. It’s certainly an experience, especially for my fellow crab lovers!

For the visual learners like me, I’ve included a photo and diagram of the different types of crab meat:

Comparison of where Jumbo Lump Crab meat is from and how it compares to other parts of the crab.
Image from: https://www.seacoreseafood.com/product/Blue_Crab
Packed containers of jumbo lump crab meat – one of these containers can run you $60-70!

Accompaniments: Crab cakes are almost always served with a small packet of saltine crackers. This is to add texture to the overall softness of the crab cake. Toby prefers not adding it at all, but I like to crumble mine over the crab cake for a bit of extra crunch with every bite. Many people will also order a side of tartar or cocktail sauce to go with their crab cake for an extra kick.

What Makes a Good Crab Cake?

Fillers: The one and only golden rule of a good crab cake is that is should be maximum crab and minimal filler. I’m talking about 85-90% of the crab cake should be just crab meat and the filler should only really be there as a binder to hold the shape and for seasoning (read: Old Bay). No chopped veggies, no fancy herbs – maybe parsley.

Seasoning: Old Bay is a must for Maryland crab cakes and you’ll often taste celery salt as well. It is because of the simplicity of the Maryland crab cake that you’ll find most of them pretty similar in flavour. Some cakes are more heavily seasoned than others but this will be due to personal preference. I prefer mine on the less-seasoned side to not over power the delicate flavour of the crab and most places in Maryland will have a spice shaker of Old Bay so you can add extra seasoning if you like.

Without further ado… here are some of the top places to grab a crab cake in Maryland!

Much like my unexpectedly popular post on The Ultimate Guide to Philly Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, this post is my personal take on these popular spots. I know there will be a lot of differing opinions and I’ve seen heated debates on who has the best crab cakes, and at the end of the day the answer will depend on individual preference. There’s no one right answer – it’s like asking a New Yorker who has the best pizza. Everyone will have their own favourite and this post highlights some of my favourites and thoughts on these popular joints. The places that we tried were all due to research from locals but this is in no way a comprehensive list. Let me know in the comments if you think I’ve missed a popular spot!

In this post, I’ve reviewed Pappa’s, Faidley’s, Koco’s, G&M, and Jimmy’s.

* Please note that the cost of crab cakes are often seasonal and can change regularly depending on market price. The prices I’ve listed below are from our trip in July of 2025.

1) Pappas: Pappas Seafood Co. & Pappas Restaurant and Sports Bar

Pappas Seafood Co. (carry out only):
Address: 8801 Belair Rd, Nottingham, MD 21236
Hours: 11am-8pm daily
Cost per crab cake: $27.50+tax (market price) for 11oz large jumbo lump crab cake, $25 for Imperial
Website: http://www.pappascrabcakes.com/

Pappas Restaurant and Sports Bar (sit down dining):
Address: multiple locations around Maryland (we went to 6713 Ritchie Hwy, Glen Burnie, MD 21061)
Hours: hours vary by location, usually 11am-9:30pm daily (check the website for more details)
Cost per crab cake: $28.99 for 8oz jumbo lump crab (extra $2 for a platter with 2 sides)
Website: http://www.pappascrabcakes.com/

Pros:

  • Great crab cakes with minimal filler, tons of crab meat, lightly seasoned
  • Good prices at the distribution centre (better than their restaurant)
  • Multiple option of sizes of crab cakes including a large 11oz cake!

Cons:

  • Distribution center located farther out from Baltimore
  • Cream of crab soup is way too salty (at the restaurant location anyway)
  • Lightly seasoned crab cakes which is what I prefer to pair with a tartar sauce, but some may find it bland

Pappas was recommended time and time again throughout my internet research, but everyone always just called it “Pappas”, rather than the full name, so when we typed in “Pappas” on Google maps, it directed me to “Pappas Seafood Co.”. When we arrived, it was a big warehouse-like building that only had carryout options and nowhere to sit. We thought it was strange that so many people would recommend a carryout place until we spoke to the cashier who told us that they have multiple restaurants that have dine-in options but the location we came to was their distribution center. Ahh. We were super hungry at the time and didn’t want to make the further trek to their restaurant after driving 3 hours from NYC so we just ordered carryout. Luckily they had pretty much a full menu and there was one picnic table out back so we didn’t have to eat in the hot car.

For those of you who are like us and never seen a “carryout” before, it’s a type of food service where you park your car in a designated number spot in the parking lot, go inside to order, and they’ll bring out the food to your car. Neither Toby and I had encountered a ‘carryout’ service before coming in Maryland – we thought it just meant takeaway. When we arrived, we thought the numbered lots were for reserved parking so we chose a spot without a number (which ended up being for employee parking – we thought it was strange why we had to park so far away from the main door 😂). When they asked us what our car spot number was, we just told them which car it was 😅.

There was an option of the size of crab cake you want: small, medium, or large. We of course got the large because we were so hungry. It was a whole 11oz and very filling. It was delicious from the very first bite! There was no skimping on the crab meat and minimal filler. It was lightly seasoned – just the way I like it and it was even better paired with their tartar sauce.

We also ordered the Imperial Crab cake that is made with their imperial sauce. The Imperial was more moist with more seasoning and eggy in flavour. It’s a gluten free option without a binder so it was also more sloppy looking. I thought it was good but not as good as the regular jumbo lump crab cake but Toby LOVED it way more.

This crab cake was the one to beat but just incase we were biased because we were starving when we tried it, we tried it again at one of their restaurants on our way back home from DC. The restaurant looked like any other sports/family restaurant (we went to the location in Glen Burnie). We sat at the bar and we ordered both the jumbo lump and the imperial crab cake again. I can confirm that this was still our top pick for favourite crab cake after trying 4 other places. (Side note: I also ordered the recommended cream of crab soup and it was super salty – would not recommend. Stick to the crab cakes.)

2) Faidley’s Seafood

Address: 119 N Paca St, Baltimore, MD 21201 (inside Lexington Market, level 1)
Hours: 10am-5pm most days, closed Sun
Cost per crab cake: $25 + tax (market price) for 6.5oz jumbo lump crab cake
Website: http://faidleyscrabcakes.com/

Pros:

  • Best location within Baltimore downtown, although a bit of a walk from the waterfront
  • Great oven-roasted browning flavour

Cons:

  • More expensive for the smallest crab cake on this list (standard size for most places is 8oz, theirs is 6.5oz)
  • More filling compared to the other crab cakes with less crab
  • Food-court order style
  • Standing room and some picnic tables outside

Faidley’s is an institution in the Baltimore area. Open since 1886, they have the reputation as being one of the oldest seafood purveyors in the Chesapeake Bay region. It also has the best location for tourists (right in downtown Baltimore!) compared to all the other places in this post. It’s roughly a 15 minute walk from Oriole Park baseball stadium or a 30 minute walk from the Baltimore waterfront. Located in Lexington Market, Faidley’s has food-court style service where you go up to order and they put your food on a tray. They also have a separate area for a raw bar and takeaway raw seafood/meat (including raccoon and muskrat meat!).

There’s standing room only here at the high tops or there’s a few picnic benches on the patio outside. The first time we went it was on a Monday afternoon in March during game day. It was pretty busy but not crazy. The second time was in July which was a lot less busy but the food was still consistent.

There’s only one size of crab cake here, which is a 6.5 oz for $25 (market price), smaller than the standard 8oz size at other restaurants. The food was served very quickly (almost immediately!) and on first impressions, it had a lot more browning compared to other cakes but also had more filler. Despite this, it was well-season and the roasted browned flavour gave the crab cake more depth that the other cakes didn’t offer. It was like having thanksgiving stuffing out of the oven, crab-cake style! If this crab cake was larger with less filler, it would’ve easily taken the number one spot for best crab cake for me!

We also got a “Coddie” which is a fried cod and potato ball (not bad), the crab dip (amazing!), and the cream of crab soup (I thought it was okay, but Toby liked it).

You can actually watch them make the crab cakes while you wait for your food. I saw celery salt, Old Bay, and crushed crackers go into the mix!

3) Koco’s Pub

Address: 4301 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD 21214
Hours: 11am-9pm on most days, closed Sun & Mon, evening only Tues (check their website for up to date hours)
Cost per crab cake: $39+ tax (market price) for an 11oz crab cake
Website: http://www.kocospub.com/

Pros:

  • Great ambience with lovely decor
  • Koconut shrimp was delicious
  • Good service

Cons:

  • 15 minute drive from Baltimore (can be tricky to get here if you don’t have a car)
  • Texture of the crab cakes were too soft for my liking compared to others
  • Not a fan of the cream of crab soup
  • Much more expensive crab cake compared to others ($39 for an 11oz – Pappa’s takeaway was $27.50)

Of all the crab cake joints we’ve visited in Maryland, Koco’s pub had the most character with great vibes. It’s situated at the end of a quiet street – you can’t miss it, it’s the bright yellow house! Although a little farther out from Baltimore (15 minute drive), Koco’s reputation of great crab cakes seem to fill the place again and again. When we arrived without a reservation, there was only seating at the bar available (which was a bit uncomfortable since the table top doesn’t extend out as much as it should and we had to lean in to eat – you can probably notice it in one of the photos below). The interior of the restaurant made you feel like you were in a tropical family restaurant/pub with more brightly coloured walls and decor.

From the reviews, apart from their crab cakes, others have recommended the Koconut shrimp and the cream of crab soup, so we ordered all 3!

  • Crab cake: Although their standard crab cake size is the same 11oz as Pappa’s large, it seemed much smaller when it arrived (there are also larger and smaller options available that’s not on the menu). The crab cake was overall good, however we felt that it was a bit heavy on the Old Bay seasoning and the crab meat was more shredded in the crab cake rather than large chunks of crab meat which made it a softer texture that I didn’t prefer.
  • Koconut Shrimp: This was our favourite. It’s shrimp covered in koconut shavings and deep fried, served with a jalapeño raspberry sauce. The sauce sounded weird but interesting and it was delicious!
  • Cream of Crab Soup: Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of it. It was too thick and floury with minimal to no crab flavour. It if weren’t for the clumps of crab meat in the soup, I wouldn’t have known it was crab soup.

Overall, although the ambience of the place was fantastic and there was lovely service, the food fell a little short for us (except the Koconut shrimp) and we found it expensive compared to the others.

4) G & M Restaurant

Address: 804 N Hammonds Ferry Rd, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090
Hours: 11am-9pm daily
Cost per crab cake: $29+ tax for an 8oz crab cake + 1 side, or $58+tax for two 8oz crab cakes + 2 sides
Website: https://gandmcrabcakes.com/

Pros:

  • Delicious crab soup
  • Comparable prices of crab cake to the others

Cons:

  • 15 minute drive from Baltimore (can be tricky to get here if you don’t have a car)
  • Crab cake didn’t taste as fresh as some of the other places

G & M Restaurant is about a 15 minute drive south of Baltimore and is a very large restaurant tucked away in a quiet plaza just off the freeway. The outside of the restaurant feels like you’re about to walk into a warehouse, but the ambience of the place inside I would describe as old school grand – a bit outdated with a dash of fancy. There’s wooden floors, wooden chairs, folded fabric napkins, and tall ceilings. When we arrived on a Tuesday afternoon around 3pm, the restaurant was pretty empty so we sat at the bar.

They had a decent sized menu and also a Ballpark Special menu. We ordered the crab cake, cream of crab soup, and the pretzel crab dip.

  • Crab Cake: The standard crab crake size here is only 8oz (for $29 with one side, or two crab cakes for $58 with two sides). There’s also an a la cart 4oz crab cake option for $19. The crab cake was good and lightly seasoned, not too heavy on the Old Bay with good chunks of crab meat in the crab cake without too much filler. However, although it ticks the boxes on a good crab cake for me, the overall taste of the crab didn’t seem as fresh as some of the others.
  • Cream of Crab Soup: This was the BEST cream of crab soup we’ve had on our trip – I was starting to lose hope after being disappointed again and again. Unlike most cream of crab soups, the flavour of the crab actually penetrates into the soup with good chunks of crab meat. You can also tell they use wine in the recipe which gives it great flavour. I started off with a cup of soup, but it was so good that I ordered a bowl to go at the end of our meal (it was indeed still delicious the next day)!
  • Pretzel Crab Dip: This was a game day special that I couldn’t resist because I love pretzels. It was a huge portion with lots of crab and the dip was great. Toby especially liked it because it was similar to the Imperial Crab Cakes at Pappa’s.

Overall, the food was great. The crab cake is smaller and a little more expensive than Pappa’s, but it comes with a side, so I guess it evens out. Had the crab cake tasted fresher, it would’ve taken the #3 spot over Koco’s for me. The cream of crab soup is definitely a must-try here and that alone I feel is worth the drive out from Baltimore.

5) Jimmy’s Famous Seafood

Address: 6526 Holabird Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224
Hours: 11am-2am, daily
Cost per crab cake: $34+tax for 8oz
Website: http://www.jimmysfamousseafood.com/

Pros:

  • Big menu
  • Open late
  • Modern look

Cons:

  • Mandatory 21% gratuity on all dine-in cheques! (18% gratuity + extra $3% “labor of love” service charge) – wtf
  • 15-20 minute drive from Baltimore (can be tricky to get here if you don’t have a car)
  • Slow service despite the bar being near-empty
  • Douchey vibes
  • May not be real Maryland crabs!

Jimmy’s Famous Seafood is a HUGE restaurant outside of Baltimore that has a restaurant section and a bar/lounge section. We weren’t sure which area to go in, so we went into the first door closest from the parking lot and was in the bar section. It seemed like a pretty modern venue with nightclub vibes (they are after all open until 2am daily). We arrived on a Friday afternoon around 3pm and the were only 2 other tables seated around the bar. Eventhough it wasn’t busy, service was very slow. Someone gave us menus and seated us right away, but no one came back to acknowledge us after 10 minutes of waiting so we went up and ordered at the counter. While we were waiting, I scrolled through some Google reviews of this place and realized that many poor ratings were due to a mandatory 21% gratuity! Low and behold, as I scanned the menu more closely, right at the bottom in small print it states “Jimmy’s reserves the right to add an 18% gratuity because we love our employees”…”We add a 3% labor of love service charge to all checks at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood.” Wuuuuut? Pardon my language, but fuck that. Coming from NYC, we’re used to tipping a lot more, but a restaurant that has mandatory tipping just didn’t sit well with me. It screams cheapskate owners that don’t want to pay the employees a decent wage so they take that expense out on the customers. No way were we being forced to pay 21% gratuity just for sitting down (and at the bar!) without being told about it beforehand, especially with no service and we had to order at the counter. Toby went back to the counter and told them that we’re going to take away our food to avoid that mandatory tip – they still charged us the 3% labor of love fee 😒. Super shady. If you’re going to add on a charge, at least inform your customers beforehand instead of letting them find out on their own.

Tipping frustration aside, they had a huge menu with plenty of choices that sounded delicious, but unfortunately at this point of the day we were getting pretty full so we only ordered a crab cake and also the crab egg roll that was highly rated from the reviews.

It was another 15 minutes before our food was ready, but it seemed much longer. We were seated infront of a TV screen that had a non-stop video loop of the owner/chef doing things in different poses. It was as if he made a commercial of himself, rather than the business. This, on top of the mandatory tipping gave me douchey vibes.

Overall the crab cake was decent and well-made but it didn’t stand out from the other crab cakes. It did come with 3 different sauces though which was nice. I wasn’t a fan of the egg roll but Toby liked it. Overall the food was okay, but the mandatory tipping and the douchey vibes with poor service tainted the whole experience for us.

Even after leaving the restaurant, I was still raging about the shadiness of this place, so I did some googling and I’m gonna leave this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/1luywvj/in_a_move_that_surprises_no_one_jimmys_seafood_is/

In Summary:

  • Pappa’s takes #1 for us for the best crab cake. It just ticks all the boxes and is also the best-priced!
  • Faidley’s has the best location with more depth of flavour of their crab cakes, however it was also the smallest and most expensive for the size.
  • G&M’s has the best cream of crab soup.
  • Koco’s has the best atmosphere for a restaurant.

I hope you enjoyed reading my take on the best Maryland crab cakes! Leave a message in the comments if you feel that I’ve missed a restaurant that should be on this list!

Looking For More Ultimate Food Guides? Check out these below!

The Ultimate Guide to a Manhattan Chinatown Food Crawl – bring cash!


Manhattan Chinatown is full of amazing authentic Asian food but in a neighbourhood full of Chinese signage and shop keepers that barely speak English, it can be daunting to find the best food spots amongst the literal hundreds of restaurants in this neighbourhood. This food guide highlights some of my favourite places to eat in Chinatown…

The Ultimate Guide to Top Philly Cheesesteak Spots


This is my ultimate guide to Philly Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia! I’ve made it my personal mission to try as many popular cheesesteak spots as I can find through online research, word of mouth, and local reviews. This post is my personal take on these popular spots!

AbbyLeave a comment

New South Wales Coastal Drive


The Great Australian Road Trip part II

*Note: this post is still in progress, but I’ve published it for anyone who’s interested in continuing the drive from the Victoria border up the NSW coast 😊*

What’s in this guide? (table of contents in progress)

  1. Sample Itinerary
  2. Eden
  3. Merimbula
  4. Bermagui
  5. Tilba Tilba
  6. Bodalla

New South Wales is the neighbouring state to Victoria (follow our trip from Eastern Victoria here). Crossing the NSW border from Victoria during COVID times was pretty uneventful. We travelled during the pandemic and at the time there were no restrictions to leave VIC and enter NSW so there wasn’t any border security (however on the opposite side of the road there were 2 police cruisers and a bus checking for permits to enter Victoria from NSW). There was only a small lit up sign at the border that warned us that if we left, we wouldn’t be able to return without a permit – a little daunting that we couldn’t turn back, but onwards with our adventure!

Dates we travelled: Jan 8th – 16th, 2021

Sample Itinerary

Day 1: Leave Lakes Entrance in the morning, arrive in Eden around noon. Head over to the visitor’s centre for some recommendations then off to the Killer Whale Museum. Spend a few hours at the museum then drive to Merimbula to spend the night and seek out some fresh seafood restaurants.

Day 2: Do an oyster tour in the morning at Merimbula and have some oysters for lunch. Continue driving north and hike to Horse Head Rock in Bermagui. Take a stroll in Tilba Tilba and check out the cute shops. Stop at Bodalla Dairy Shed for a snack and milkshake (or early dinner). Continue the drive to ACT and stay overnight (or onwards north).

Eden

Eden is the most Southerly town in NSW and sits right on the coastline, making it the first town we stopped in after leaving Victoria. It’s a 2 hour 45 min drive from Lakes Entrance, VIC and a half hour drive from the actual border between VIC and NSW. This small town has a rich history with whales and has some great whale watching spots during the whale migration season (May – November). We were only here for half a day and didn’t come during the whale migration season, but we absolutely loved the Killer Whale Museum!

Eden Visitor’s Centre

Address: Weecoon Street, Snug Cove, Eden NSW 2551
Opening times: Mon-Fr 9am-5pm, check the website for weekend hours
https://visiteden.com.au/visitor-information-centre/

Since this is the first town you’ll encounter in NSW, it’s a great place to stop at the visitor’s center for nearby recommendations. The ladies here were super helpful with recommendations of not only Eden but surrounding areas as well. There’s places to snorkel, beaches, hikes…etc. There’s plenty of brochures and pamphlets if you want more information. There’s also a toilet here if you’ve been holding it in since Lakes Entrance ;).

(They also had this random cool stuffed animal couch on display while we were there.)

Killer Whale Museum

Address: 184 Imlay Street, Eden, NSW 2551
Opening times: 7 days a week (check website for times)
Cost: $15/adult
https://killerwhalemuseum.com.au

This is the top attraction of Eden and we can see why! We didn’t think much of it at first, but the museum was full of so many interesting information of this industry. Eden had a rich whaling industry and the amazing part is that the local fishermen worked together with the wild killer whales (orcas) to hunt for whales. Old Tom was the most famous killer whale that helped with whale hunting. The locals would harvest the blubber and leave the tongue and offal for the orcas. This museum details the background of the whaling industry back in the day as well as highlights orcas and their natural history. There are also beautiful views from the upper level platform! You could easily spend a couple hours here. It’s definitely worth a visit!

Eden Lookout Point and Rotary Park

Address: 263 Imlay Street, Eden, NSW 2551
Opening times: 24hrs

Just up the street from the Killer Whale Museum is Eden Lookout Point, where the we were told is the best place in Eden for whale watching. Unfortunately whale-watching season is between May – November and at the time we were just at the start of January We still decided to check it out anyway for any scenic views, but disappointingly there’s not much to this lookout other than open water so I’d probably give it a miss if it’s not the right season.

Merimbula

Half an hour north from Eden is Merimbula, a coastal town deemed “The Heart of the Sapphire Coast”. When we arrived, the visitor’s centre was annoyingly closed even though they were meant to be open according to their website, so we relied on google searches to tell us what was popular in the area. Merimbula is another popular whale watching location and is advertised to have great local seafood and home to the famous Merimbula Oyster. Disappointingly, I actually struggled to find a well-rated seafood restaurant despite all the ads for fresh seafood. We ended up eating at a tapas bar which wasn’t bad but it was overpriced. The town was small and it took about 15mins to walk the majority of the main street. We did enjoy a nice evening stroll on the boardwalk though, which was probably the most memorable part of this town for us. We only stayed one night which is enough time if you’re looking for main tourist activities. If you’re looking to spend more time, there’s an aquarium in town, some beaches, and fishing charters that we saw advertised but didn’t attend. It was a busy time of year when we travelled so we couldn’t find any affordable hotels or AirBnBs in town so we booked a small camper van AirBnb at the next town over in Wolumla roughly 15mins away.

Our dinner at ‘Ritzy Wine Tapas Bar’, Merimbula – we struggled to find a fresh seafood restaurant in town so we headed to one of the higher rated restaurants in town. The atmosphere was great, but the food was average and kind of overpriced, to be honest.
Our cozy AirBnB in Wolumla for one night because all the accommodation was booked out in Merimbula or too expensive. This was $91 for 1 night.

The Merimbula Boardwalk

Address: Market Street, Merimbula, NSW
Open 24hrs
https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/south-coast/merimbula-and-sapphire-coast/merimbula/attractions/merimbula-boardwalk

Our favourite part of Merimbula – a lovely boardwalk that hugs the Merimbula Lake. We had a nice evening stroll here after dinner and walked amongst the mangroves and spotting mini crabs and puffer fish!

Book an Oyster Tour!

One thing I regret during our trip was not attending an oyster tour. I didn’t even realize it was something we could do until the morning we were set to leave and by then all the tour tickets were sold out. 😦 The Merimbula Oyster (Sydney Rock Oyster) is one of the most well-known oyster in Australia and is served in many gourmet restaurants around the country. There are a few farms that offer tours and the ones that stood out were Wheelers Oyster Farm and Captain Sponge’s Magical Oyster Tour. If we ever come back around during the right season, we’ll be sure to book a tour!!

Bermagui

Continuing North on the coastal drive, you’ll pass by many small coastal towns with beautiful beaches. A few of them had caravan parks right in front of the water where lots of people were gearing up for a surf. After a while all of these towns start to seem similar. We only stopped in one of these coastal towns: Bermagui, to check out Horse Head Rock.

Horse Head Rock/Camel Rock

Address: Camel Rock Surf Beach
https://www.sapphirecoast.com.au/attraction/horse-head-rock

Horse Head Rock wasn’t a big advertised attraction nor was it highlighted in road trip itineraries, but pictures of it in passing made it look too cool to pass up. Access is at Camel Rock Surf Beach where there’s a big rock that kind of resembles a camel. Continue left following the beach over the rocks to get to Horsehead Rock. Warning, the hike does get a bit treacherous with lots of jagged rocks and uneven footing. Wear appropriate footwear such as hiking shoes or sturdy water shoes (you may get your feet wet at times). At the time we had no idea what we were in for so I had Birkenstocks on and Toby had flip flops (or as the Aussies call it: ‘thongs’ 😉) and it was a real struggle to get over the many MANY jagged rocks. But in the end, the hike was SO worth it. We climbed up a few rocks to get beautiful rugged views of the rocky beach and the actual horsehead rock looked just like a horse head, complete with a mane made of moss! We sat here for a bit just marvelling at how accurate the rock was. Definitely recommend! This hike is only accessible at low tide, so plan ahead!

The walk starts on a pristine quiet beach. You head left of the beach towards the rocks – you can see Camel Rock in the background
Camel Rock in the background to the right
Camel Rock
Beautiful rocky beach scenery along the way
We hiked up a few high rocks to get better views – wear study shoes!
Horsehead rock!
His model pose
Little pools to check out some cool creatures

Tilba Tilba

This little town wasn’t actually on our list of places to stop by, but as we continued our drive on the A1 highway North, we saw a big sign for a cheese factory so of course we had to detour. We followed the signs and ended up in an adorable little town called Tilba Tilba. This town is one main street with lovely houses and boutique shops (pictured below, but it was hard to capture the cuteness of the town). The cheese factory wasn’t actually that exciting and the cheeses were average, but the town itself was just so cute that it was worth the little detour. Also, I bought a hat.

Bodalla

We only stopped by this small town for the Dairy Shed that a friend recommended us. There was a nearby bakery that looked cute but we didn’t stop by. Maybe next time?

Bodalla Dairy Shed

Address: 52 Princes Hwy, Bodalla NSW 2545
https://www.bodalladairy.com.au/

This place was recommended by one of our old classmates who worked in the area. She told us of their incredible milkshakes and good food. We’re SO glad we stopped here. Not only were their milkshakes spot-on, they had AMAZING cheese toasty (grilled cheese) sandwiches with delicious chutney. We weren’t that hungry and only ordered one sandwich, but after a couple bites we just had to go back to get a second! They also had some great products you can bring home and a selection of cheeses and ice creams. There are also a few farm animals on site with set feeding times if you’ve got little ones. If you’re in the area, you definitely NEED to stop here.

Bateman’s Bay

From Bodalla we went straight to Canberra, ACT, passing through Bateman’s Bay. Although we didn’t stop here, it’s worth mentioning for next time since this place looked pretty cool from the car window!

Continued to Canberra, ACT

From Bateman’s Bay we detoured inland and headed for Canberra, ACT. If you’re going to go to Canberra, this is the time to detour inland. Continue onto the Canberra page (in progress) for more information on things to do there or continue reading this post for more of the NSW coast!

Skipped Sydney

During our first road trip in 2021, Sydney was in lockdown and isolation due to COVID outbreaks so we decided to skip it in fear of being stuck in a hotel room the whole time and not be able to explore, so we drove 5 hours straight from Canberra to Newcastle. We did return to Sydney for a locum job in 2022 – see the separate Sydney post (in progress).

Newcastle

Newcastle is a harbour city 2 hours north of Sydney or 5 hours northeast from Canberra. It’s a small city with a few major streets to explore. We reached Newcastle just before 2pm and had a late lunch at a nearby popular burger place called Rascal. Their burgers were indeed pretty good and their Bailey’s milkshake was A+. We stayed at the Clarendon Hotel (https://clarendonhotel.com.au/) which was a lovely place central to the main part of town. The main floor of the hotel was a popular bustling pub.

The main attraction here is the Newcastle Memorial Walk and the beaches. To be honest, there isn’t all that much “to do” here in terms of tourist things, but it seems like a nice place to live with so many beautiful beaches around. We only stayed one night here, which was enough time for us to explore the city, but you’d need more if you wanted to add on some beach time. After seeing the local sights we headed back to the hotel for a little rest and ordered dinner from the pub downstairs to our room 😜.

Newcastle Memorial Walk

The Newcastle Memorial Walk is a beautiful scenic walkway that commemorates the “100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli in 1915 and the commencement of steel making in Newcastle” – fact plagiarized from their website (https://newcastle.nsw.gov.au/explore/things-to-do/walking-and-cycling/newcastle-memorial-walk) 🙃. It’s high up on the cliffs so it was pretty windy when we went, but the views were absolutely stunning. We started at Strzelecki Lookout where we parked our car, and the path led us southwest along the coast where it connects multiple beaches with walkways that lead to beach level. We didn’t end up walking the entire path since it can go quite a long way.

Walk along the Esplanade

From the start of the Newcastle Memorial Walk at Strzelecki Lookout, you can continue walking north to the Shortland Esplanade for some more beautiful ocean-side views including a popular local swimming hole called the Bogey Hole. This walk will end near Newcastle Beach where you can continue on, or head back into the main part of town (see map below of our walking path).

Our walking route from the Newcastle Memorial Walk to Shortland Esplanade
The Bogey Hole – a popular swimming spot right by the ocean
Newcastle Beach in the distance

Explore the City Streets of Newcastle

There’s not a ton to do in downtown/CBD Newcastle, but there a few streets with some shops if you feel like exploring. Lunch at Rascal was great and it was a nice little stroll by the wharf, but not a must-do if you’re short on time.

Lunch at Rascal, a popular burger place with pretty decent burgers and Bailey’s milkshake
The wharf at the northern part of town
First bubble tea shop since Melbourne. It was quite disappointing. 😅

Andy’s Cherry Pie Cafe – a stopover on the side of the highway

Address: 17 Bengal St, Coolongolook NSW 2423, Australia

Andy’s Cherry Pie Cafe is a big beautiful yellow building off the side of the highway that screamed ‘Cherry Pies!’ so loudly that we had to pull over and give it a try. The building was big on the outside but the inside was less than exciting so we sat outside. Neither Toby or I have any strong feelings towards cherries or fruit pies and wasn’t really expecting much, so we bought one slice to share. This pie was so damn good that immediately after the first few bites, we went back in and bought a second slice.

Note: When we visited this place in 2021, there was a big ‘for sale’ sign of the business. From my recent Googling, it appears that this business is still up and running, now also serving kebabs and burgers. I have no idea what the pie tastes like these days since changing owners, but I hope it’s just as good as when we had it a few years ago!

Coff’s Harbour

(in progress)

Grafton

Grafton is not the most exciting town. In fact, unless you’re coming for the annual Jacaranda trees, there’s really not much to do here and would be a miss on most people’s road trip itineraries. The main streets are not that exciting with half the shops closed, and every now and then you’ll run into some dodgy characters. Toby and I were hired as relief vets to work at a clinic here for a couple of months. We had no idea what kind of a place Grafton was and probably should’ve done more research when we signed on, however the recruiter made it sound like such a lovely place with beautiful spectacular purple trees (failing to let us know that they only bloom a few weeks in a whole year). Nevertheless, we arrived and saw for ourselves that there wasn’t much to do here, however the people we worked with were amazing and so lovely that we ended up having a fantastic time and loved working here.

There are some local gems we did discover though, like the swimming area. There are also nearby towns and cities that we’d fill our time with mini road trips (see separate posts in progress).

Jacaranda Trees (early Oct – Nov)

https://www.jacarandafestival.com/trees

The most well-known feature of Grafton are the Jacaranda trees that burst with beautiful purple flowers every year. Sadly, Toby and I didn’t get a chance to experience this when we lived in Grafton due to a mismatch of the season. The recruiter that hired us in Grafton used the trees as a selling point for us to come here, but they conveniently left out that it wouldn’t be the right season when we arrive 😒.

We’ve heard that people flock from all over the country to come see these beautiful trees every year. They’re only at peak bloom for a few short weeks (usually starting in October and by November many of the flowers will be carpeting the ground). Coming back to Grafton for the Jacaranda trees are definitely on my bucket list.

There’s even an annual Jacaranda Festival – https://www.jacarandafestival.com/

Fig Tree Avenue

Address: Breimba St, Grafton NSW 2460, Australia

This avenue is lined with gorgeous enormous fig trees in the middle of Grafton. It’s surreal to walk amongst these 17 giant trees and makes a perfect photo-op!

Sherwood Nature Reserve – Scouts Falls

Location: No actual address, but enter Scouts Falls into Google maps to get a general location. There is a small car park on Sherwood Creek Rd near the Sherwood Nature Reserve sign immediately past the bridge over the Middle Creek.

Nestled in the Sherwood Nature Reserve, Scouts Falls is a hidden gem known to locals as a popular swimming spot. The drive to reach this area is via a hilly dirt road with limited road parking and the walk itself is a bit treacherous with uneven ground, slanted steps, and exposed tree roots as a tripping hazard. Definitely bring some reliable shoes for this walk, especially if there was a recent rain to make the rocks slippery and the ground muddy. We saw a woman slip in her flip flops and get her foot cut up by the rocks (however in the same walk, we also saw children running around in their bare feet at full speed 😯). There’s limited signage so you just have to trust the trail and try not to trip on something. After all this, you’re rewarded with a beautiful waterfall that you can swim right up and under, as well as a pool that’s deep enough for some proper swimming. We’ve done this hike twice – the first was during a busy long weekend and we sadly didn’t think to bring our swim suits (we thought this would just be a waterfall viewing hike), so we sat on the edge of the rocks envious of all the people having fun in the water. The second time we came during a weekday and came prepared with our swimming gear. There was no one there the second time we went and it was so peaceful there to swim around under the waterfall.

Maclean

Maclean is a cute small town that we spotted on the map when I was looking for Asian grocery stores around the Grafton area. They did indeed have an Asian grocer, but it was super small and didn’t have what I wanted, however I’m glad we ventured out here because this town was small but cute. The main street had some nice coffee shops and stores to walk through. Maclean is also on the way to Iluka if you’re planning to go to Bluff Beach.

Iluka – Rainforest Walk & Bluff Beach

Iluka didn’t pop up on our radar when we were researching things to do around the area when we stayed in Grafton, however one of our co-workers recommended the rainforest walk connecting up to Bluff Beach. It was about an hour drive northeast of Grafton and we rented some snorkel gear at a local fishing shop. We parked our car at the side of the road and started the Iluka Rainforest Walking Track. It was an easy walk through the rainforest but it was a bit monotonous and not the most exciting scenery. It took just under an hour to reach Bluff Beach.

The beach was empty when we arrived and it was a lovely quiet spot with lots of small sea shells. We set our things down and went for a snorkel. The waters unfortunately weren’t that clear but we did see a few cool fish. I tested out my new Iphone in saltwater for the first time and it was indeed waterproof! This was the start to all my underwater photography for the rest of our Australia trip.

Thoughts on Iluka: Unless you’ve got lots of time, I’d recommend skipping Iluka. Although it’s a nice and quiet small town, the overall views weren’t mind-blowing. However, if you’re into nature walks and a quiet beach, then by all means pack a picnic lunch and a snorkel. You can actually drive to Bluff Beach instead and skip the rainforest walk if you’d rather just enjoy the water views.

Byron Bay

(in progress)

AbbyLeave a comment

Top Things to Do in Birmingham, Alabama & Surroundings: A Travel Guide


Date Published: July 13th 2025 | Last Updated: July 13th 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: June 16th, 2025

Birmingham, Alabama is the state’s largest city by metro area (but only second to Huntsville by population). It was a major industrial centre in the 1800s known for iron and steel production that lead to rapid growth and earned the city’s nickname “The Magic City”.

Coming from NYC, Birmingham seemed like a pretty small town, but it’s home to a fascinating history, a giant bare-bottomed statue, and some of the best BBQ around! Nearby around Birmingham there’s a motorsport museum that can’t be missed (even if you’re not into motorcycles), a statue of liberty replica, a national park, and a grotto of miniature holy places.

Contents:

  1. How many days do I need?
  2. Best time of year to travel?
  3. Getting Around
  4. Where to stay?
  5. Things to Do
  6. Food
  7. Just outside of Birmingham
  8. A Sample Itinerary
  9. Some Final Thoughts

How many days do I need?

Although you could definitely fit everything within a 12 hour day, but because the museums all close around 4-5pm, it’s impossible to hit them all before closing time. Therefore, you’ll need 1 day for everything in Birmingham (Civil Rights Museum, Vulcan statue and museum, Sloss Furnaces, and the Botanical Gardens), but add on an extra day to do things around Birmingham such as the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum (HIGHLY recommend!) or some hiking – plus, an extra day also lets you try out more local BBQ!

Best time of year to travel?

You can visit Birmingham any time of the year, but it gets quite hot and humid during the summer months, so spring (March – May) or autumn (Sept – early Nov) would be the best times to go, especially if you plan on doing some outdoor hikes. If you plan on only sticking to the museums, then any time of year would be suitable.

Getting Around

The best way to get around Birmingham and the surrounding areas is by car.

Where to stay?

As you can see from the map below, everything is a little spread out so it doesn’t really matter all that much where you stay. The “central downtown” area isn’t really worth paying extra to stay near since there wasn’t much in terms of street shopping, nightlife nor a collection of restaurants. We stayed at a cheap Quality Inn off highway 280 for $90 a night and it was actually pretty decent.

Things to Do

Map of things to do in the area. Blue = inside Birmingham, Orange = outside of Birmingham

Vulcan Park and Museum

Address: 1701 Valley View Dr, Birmingham, AL 35209
Hours: 10am-8pm Sun to Thurs, 10am-9pm Fri & Sat (gift shop closes at 6pm)
Cost: $6 per person
Time needed here: ~ 40 minutes
Website: https://visitvulcan.com/

Vulcan, named after the Roman god of fire and forgery, is a colossal 56 feet (17m) tall iron statue that sits on top of a 124 feet (37.8m) pedestal that overlooks the city of Birmingham. Weighing in at 50 tonnes (100,000 lbs), it is the largest cast iron statue in the world and the largest metal statue ever made in the US!

View of the statue from the parking lot
There are mini Vulcan statues around town painted differently
A zoomed in view of Vulcan from the parking lot
We never did find out why they didn’t give him pants 🤔
View of Birmingham from the Vulcan park
View of Birmingham from the Vulcan park
Birmingham

Vulcan was made for the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri to promote the city’s abundant iron and steel industry. After the fair it was brought back to Birmingham (after sitting on the side of the railroad for 18 months due to unpaid freight fees 😳) but his spear was lost during transport (how do you even lose a giant spear? 🤔). Vulcan sat at the Alabama State Fairgrounds with nothing to hold and companies used this to their advantage. Over the years he held a Coca-cola bottle, ice cream cone, and even Heinz pickles! In 1936 they found Vulcan its current home on top of Red Mountain where he has stood atop his pedestal ever since. In 1946 they made Vulcan hold a temporary light-up torch to bring awareness to traffic safety, and in 2001 they finally made him a new spear and hammer.

You can drive right up to the Vulcan statue where it’s $6 to enter the park which includes admission into the small museum and access to the observation deck at the top of the pedestal right at the base of the statue. Unfortunately when we went, the elevator was out of order so we climbed 159 steps to the top…only to be mooned by Vulcan. The statue faces towards the city, but from the parking lot and the exit of the observation stairs, all you see is his bare bum 😂. I can’t tell if he’s wearing skin-tight pants or they’ve just decided that he should be bare-assed. It seemed like every angle was of his bum.

The elevator is to the right of the statue
First views from the top of the observation deck is of his butt again 😅

The view from the top over Birmingham was nice. Your ticket is actually good for the whole day and the staff recommended coming back for sunset views over the city – a lovely thought, but no way we were climbing these stairs twice in this heat 😅.

The small museum covers the history of the construction of Vulcan and the history of Birmingham’s industries. It doesn’t take long to walk through. Overall we spent a total of 40 minutes here including the observation deck and climbing those stairs.

Sloss Furnaces

Address: 20 32nd St N, Birmingham, AL 35222
Hours: 10am-4pm Tues-Sat, closed Sun & Mon
Cost: Free for a self-guided tour; for a 1 hour guided tour: $10/adult, $5/child – book early, only 2 tours a day at 10:30am and 2pm
Address: https://www.slossfurnaces.org/

Established in 1881, Sloss Furnace was a huge blast furnace plant where iron was made from 1882–1971. Due to vast deposits of coal, limestone, and iron ore in the area, it was once the largest crude iron producer in the world! It provided thousands of jobs for people from all around the Southern states, including former slaves and European immigrants, but it also had an ugly history of racial injustice, union busting and dangerous working conditions. Sloss played a role in the history of civil rights in Birmingham and it is said that the history of Sloss is the history of Birmingham and the industrial age.

Sloss Furnaces was a major source of air pollution and it was closed permanently in 1970 due to a combination of pressures from environmental regulations and the availability of more efficient and profitable ore sources in other regions. Today the site is a national historic landmark and is the first industrial site in the US to be saved and converted for public use. It is currently a museum, an education centre, and a venue for concerts and festivals.

You can tour the furnaces for free as a self-guided tour with information plaques to read, or you can book a $10 guided tour that walks you through the grounds (book early, only 2 tours a days at 10:30am and 2pm). Unfortunately, as cool as this place looked (it’s huge, you can see it from the highway!), we weren’t able to visit because it was sadly not open on Sundays and Mondays when we were in Birmingham 💔. I’ve included it in this post anyway for anyone else that is planning a trip to Birmingham and may want to check it out!

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Address: 520 16th St N, Birmingham, AL 35203
Hours: 10am-5pm Tues – Sat, closed Sun & Mon
Cost: $15 per adult
Website: http://www.bcri.org/

Birmingham was known as one of the most segregated cities in the US. It had a notorious history for police brutality and the local KKK was the most violent. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a museum that depicts the struggle for black equality and highlights the civil rights movement in Birmingham in the 1950s and 60s, including the Birmingham Campaign and the Children’s Crusade that included boycotts, sit-ins, marches, and other non-violent protests that were met with brutal violence that shocked the nation and received widespread attention. The events at Birmingham shaped the fight for equality.

Unfortunately this museum was also closed on Sunday and Monday, so we weren’t able to visit when we were in Birmingham, but I’ve included here as another noteworthy place to visit when in town.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Address: 2612 Lane Park Rd, Birmingham, AL 35223
Hours: 7am-6pm, daily (hours change seasonally, check the website for the most up to date info)
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.bbgardens.org/

With only one day in Birmingham, we sadly didn’t make it to the botanical gardens before it closed – it didn’t help that it also started raining. I’ve included it in this post because it came highly recommended by a few people in our research and it also has a great online rating. It seems pretty big, so I’d allow at least 2 hours here!

Food

Saw’s BBQ/Saw’s Soul Kitchen

Address: 6 locations, Homewood location is the OG, we went to the Avondale location (215 41st St S, Birmingham, AL 35222)
Hours: Mon – Thurs 11am-8pm, 11am-9pm Fri & Sat, 11am-4pm Sun
Website: http://www.sawsbbq.com/

This Carolina-style BBQ has been voted the best BBQ in Alabama. Although Toby and I didn’t have time to try out the many BBQ joints on offer in Birmingham, we’d agree that Saw’s did indeed serve up some amazing BBQ! There are 6 locations around the Birmingham area, but the OG is the Homewood location. Each location serves the main popular items on the menu, but each one also offers a little something different, according to our server.

We went to the Avondale location which was closest to us. At first glance we weren’t sure if we were in the right place. The sign was barely visible – half faded on the side of the wall – but once we entered, the unmistakable smell of BBQ assured us this was it. Unlike a traditional BBQ joint where they slice the food by weight in front of you and you self-serve your sides, this joint was fast-food style where we placed our order at the counter/bar, grabbed a number and the food was brought out to our table.

True to our nature, we ordered a bit of everything that’s popular (sadly, no brisket):

  • Smoked chicken thighs – AMAZING. Perfectly cooked, juicy, slighty crisky and smokey. The sauce was delicious!
  • Pulled pork and grits – my favourite of the meal. It was hearty and tasted like a home-cooked Southern meal. Goes great with their table BBQ sauce.
  • Sweet tea chicken sandwich – this was Toby’s all time favourite. Although the bun sucked and kept falling apart, but the flavour of the fried chicken was SO GOOD. I’d come back just for this chicken!
  • Fried corn, fried green tomatoes, and banana pudding were just okay.
Fried corn
Pulled pork & grits
Fried green tomatoes
Smoked chicken thighs
Banana pudding
Sweet tea chicken sandwich

For everything above we dropped $61 which we thought was pretty reasonable! They also had a pretty good red sauce and white sauce on the table that they sell at the local Piggly Wiggly if you wanted to bring some home.

If you’re into BBQ, there are tons of other BBQ places around Birmingham also with very high reviews. Next time, I’d stay an extra day or two just to try out more places!

Just outside of Birmingham

Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

Address: 6030 Barber Motorsports Pkwy, Leeds, AL 35094
Hours: 10am-5pm Mon to Sat, 12pm-5pm Sun (check the website for the most up to date info)
Cost: $20 per adult, $15 per child
Time needed here: at least 2 hours
Website: http://www.barbermuseum.org/

If you’re into motorcycles and the motorsport industry, this is the place for you! If you’re not into motorcycles, you should come here anyway!

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum has the largest collection of motorcycles in the world. There are over 1000 mint condition motorcycles on display from every era. Neither Toby and I are into motorsports, but this place was so highly reviewed in our research that we had to put it on our list to see what all the hype was about. We’re so glad we did because this is hands down one of the most aesthetically pleasing museums we’ve ever been in. Right from the beginning you’re faced with a shit ton of motorcycles, all perfectly lined up and shiny. The reflection off of all the chrome is mesmerizing. Not only was it cool to see all the motorcycles throughout the years, they also had sections of different type of motorsports such as drag racing, speed racing, dirt biking so you can compare the difference between the different types of motorcycles.

Apart from racing, our favourite part of the museum was actually the history of the invention of motorcycles. They had a steam-operated bicycle that is said to be one of the earliest models of the motorcycle. Back in the day, motorcycles were made by literally adding a motor attachment to a bicycle and as time went on, it became more and more custom and a separate machine on its own. They have war time bikes, Arnott’s biscuit bikes, holiday side car bikes, snowmobile bikes…etc. If you can think of a type and era of bicycle, they’ll probably have it on display! It was honestly such a cool museum to visit and I highly recommend everyone to go! It took us about 1.5 hours here to walk through everything, but if you’re a motorcycle enthusiast, you could easily spend much longer, reading through all of the information plaques.

1867 Roper Steam Velocipede replica – possibly the first true two-wheeled motorcycle with a steam power cylinder and a coal fired broiler 😂
1885 Maybach Daimler Reitwagen replica – another one of the first motorcycles to be built and has a carburetor. It goes a whopping 7mph!
1902 Steffey – how a typical motorcycle used to look like: a bike frame with an attached motor!
Check out this beautiful bike light from 1902!
A little bit of Czech ❤️
A little bit of Australia ❤️
Teeny tiny bikes that Toby remembers from his childhood
2016 Christini 450 II-Track – a motorcycle and snowmobile all in one! 😂
1950 Indian Warrior – in an attempt to boost slow sales in the winter, Indian made a ski bolt-on attachment!
There was also a section on Lotus cars!

Statue of Liberty Replica

Address: 516 Liberty Pkwy, Vestavia Hills, Alabama, 35242
Hours: 6am-9pm? I can’t really find a direct source on the opening hours apart from what’s listed on google maps
Cost: Free
Time needed here: 10 minutes

View from the parking lot walking up to the statue

Something totally random and unexpected to find in Birmingham is a Statue of Liberty replica that’s one-fifth the original size. This statue was commissioned by the Liberty National Life Insurance Company as their symbol and sat on top of their building in downtown Birmingham from 1958. In 1989 the statue was moved to its current location (I couldn’t find a reason why).

There’s not much to do here apart from gaze at this statue – it actually is a pretty good replica compared to the real lady liberty. You don’t need to spend much time here and if you’ve seen the real thing, it’s pretty much just a smaller version so feel free to skip it if you’re on a time crunch. There’s a small parking lot you can park your car, then it’s a 30 second walk to the statue.

Toby for size reference

Oak Mountain State Park – Kings Chair Overlook Hike

Cost: $5 per adult for admission into the state park
Hours: 7am-8pm, daily
Park Website: https://www.alapark.com/parks/oak-mountain-state-park

Length: 5.4km total
Elevation Gain: 360m
Trail type: Out & back
Difficulty/Terrain: moderately strenuous, mostly uphill with a moderate incline, nice walking terrain
Estimated duration: 2 hours total
Starting point: North Trailhead Parking Lot (975W+43, Pelham, AL 35242)
Things to bring: water bottle, sunscreen & hat (most of the trail is shaded with some sunny area), good hiking shoes, tick/insect repellent depending on season, screenshot of the trail map
More Trail info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/alabama/king-s-chair-overlook-loop (we didn’t do the full loop, just the out and back on the blue trail)

Located just 30 minutes outside of Birmingham, Oak Mountain State Park is Alabama’s largest park and offers recreational activities such as hiking, fishing, camping, horseback riding, and biking.

There are numerous hikes in this state park, but due to timing, we only went on the most popular hike, the King’s Chair Overlook. You can reach the overlook through a few different trail paths and make it into a loop, but we took the most direct route by starting on the blue trail and followed the trail left until we reached the overlook (I’ve highlighted our path in the map below) then turned back the way we came.

Overview of the path (blue trail) we took to get to King’s Chair Overlook in Oak Mountain State Park

The trail starts at the North Trailhead Parking lot. It’s pretty easily accessible with enough parking for at least 20 cars. We started at 8am to try and escape the heat and there was only one other car there when we arrived. It was a little busier when we left but still plenty of parking.

Parking lot
Trailhead starts across the road from the parking lot
Trail map of multiple hikes in the area
Starting on the Blue Trail!

Overall the hike was moderately strenuous with a pretty consistent moderate incline almost all of the way. It took us about 2 hours total. It was a lovely walk through the forest and the views at the top were great with an overlook of the tree canopy below, but if I’m being honest, it wasn’t a unique view with interesting structures or special scenery. It was like any other overlook in any other state or country. So if you’re short on time and you’ve done overlook hikes before, I’d probably give this one a miss.

Ave Maria Grotto

Address: 1600 St Bernard Dr, Cullman, AL 35055
Hours: 9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-5pm Sunday
Admission: $10 per person
Time needed here: 20 – 30 minutes
Website: http://www.avemariagrotto.com/

If you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary, the Ave Maria Grotto is a garden area outside of the Saint Bernard Abbey that is home to handmade miniature replicas of famous religious places around the world.

Created by Brother Joseph, a Benedictine monk of the abbey for nearly 70 years, he built his first miniatures in 1912 and at first they were placed near the monastery, but the large number of visitors that would come to see them resulted in them being moved to their current location in the grotto. The current collection includes 125 small stone and cement structures and is built out of stone, concrete, and unwanted donated materials (e.g., broken plates, costume jewelry, ceramic tile, beads, marbles, seashells, etc.).

The Ave Maria Grotto is located 1 hour north of Birmingham. It’s $10 admission per person and will take you roughly 20-30 minutes to walk through the winding garden of miniature scenes. If you’re really into miniatures, then check this place out – if not, then it won’t be quite worth the 1 hour detour just to get here. We stopped by on our way from Birmingham to Huntsville.

A Sample Itinerary

Double check all opening days and times before going! Some places are not open every day.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Some Final Thoughts

  • The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum was one of the highlights of the area!
  • Saw’s BBQ is AMAZING. I still dream about the pulled pork and cheesy grits.
  • Book tickets in advance for Sloss Furnaces.
  • Not all the attractions and museums are open everyday. Double check the opening times before planning your trip!
  • Will I ever know why Vulcan doesn’t have pants???

Abby2 Comments

Exploring Memphis: From Graceland to Beale Street


Date Published: June 30th, 2025 | Last Updated: June 30th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: April 13th-14th, 2025

Contents:

  1. How many days do I need?
  2. Best time of year to travel?
  3. Where to stay?
  4. Getting Here and Getting Around
  5. Map of Memphis
  6. A Word on Safety
  7. Things to Do:
  8. Food
  9. Some final thoughts…

Memphis, TN is credited for being the birthplace of rock n’ roll and home of the blues. I’ve heard so much about this iconic city and expected it to be huge, but surprisingly it actually wasn’t all that big nor all that much to do here apart from museums and checking out live music. Overall Memphis seemed very geared toward tourists, but it’s still worth checking out to visit the historic places such as Graceland, Elvis’ home, Sun Studio where so many artists started, and Lorraine Hotel which is the site of the National Civil Rights Museum and also where MLK Jr. was fatally shot. It’s worth a visit at least once to walk through the historic places, especially if you’re a music fan!

How many days do I need?

Although you only need 2 days to see the highlights, most museums will close by 5pm and each museum takes a few hours to get through (especially Graceland where you’ll need at least half a day), so leave yourself 3 days if you want to get through all the places. I’ve highlighted the main attractions in this post with a rough amount of time you’ll need at each place to help you plan your trip.

Best time of year to travel?

Apart from Beale Street and outdoor exhibits, the main museum attractions are indoors, so the time of year isn’t all that important when visiting Memphis.

April to May will be the best season to travel before it gets too hot, but it will also be the busiest season.

June to August will have more outdoor music and festivals, but it’ll get very hot, so be prepared and have plenty of sun protection!

Budget travel times with the cheapest hotel rates: November to February – it’ll be colder and off-peak season but winters in Memphis tend to be mild compared to other states.

Where to stay?

Stay closer to the downtown area/Beale Street for better access to live music at night and you’ll be within walking distance home afterwards. Most attractions in Memphis are not within walking distance, so unless you plan on taking an Uber everywhere, try to find a hotel with reasonable parking rates or a parking garage nearby.

We stayed here:

Caption By Hyatt Beale Street Memphis
Address: 245 South Front Street, Memphis, TN 38103, United States
Website: https://www.hyatt.com/caption-by-hyatt/memcp-caption-by-hyatt-beale-street-memphis

It was a great location, clean, and a modern hotel. It cost us about $130/night in April but there are definitely cheaper options around if you’re looking for a low cost option. The valet parking here was super expensive and not worthwhile but the parking garage across the street had great rates and was easily accessible.

Getting Here and Getting Around

The closest airport is the Memphis International Airport, which is only a 20 minute drive away from downtown and less than 5 minutes away from Graceland.

Side story: We didn’t find many flights coming into Memphis from NYC that suited our schedule (most flew in the middle of the day and we like to either fly super early or super late to get the most out of our days) so we actually flew into Nashville, TN which had more flight options, stayed around for a few days to check out the country music scene, then made the 3 hour road trip to Memphis. If you’ve got time to spare, I’d highly recommend checking out Nashville!

Downtown Memphis is not very big, but most of the bigger attractions such as Graceland or Sun Studio aren’t walkable and will require some sort of transport. Driving is the best option to get around with free parking at most tourist areas, but you can also choose to use ride share such as Uber or Lyft to save on driving.

We parked here overnight:

MLGW Parking
Address: 234-238 S Front St, Memphis, TN 38103
Google maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oNvR92fhjKV7Dh1AA

This parking garage was directly across from our hotel and is also a great location near Beale Street. The prices are reasonable and overnight parking is available.

Map of Memphis

Overview of Memphis with the main attractions labelled (blue = attractions, red = food, green = our hotel)
A zoomed in view of downtown Memphis with Beale Street highlighted in Pink (blue = attractions, red = food, green = our hotel)

A Word on Safety

Memphis was listed in the top 3 most dangerous cities in the US. We actually didn’t know this until we arrived on a Sunday night and immediately experienced some wild behaviour from people erratically swerving their cars, yelling on the streets, and grown ass women screaming and crying in a hotel lobby while laying on the ground all within the first 30 minutes of arriving in downtown Memphis. A quick google search highlighted the ugly side of Memphis and put us on our guard for the rest of the trip.

It turns out that the first night when we arrived there was a food festival in town and drew in all sorts of crowds that led to the insane behaviour, but for the rest of the trip we mainly felt pretty safe and just steered clear of any suspicious areas.

To be on the safe side, I’d recommend exploring during the day and stick to the touristy areas and not venture too far off on your own, especially at night. Park your car in reliable parking garages with good security, and stay in hotels closer to the main attractions. Just be on your guard, stay clear of any drama, and avoid sketchy areas and you’ll be fine.

Things to Do:

The top 2 attractions in Memphis are Sun Studio and Graceland. There’s just so much to talk about that I’ve made a separate post for each of them, see below for the links:

Sun Studio

Explore Sun Studio: Rock and Roll’s Birthplace


Sun Studio in Memphis, founded by Sam Phillips, is a historic recording studio where legendary artists started out, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. This guide is an overview of everything you need to know before visiting.

Graceland

Graceland: A Complete Guide to Visiting Elvis Presley’s Home


Graceland is the home of Elvis Presley and his family and is the number one tourist attraction in Memphis. My guide contains everything you need to know about visiting Graceland with tons of pictures to help you plan your visit.

Memphis Pyramid: Bass Pro Megastore + Observation Deck

Address: 1 Bass Pro Dr, Memphis, TN 38105
Website: https://stores.basspro.com/us/tn/memphis/1-bass-pro-dr.html
Hours: 9am-9pm most days (check the website for updated information)
Cost: Free entry into the pyramid, it’s $8 to go up the elevator to the observation deck

The Memphis Pyramid was built in 1991 and was originally used as a sports arena/entertainment venue. The pyramid shape was to pay homage to the city’s namesake to an ancient city in Egypt that was known for its pyramids. It was closed for some time in the early 2000’s but then re-opened in 2015 as a Bass Pro Shops megastore.

This is the largest Bass Pro Shop and like most Bass Pros, the inside is decked out to look like a wilderness scene, but this is to the next level. They’ve got alligators, a large indoor body of water with large fish, restaurants, and even a hotel on the upper level where you can rent rooms with balconies overlooking the store or even rent an entire small cabin! So if you’re REALLY into Bass Pro, or just a fan of pyramid-shaped buildings, here’s your chance to live in one. 😉 If you’re not into either, there’s an elevator in the middle of the pyramid that takes you to the top for views of Memphis and the waterfront.

Entering into Bass Pro
The second level is the hotel
You can rent out an entire small cabin here, not just a room!
Beautiful big fish in their pond!
An alligator enclosure
A restaurant and bowling alley
Large catfish in their waters
I bought a cool hat

In the middle of the pyramid is the tallest free-standing elevator in the US and stands 28 stories/300 feet high. It costs $8 to go up and at the top it opens into a restaurant with an outdoor observation deck with sweeping views of downtown Memphis and the Mississippi River. The line can get pretty long, but it moves quickly. Definitely worthwhile to go up for the price!

The tallest free-standing elevator in the US
The restaurant at the top of the pyramid
There was a cool aquarium in the middle of the bar
The observation deck
Hold on to your hats – it was pretty windy!

Bus Tour of Memphis

For an overview of Memphis, we took a musical bus tour with Back Beat Tours. It was a great tour that drove around the city and pointed out historical sites such as the small apartment where Elvis and his parents lived before he made it big and the Overton Park Shell – THE outdoor performance stage where so many have started their careers. The tour guide was a musician and would sing famous songs that was significant to the area as he talked us through the Memphis music history. There’s an option to get dropped off at Sun Studio at the end of the tour if you haven’t visited yet.

Apart from the bus tour, there’s also an option of a walking tour to get more of an overall history of Memphis rather than a focus on music. We had a great time and I’d highly recommend checking them out!

National Civil Rights Museum

Address: 450 Mulberry St, Memphis, TN 38103
Website: https://civilrightsmuseum.org/
Hours: 9am-5pm, closed on Tuesdays (check website for updated hours before going)
Cost: $20/adult

Although there are many civil rights museums around the US, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is considered one of the best ones. You’ll need at least 2 hours to get through most of it here, but set aside 3 hours if you want to read everything (there’s a lot to read!).

If you’re visiting internationally and don’t know much about American history, a VERY basic summary that you should know before visiting is that the American civil war was a significant war from 1861-1865 between the Northern and the Southern states over slavery. The Southern states heavily relied on slaves for cheap labor on their industry such as cotton plantations, whereas the Northern states wanted to abolish slavery and make slavery illegal. Spoiler: the North won and slavery was abolished, however as significant as this win was, racism continued and the struggle for black rights continued for decades to come. This museum is a comprehensive coverage through time of the complicated past and the fight for equality. The exhibits starts off with how slavery came to be in America and ends with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., highlighting significant events along the way and important figures.

The museum is actually located at the site where Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot, outside of his hotel room at the Lorraine Hotel. The Lorraine Hotel has since closed down but the outside of the hotel has been preserved, as well as his hotel room. The inside of the hotel is renovated into the museum and it’s actually a pretty cool-looking building from the outside – even if you don’t have time to go to the museum, it’s worth checking out the outside of the building and seeing the site and memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – it’s free for everyone.

The site where MLK Jr. was shot
Back side of the hotel
Rosa Parks
Sit-ins
Film on the day of MLK Jr’s speech in DC
Film on the day of MLK Jr’s speech in DC
Moments before MLK Jr. was shot, he had asked Ben Branch to play his favourite song, Precious Lord, Take my Hand, at the rally and said “I want you to play it real pretty”. Branch and his orchestra released this tribute album with a 9 minute rendition of the song featuring a solo from Branch to fulfill his promise.
POV from inside the hotel with a view of the balcony outside MLK Jr.’s hotel room where he was shot
MLK Jr’s hotel room

Stax Record Company – Museum of American Soul Music

Address: 926 E. McLemore Ave, Memphis, TN 38106
Opening Hours: Tues to Sun 10am – 5pm (tours stop at 4pm), closed Mondays (double check the website for the most updated information)
Website: https://staxmuseum.org/
Admission: $20/adult, $16 for children and seniors

Founded in 1957 by two siblings, Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, Stax Record Company (named by combining their last names) became a powerhouse for soul music. They’re known for blending rhythm and blues styles and influential in creating the “Southern Soul” or “Memphis Soul” sound. They are one of the most popular soul music record labels of all time and launched the careers of legendary artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, among numerous others. You can read more about their history here: https://staxmuseum.org/1957-1968/

Although the original recording studio no longer exists, you can visit the Stax Museum and learn all about the history of soul music in Memphis. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to fit this into our itinerary but it was highly recommended by our music tour guide.

The Peabody Duck March at The Peabody Hotel

Address: 149 Union Avenue, Memphis TN 38103
Website: https://www.peabodymemphis.com/
Time: daily at 11am and 5pm, it is recommended to come 30 minutes prior
Cost: Free

Alright, this isn’t a “must do”, but it’s mentioned time and time again by internet reviews so I thought I’d include it for the people that want the “full” Memphis experience.

The Peabody Hotel is a luxury hotel in downtown Memphis that was originally built in 1869 at a location 1 block away from the current location. It housed several historic figures including presidents and generals back in the day. It closed down and re-opened in 1925 one block away and has retained its historical status. Apart from it being a fancy hotel, there’s a long-standing tradition since the 1930s of marching the resident ducks that live on the roof top of the hotel to the fountain in the lobby, called the ‘Peabody duck march’. It’s a 1 minute “show” where people line up along a red carpet and watch these ducks get ushered from out the elevator and to the fountain. I’m told it gets pretty busy, but you can sit at the bar for a better view if you buy a drink. Honestly, it’s not the most exciting, but it’s something different!

Toby didn’t actually tell me about this when he planned this trip because he didn’t think it was that exciting, but I got curious when the tour guide was talking about it and looked it up myself. Here’s a POV youtube video that someone filmed of the march in case anyone’s interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCLMZ_6DSpg. He was right, it didn’t seem that exciting, especially since we had limited time in Memphis.

If you’re REALLY into ducks, for $434, you can book a “Ducky Day” package that includes a 1 night stay and duck-themed souvenirs 😂.

Beale Street

Beale Street is a historic street in downtown Memphis known for live music, restaurants, and shops and is considered the heart of Memphis. If you came to Memphis for some live music, this is the place to go. The entertainment part of Beale Street only runs two blocks between S. 2nd St. and S. 4th St. (highlighted in pink in the map above) with about a dozen restaurant/bar/live music venues scattered between the many souvenir gift shops.

Take a stroll down during the day and check out the shops and restaurants. Read the historic information plaques, check out a statue of Elvis’, get an old school milkshake at A. Schwab, or take a walking tour to learn more about this historic street.

Come in the evening for the iconic experience when the neon lights are lit up and the live music pours out of these venues. We’ve asked multiple locals on what their favourite place is for live music, but it really depends on who’s playing that night and what kind of music you’re into. Some musicians will be seasoned pros, whereas others may just be starting out. Instead of seeking out a specific place, I’d recommend just taking a stroll down Beale Street with open ears and see which artists you enjoy. Although Beale Street is known as the “Home of the Blues”, we not only heard different styles of Jazz, but country music and even a mini orchestra band while walking down!

On our last night in Memphis we settled in at Rum Boogie Cafe and listened to Baunie & Soul perform for a few hours before returning home.

Although a very touristy area, be a bit cautious when walking around downtown Memphis at night. When we arrived on a weekend night, there were some rowdy crowds around with a few suspicious characters, but during the weekday it was a bit quieter and we felt completely safe.

Food

Arcade Restaurant – Memphis’ Oldest Cafe

Address: 540 S Main St, Memphis, TN 38103
Hours: 7am – 3pm daily
Website: http://arcaderestaurant.com

Arcade Restaurant is Memphis’ oldest cafe, open since 1919! Back in the heyday when Memphis was a bumpin’ place to be, the Arcade was open 24/7, catering to the many resident musicians at the time, including Elvis Presley! It is known that Elvis was a regular at the Arcade and would always order a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich at his preferred booth beside the back door in case he ever needed to make a quick escape from crazy fans! You can actually sit at ‘the Elvis booth’ if you’re lucky enough for it to be free when you’re there!

Even without the Elvis popularity, the Food Network listed the fried PB sandwich on their top 100 sandwiches in the US. We came here early in the morning for breakfast before our day at Graceland to experience this retro-style arcade and to ‘eat like The King’. We got to sit at the Elvis booth! The fried PB and banana sandwich tasted exactly as it sounds – two slices of bread with peanut butter and sliced banana in the middle, then pan-fried on the outside until golden. It was a fine sandwich, but not mind-blowing, something you could easily make at home. They had some pretty good sweet potato pancakes though and the smoked turkey and brie sandwich wasn’t half bad either!

Blues City Cafe (on Beale Street)

Address: 138 Beale St, Memphis, TN 38103
Hours: 11am-1am most night, open until 3am on Fri and Sat nights
Website: https://bluescitycafe.com/menu/our-menu/

This restaurant was recommended by our tour guide for some good classic southern food. It is conveniently located right on Beale Street, perfect for grabbing dinner then strolling down the street for some live jazz music.

Being our first time in the South, we wanted to try a bit of everything. Their gumbo cheese fries and BBQ ribs were just okay, the fried catfish was beautifully fried and super fresh, the collard greens were pretty good, but my all time favourite was the gumbo. I originally got a small cup but it was so good that I immediately ordered a full size bowl 😅. They will usually have live music in the back, but we must have just missed them when we were there 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken

Address: 310 S Front St, Memphis, TN 38103
Hours: 11am-9pm most days, until 10pm on Fri and Sat night
Website: http://gusfriedchicken.com/downtown-memphis-tennessee-location/#menu

We arrived in Memphis pretty late in the evening and many restaurants were already closed, but we found Gus’s that was only a 2 minute walk from our hotel with a ton of positive Google reviews so off we went, excited to try our first fried chicken in the South!

This joint was indeed busy and as usual, we ordered a bit of the most popular items to try it out. Apart from the fried green tomatoes, sadly the rest of the food was very underwhelming. The spicy fried chicken that so many people online rave about was just okay. It was cooked well, but the flavours were lacking. We really wanted to like it 💔.

Memphis BBQ

We’ve heard so much about Memphis BBQ, but unfortunately most of the popular BBQ spots weren’t open on the days we were there so we never got to experience true Memphis BBQ, apart from the okay ribs at Blues City Cafe. Memphis BBQ is predominantly pork-based, although some restaurants also serve beef cuts. From what I can tell, Memphis-style BBQ offers pork ribs that are served either “wet” (with a sauce covering) or “dry” (cooked with a dry rub).

Here’s a list of popular Memphis BBQ places we’ve come across in our research incase we ever head back to Memphis again or if anyone is planning a trip (as you can see, most are closed Sunday & Monday, the only 2 days we were in Memphis 😭):

Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous
Address: 52 S 2nd St, Memphis, TN 38103
Hours: 11am-9pm most days, closed Sun & Mon
Website: https://hogsfly.com/

Cozy Corner Restaurant
Address: 735 North Pkwy, Memphis, TN 38105
Hours: 11am-8pm most days, closed Sun & Mon
Website: https://cozycornerbbq.com/menu/

The Bar-B-Q Shop
Address: 1782 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Hours: 11am-8:30pm most days, closed Sun & Mon
Website: https://thebar-b-qshop.com/

Central BBQ
Address: 147 E Butler Ave, Memphis, TN 38103 (2 locations)
Hours: 11am-9pm daily
Website: https://eatcbq.com/pages/downtown

Some final thoughts…

  • Memphis is very touristy, especially Beale Street
  • Be cautious of safety and suspicious characters
  • Graceland and Sun Studios are the two main attractions in Memphis
  • Don’t visit on a Sunday or Monday if you want to have good Memphis BBQ
  • Civil rights museum is worth visiting for its historical significance
  • Check out the bigass Bass Pro Pyramid, if not for the shop, then for the observation deck at the top
  • If you like ducks, head to The Peabody

AbbyLeave a comment

Discover Acadia National Park: Your Guide to Mount Desert Island


Date Published: Dec 2nd, 2024 | Last Updated: Dec 2nd, 2024
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Oct 13-14th, 2024

START HERE: This post has everything you need to know about visiting Acadia’s Mount Desert Island.

Acadia National Park is the “Crown Jewel” of the North Atlantic Coast providing breathtaking coastal views, mountainous hikes, scenic drives, beaches, and a town with no shortage of restaurants. This national park is a must-do in Maine!

Contents:

  1. Park Info
  2. An Overview
  3. When to travel
  4. How Many Days Do I Need?
  5. Where to Stay
  6. Getting Around Acadia – Driving vs the Bus
    1. Driving
    2. Island Explorer Bus
  7. Park Pass
  8. Travel Tips
    1. Start Early!
    2. Limited Cellphone Service Everywhere
    3. Bring good hiking gear
    4. Print your park pass before you go
  9. Best Things to Do:
  10. Overwhelmed? I got you. Here’s an ideal travel itinerary to hit all the highlights in 2 days

Park Info:

Location: Acadia National Park, Maine (Hulls Cove Visitor Center: 25 Visitor Center Road, Bar Harbor, ME 04609)
Park opening hours: Open 24 hours, year-round. There are road closures in the winter months (check the park website for updated info).
Park website: https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm
Park fees: $35 per car (+$6 for Cadillac Mountain vehicle reservation) – https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/fees.htm

An Overview

Acadia National Park is made up of 3 areas: Isle au haut, Mount Desert Island, and Schoodic Peninsula. Of these three, Mount Desert Island is the most popular with the most amount of things to do and has the the iconic scenery in this national park. During our trip, we didn’t have time to make it to Schoodic nor Isle au Haut, so I will focus on Mount Desert Island only for this post. We do have plans to visit again next year, so keep a look out for updates!

There is a lot to do here, so if you’re feeling overwhelmed, I’ve done a quick 2-day itinerary to see all the main highlights here.

Although an island, Mount Desert Island is accessible by car via Bar Harbor Road. The most popular things to do are on the East side of the island, including exploring Bar Harbor downtown, Sand Beach, hiking the Beehive Trail, Thunder Hole, Ocean Path, Jordan Pond, the ‘Bubbles’, and Cadillac Mountain. I’ve made a quick map of these places below to give you a rough idea of the proximity of the main attractions. I’ll go into each place in more detail further down in this post.

Map of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park

When to travel:

The busy season is between Summer and Autumn. When I say busy, I mean BUSY. Plan wayyyy ahead and book your travel plans at least 3 months in advance if you can. I’d recommend visiting in Autumn for the beautiful orange and red colours of the fall foliage that adds to the already breath-taking landscape.

Photo from the South Bubble summit

If you want to time your trip to synchronize with the change in fall colours, here’s a foliage tracker/estimator that can be helpful when planning: https://www.explorefall.com/states/maine. The leaves will usually start changing colours between the end of September to middle of October, depending on the temperature that year. We went in the middle of October this year and while it was perfect for Acadia, it was too early for upstate New York, and just a touch late for New Hampshire 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Check the park website before you go, as some roads are closed during the winter months and some trails are closed during Peregrine Falcon nesting season in the spring to late summer.

How Many Days Do I Need?

To hit the highlights of Acadia in a flash, you’ll need 2-3 days, but if you want to explore more and take it easy, then I’d recommend staying here a week. Toby and I had limited vacation days and wanted to hit up New Hampshire and Vermont during the fall foliage season as well so we did the Acadia highlights in 2 days. We originally planned for 2.5 days, but we hit some bad weather on our last day and and shortened our stay, skipping a couple attractions. 😦

Check the weather ahead of time since many of the popular hiking trails are weather-dependent, so give yourself an extra day or two for wiggle room incase you need to post-pone any activities like us. Check our 2-day itinerary here.

Where to Stay

There are a TON of accommodation options around Acadia National Park. You pass by motel after motel the closer you get to Acadia but with that being said, ALL OF IT WILL GET BOOKED UP EARLY. We’ve never encountered such a busy place in our travels before. A month before planning our trip, every single (affordable) accommodation option was booked up around the national park and we snagged the only affordable one remaining all the way in Surry, a 45 mins drive from the park. Although it meant that we had to wake up earlier than planned to get to where we wanted to go, we were just grateful to get a place at all! We travelled at peak season in middle of October, so if you’re planning to do the same, BOOK EARLY. I’ve included a map of available accommodation options from booking.com for the middle of October next year as reference.

Accommodation options from booking.com

The best place (although more expensive) to stay will be in Bar Harbor town, inside Acadia National Park. Although a small town, it’s got everything you need at your fingertips, including restaurants, shops, grocery stores, bars…etc. It’s also close to the major attractions in the national park as well. I’ve included a screen cap below of available options in Bar Harbor from booking.com for reference. The downtown area is very walkable, so choose to stay closer to Main Street if you want to be in the hustle and bustle. Read more about Bar Harbor below.

Accommodation options in Bar Harbor from booking.com

If you can’t manage to get a place in Bar Harbor (like us), don’t fret. Anything nearby will be fine. You can always drive to Bar Harbour town and spend an afternoon to walk around (it’s not a big town, you can get through it in a couple hours).

Getting Around Acadia – Driving vs the Bus

You can get around Mount Desert Island by either driving or taking the free Island Explorer Bus.

Driving:

We prefer the freedom of driving our own car, however there are downfalls. Since Acadia gets extremely busy, parking can be an absolute nightmare. If you are visiting popular hikes and trailheads, make sure you arrive early (ideally before 8am) to get a parking spot, otherwise prepare to circle the lots and the side roads again and again until one frees up. We had to do this when we visited Jordan Pond and when we did eventually find a parking spot it was a 30 minute walk away from the trailhead 😭. It was the worst parking experience we’ve ever encountered. When parking lots are full, the rangers will barricade the entrance so you can’t just go in and circle around until one frees up. Therefore, if you only want to drive, start early and also consider that it will limit the number of places you go in a day and you’ll have to factor in the extra time to find a parking spot – for example, we woke up super early and got a great parking spot at Sand Beach parking, however in the afternoon when we wanted to to the Jordan Pond hikes, it was near impossible to find a spot and driving around took up a chunk of our schedule.

Also keep in mind that there is limited cellphone reception, so if you rely heavily on Google maps, maybe have a paper map with you just in case.

Island Explorer Bus:

This is a free bus service that operates only from Summer to Fall and runs roughly every 30 minutes. It takes you to the most popular places and will stop at most parking lots. Their website here has more information regarding the bus routes: https://www.exploreacadia.com/routefinder.html. The benefit of taking the bus is that it is easy and you don’t have to worry about parking, however the downfall is that you’ll have to take your whole day of hiking essentials with you and make sure you have places where you can fill up your water bottle throughout the day. The bus is also only every 30 minutes, so you’ll have to factor that in as well when you’re planning your day.

Island Explorer bus – a free bus service around Acadia National Park

What I recommend: a combination of both. Get up early and get parking at your desired lot. If you’re doing the Beehive Trail first thing (which I would recommend), park at the Sand Beach parking lot. If you’re doing the Jordan Pond trails first, then park at the lot there. When you’re ready to move on to the next location, just take the Island Explorer Bus instead of moving your car. It will save you the hassle of having to find parking for your next location. The bus will go to all the parking lots, so even if you can’t get a spot at your desired lot, just park at the next closest one and take the bus. There’s no cost for parking, so you can leave your car at the same place all day.

Park Pass

You will need to purchase a park pass to enter Acadia National Park. There’s no gated entry, but there are plenty of rangers around checking people’s cars for the pass. It’s $35 per car and must be displayed on your windshield. This park pass allows you to go anywhere within the park, however if you wish to drive up Cadillac Mountain (more on that below), you will have to purchase an additional timed vehicle reservation pass ($6 per car). The Cadillac Mountain sunrise tickets sell out quick so plan ahead of time!

The park pass and Cadillac Mountain vehicle pass can both be purchased online ahead of time on the government website: https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/fees.htm. You can purchase the park pass in person at the visitor’s centre in town, but not the Cadillac Mountain pass. I’d highly recommend buying both online beforehand and have it printed and ready to go, so you have one less thing to worry about. In peak season, it can be incredibly busy and parking can be a huge hassle – don’t waste your trip waiting in line to look for parking just to buy a park pass!

Travel Tips

Start Early!

If there’s one piece of travel advice I can give you for visiting Acadia National Park, it’d be to start early! Ideally at sunrise. If you were looking for a relaxing getaway of sleeping in, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Because this place has so much to offer, it gets INCREDIBLY busy especially in the summer and fall season – I’m talking about having to park a half an hour away from your car busy – and everyone wants to hit up the same areas and the same iconic hikes. It gets so busy that not only will you struggle to find parking, but you’ll even have to wait in line to climb up mountains! It gets insane, trust me. Getting up early is the only way to ensure the best time away from the majority of the crowds and the frustrations of finding parking. You’ll appreciate the calmer and quieter surrounding in the early morning and take in nature without all the noise.

A benefit of starting early is that you get to see some wicked cool sunrises.
Limited Cellphone Service Everywhere

There is very limited cell reception in Acadia. You might get some pockets of good reception on top of mountains, but it’s spotty at best. There’s free wifi at Jordan Pond House and also decent wifi in Bar Harbor town, but apart from that be prepared for your service to jump in and out. I’d recommend picking up a map of the area or screenshot it on your phone before heading out and going on hikes just incase you lose reception and get lost.

Bring good hiking gear

There are plenty of rock-scrambling and cliff-side hikes to embark on in Acadia. If you plan on trekking through these popular hikes, a reliable pair of hiking shoes with good grip is a must! There’s also rock-climbing involved in some of the trails, so I’d also recommend a good pair of hiking pants that will hold up against abrasive surfaces. Hiking sticks can be useful, but depending on your hike, there are some trails that will require your hands to climb up and down rocks and hold on to iron rungs.

You need to display the Acadia park pass in your windshield when you park. Remember to have it printed and ready to go before you travel or hope that your hotel or accommodation will have a printer you can borrow.

Best Things to Do:

A summary of the best things to do:

Sand Beach

This is the largest sandy beach in Mount Desert Island and unsurprisingly is a very popular spot in the summertime. This open beach is a lovely place to relax and enjoy the views and sounds of crashing waves or to rest your legs after a long hike. We came here during the fall so the weather was a bit chilly for swimming, but there were still plenty of families here with children playing in the sand.

To access Sand Beach, park at the Sand Beach parking lot and it’s only a few steps away.

Ocean Path

Distance: 6.6km (3.3km each way)
Duration: 1.5 hours out and back, not counting time for photos
Trail type: out & back
Start: Sand Beach parking lot

Ocean Path is a lovely walking path along the coast of Maine. The path is narrow and follows along Park Loop Road, but there are multiple small paths to diverge off in the trail to get closer to the views and rocky terrain, best for that perfect Acadia photo. This path is flat and easy to walk on, popular for runners, hikers, photographers, and bird-watchers.

Getting to the start of the trailhead from the parking lot

This out and back path starts at Sand Beach parking lot and continues for 3.3km, ending at Otter Point Overlook. Apart from enjoying the views along the way, there are 4 main stopovers on this path: 1) Thunder Hole, 2) Otter Cliff Overlook, 3) Boulder Beach and 4) Otter Point Overlook (marked on the map).

Ocean Path, 6.6km, roughly 1.5 hours to walk to entirety

You can choose to walk as much or as little of this path as you like. If you don’t feel like walking, you can drive down Park Loop Road and you’ll see turn offs for small parking lots at each of the stops (but I’d recommend walking to see the views along the way). Note: Park Loop Road is a one-way road to accommodate for road-side parking, so you can only travel from North to South by car.

Some photos along Ocean Path on our way to and back from Thunder Hole:

Small paths along the trail to get closer to the coast
Small parking lots turn off at Thunder Hole
We drove to Otter Cliff Overlook (which wasn’t really worth the stopover in my opinion) – Otter Point Overlook not pictured

Thunder Hole

Thunder Hole is the most popular stop-off on Ocean Path where you can watch waves crash into the rocks, creating a burst splash of water high into the air. You have to come 2 hours before high tide to experience this. We didn’t manage to get our timing right, but it’s still neat to stop over here anyway. It’s roughly a 20 minute walk to Thunder Hole from Sand Beach via Ocean Path with beautiful views along the way.

Thunder Hole
The terrain around Thunder Hole
Thunder Hole not at high tide </3
Coast views at Thunder Hole
What it’s meant to look like if we came at the right time 😅

Beehive Trail

The Beehive Trail is one of Acadia National Park’s most popular hikes, offering breath-taking panoramic views. This hike has a reputation for being thrilling and difficult with iron rungs and vertical climbs but we personally didn’t find it bad at all, especially with good pacing. I recommend starting early, wearing good shoes, and dressing in layers. For safety, avoid this hike if it’s raining. Follow this in-depth guide about hiking the Beehive trail here.

Views on the Beehive Trail

Hiking Acadia’s Beehive Trail: A Complete Overview


The Beehive Trail in Acadia National Park is one of the most popular hiking trails known for its stunning panoramic views and challenging vertical climbs. This guide has all the information you need to tackle this trail.

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Jordan Pond Trails

There are numerous trails you can hike around the Jordan Pond, and many of them conveniently start at Jordan Pond House Restaurant. The 3 most popular hikes here are the Jordan Pond Path, Jordan Cliffs Trail, and Bubbles Trail. You can also combine all 3 hikes to get the best of all of them – which is what we did! Follow my complete guide to hiking these trails here.

View of the “Bubbles” from Jordan Path
View from Jordan Cliffs trail
View from the Bubbles Trail, at the top of South Bubble
View from Jordan Pond Path

Jordan Pond House Restaurant

Outside of Bar Harbor, there is a very limited selection of restaurants on Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park. Jordan Pond House Restaurant is the most popular choice not only because of their good food, but also because of its convenient location where many trailheads are located. The back patio of this restaurant also offers views of Jordan Pond and the North and South “bubbles”.

They’re known for their popovers here, which is kind of like a hollow muffin made with a thin batter, served with butter and their local-made jam. It was okay, but for me the star of the meal was their meatloaf sandwich! Find out more about this restaurant here.

Cadillac Mountain at Sunrise

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard and is famously known to be the best (and first) place to watch the sunrise in Acadia. You can get to the summit by either hiking or driving, but generally driving is the preferred option so you’re not hiking in the dark to get up the mountain by sunrise.

Due to its popularity, Cadillac Mountain is the only place in Acadia National Park where you need a vehicle reservation to drive to the top. You must pre-purchase your reservation ahead of time online on the government website: https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/400000. This ticket is in addition to the park pass – you must have both to drive up the mountain. You cannot buy these tickets in person unlike the park pass. 30% of the tickets are released 90 days in advance and the remaining 70% are released 2 days prior at 10am EST.

The government reservation website screenshot of the two ticket type reservations.

Tips to securing a ticket: When you get to the government website, there are 2 types of tickets to choose from: sunrise and day tickets. Not surprisingly, the sunrise tickets are the most highly sought after. Set your timer and get multiple people on multiple devices because as soon as it hits 10am (eastern time – make sure you’re in the right time zone), you must click immediately for your best chances. I tried this on two occasions and swore I clicked exactly on time and the tickets were already sold out within a SECOND. It was insane. Once you’re in, the system reserves the ticket for you for 15 minutes until you check out. Pro-tip: If you didn’t secure a ticket at 10am, keep refreshing and wait until 10:15am to see if tickets become available. All the people that didn’t check out their tickets within the 15 mins have their tickets timed out and gets put up for sale again. This was actually how I managed to snag our tickets 🤫. Once you check out, you’ll get sent a QR code that they will scan at the gate on the day.

The sunrise tickets are timed to enter between 5:30am – 7:30am, there’s no time limit on how long you can stay up there. It is recommended to arrive 1 hour prior to sunrise. It takes about 20 minutes to drive to the top and only a few minutes from the car park to walk to the views.

Map of Cadillac Mountain summit – smaller West lot on the left and East lot on the right

Sadly for us, we did everything right, but the weather was not in our favour. We woke up super early and got to the gate entry at 6:20am, about 20 mins before sunrise (a bit late). We knew visibility was going to be poor, but we had hopes of a small break in the clouds for the views so we drove up anyway – after all, we were already there and the $6 was spent. They scanned our QR code at the gate and it only took us 15 minutes to drive to the top (although I’ve heard it can take up to 30 mins due to slower people unfamiliar with driving up mountain roads and it’s single file all the way up). Once we got to the top, there are 2 parking lots. You’ll pass the smaller West lot first which is farther away (seems like the overflow lot), then you’ll reach the East lot, which is a semi-circle and is directly in front of the trail. You want to park in the East lot. When we visited, the weather was so bad that you could barely see 10 feet in front of you so we just got out to have a quick peak, then got back into our car and headed straight for a warm breakfast in Bar Harbor.

East lot with no visibility at sunrise
</3
What we shoud’ve been seeing
Toby pointing at where the view should be 😅

There’s a short and easy 500m trail around the Cadillac Summit that was supposed to be nice to see. I guess we’ll have to try again next time. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor is the only major town in Acadia National Park. Here you’ll find lots of cute shops, souvenirs, restaurants, hiking gear, and even a big grocery store for all your food needs. There are also tons of accommodation options in this small town that get booked out way in advance during the busy season.

Map of downtown Bar Harbor – Main Street will be the majority of the shops

You don’t need to spend a ton of time in Bar Harbor, an afternoon is enough to explore this small town. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Main Street is the street with the most shops. There are TONS of seafood restaurants around here and of course, lobster rolls – when in Maine!

Take a stroll down The Shore Path that starts at the North end of town from Agamont Park. From here, you can see a ton of lobster boats anchored in the water (we counted at least 26). Continue walking on the path that wraps around Bar Harbour Inn, a big beautiful inn with spa amenities (looked expensive). The path can go for a while but we stopped wen we reached the small beach at Balance Rock and took a right to head back onto the Main Street, weaving through the beautiful old houses in the quiet neighbourhood.

Agamont Park
View from the harbor
The many many lobster boats – we counted 26!
Bar Harbour Inn
Balancing Rock

If you need to stock up on supplies, there is a large corporate grocery store that sits at the edge of town called Hannafords.

We had breakfast at a highly rated local diner called Jordans Restaurant (conveniently located next to Hannfords). They open at 5am, which was perfect for us after our big disappointment with the gloomy weather on Cadillac Mountain. When we arrived at 7am, the diner was already half full. By the time we left an hour later, there was a line up out the door! They have a decent sized menu, boasting their wild blueberry muffin and wild blueberry pancakes – we got both (and Toby added chocolate chips to the pancake). We also got the lobster roll, clam chowder, and lobster cheese omelette – if you haven’t noticed, we often order too much food because I want to try it all 😅. Overall it was an okay meal. I liked the home fries and the lobster roll was great (soft fluffy toasted buttered bun). The pancakes with the wild blueberry sauce was good but the lobster omelette and blueberry muffin was just okay. The staff was real friendly and the place had a great buzz about it.

If you’re looking for great coffee, there’s a cool local shop called Vacationland Coffee Roasters where they roast their own beans onsite and will package it fresh for you. What actually drew me here was the super cool logo with the lobster claw pinching a coffee bean. I bought a bag of beans just for the logo 😅.

Overwhelmed? I got you. Here’s an ideal travel itinerary to hit all the highlights in 2 days:

I’ve put together an ideal sample itinerary to hit the highlights of Acadia National Park from our experience (our real itinerary was a bit more messy):

Before you go:

  • Check the tide times for Thunder Hole and estimate to arrive at Thunder Hole 2 hours before high tide. Depending on when you go, you will have to adjust your itinerary to either do Thunder Hole before or after the other activities to get there at the right time. There is a parking lot at Thunder Hole that gets pretty busy so plan accordingly. You can also walk from Sand Beach parking lot via Ocean Path – takes about 20 minutes. You really only need 10 mins at Thunder Hole to watch the waves crash.
  • Make a lunch reservation at Jordan Pond House, timing will depend on where you are able to fit Thunder Hole in.
  • *Book your Cadillac Mountain vehicle pass 2 days in advance.

Day 1: Beehive Trail, Ocean Path, Thunder Hole, Jordan Pond Trails

  • 7am (or earlier): Get to Sand Beach parking lot by 7am to secure a parking spot.
  • 7am – 9am: Hike the Beehive Trail when the sun rises to avoid the crowds. This hike takes roughly 1.5-2 hours, depending on your pace and crowds.
  • 9am-10:30am: Finish the Beehive Trail and head towards Sand Beach to take in the views of the ocean, then walk the Ocean Path (conveniently also starts from the Sand Beach parking lot). Ocean path does link up to Thunder Hole, so if the timing is right you can head there after hiking the Beehive Trail.
  • 11am – Noon: Arrive at Jordan Pond House for your lunch reservation, or if you didn’t secure a reservation, get there before 11am and line up to get seated. If you were able to make a late booking, you’ll have more freedom in your time.
  • 12-4pm: Hike the Jordan Pond Trails (takes about 3-4 hours, be mindful of the time of sunset that day).
  • 4pm onwards: The loop finishes back at the restaurant. Depending on how tired you are, you can have dinner here or head to Bar Harbor for more restaurant options. Have an early rest and wake up early the next day.
  • Note: you can also flip the hikes around and do Jordan Pond Trails first, then lunch at Jordan Pond House and Beehive Trail last, however the Beehive Trail is one of the busiest trails and it will get PACKED in the afternoon, whereas the Jordan Pond Trails are not as busy.

Day 2:

  • 5:30-7:30am: Arrive at the Cadillac Mountain summit before sunrise (make sure you have a vehicle reservation pass).
  • 7:30a – 9am: Enjoy the sunrise views and walk around the Summit Loop.
  • 9am – 10am: Breakfast in town at Bar Harbor – we went to Jordan’s Restaurant. Quick service, decent food, nice people.
  • 10am onwards: Spend the rest of the day exploring Bar Harbour
    • Browse the shops
    • Walk across the foot bridge to Bar Island at low tide to get some views of Bar Harbor from a distance (make sure you come back before the water level rises again!)
    • Book a lobster boat tour with LuLu Lobster Boat Tour (tour times are usually 9am, 11:30am, 2:30pm) – https://lululobsterboat.com/
    • Have lunch or dinner in one of the many restaurants in town
  • Sunset at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse
    • This is optional and a VERY busy place at sunset. We did not end up doing this due to timing and weather, but other visitors have recommended coming 3 hours before sunset just to get a parking spot due to the very small lot that’s there. It’s roughly a 30 minute drive from Bar Harbor.

Less popular places that came up in my research for this trip but we didn’t get to go due time constraints, so I’ll make a list here for reference on our next trip to Acadia. You’d need at least another day to fit the rest of this into the itinerary:

  • Beech Cliff Ladder Trail – we didn’t get to go due to weather, but this hike (strenuous, roughly 2 hours) provides beautiful views over Echo Lake. It’s not as exhilarating as the Beehive Trail or Precipice Trail but there are still iron rings, ladders, and cliff-side walks. Park at the Echo Lake Beach Entrance for the trailhead.
  • Precipice Trail – I didn’t put this in my original itinerary because of the multiple warnings and thrilling things about this hike, but after doing the Beehive Trail which was also meant to be scary but wasn’t bad at all, I think we’ll give this hike a go next time. It’s the most dangerous hike in Acadia and will take you anywhere between 1-3 hours. Arrive early for a parking spot (what else is new?).
  • Walk across the foot bridge to Bar Island at low tide from Bar Harbor to get views of Bar Harbor.
  • Drive around to the other little towns (ie. Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor)
  • Watch the sunset at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse
  • Visit Echo Lake
  • Visit the other two Acadia regions: Schoodic Point and a day in Isle au Haut
  • LuLu Lobster Boat Tour (9am, 11:30am, 2:30pm) – https://lululobsterboat.com/

Discover Acadia National Park: Your Guide to Mount Desert Island


Acadia National Park is the “Crown Jewel” of the North Atlantic Coast providing breathtaking coastal views, mountainous hikes, scenic drives, beaches, and a town with no shortage of restaurants. This national park is a must-do in Maine!

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Portland, Maine, is a charming coastal city known for its vibrant shops and seafood, particularly lobster rolls. Visitors can enjoy its historic streets, numerous dining options, and attractions, including the iconic Portland Head Light. A few hours is sufficient for a quick visit, but extending to a few days allows for deeper exploration.

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Camden Hills State Park sits just outside the small coastal town of Camden, Maine. This park has a number of hiking trails with the most popular ones being Mount Battie and Mount Megunticook. Both of these trails offer panoramic views of the ocean coast and sweeping colourful fall foliage trees below. If you’re driving through the…

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Hiking Acadia’s Beehive Trail: A Complete Overview


Date Published: Nov 3rd, 2024 | Last Updated: Nov 3rd, 2024
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Oct 13th, 2024

If you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s a post of an overview of Acadia National Park if you need more info about where to stay, where to eat, getting around, and other travel recommendations.

The Beehive Trail is one of Acadia National Park’s most popular hikes, offering breath-taking panoramic views. This hike has a reputation for being thrilling and difficult with iron rungs and vertical climbs but we personally didn’t find it bad at all, especially with good pacing. I recommend starting early, wearing good shoes, and dressing in layers. For safety, avoid this hike if it’s raining.

I highly recommend coming during peak autumn foliage season for the gorgeous colourful red and orange leaves.

Contents:

  1. Hike Stats
  2. Is it really that difficult to climb the Beehive Trail?
  3. Map of the Trail/Trail Overview
  4. Ready to hike? Let’s Go! – a more detailed guide to hiking the Beehive Trail with way too many photos
    1. Park at Sands Beach – START EARLY!
    2. Cross the road to the start of the trail
    3. Reach a crossroad and turn right to the Beehive Trail to do the trail clockwise
    4. Continue the climb up, cross a metal grate, and climb iron rungs while enjoying the view
    5. Reach the summit and take in the views
    6. Make your way down the mountain
    7. Reach another crossroad: Continue on to The Bowl or take the shortcut
    8. Get back to the parking lot and be glad you started early
  5. Some final thoughts
  6. When you get back to the parking lot, there are a few things you can do:

Hike Stats:

Length: 2.4km
Elevation Gain: 155m
Trail type: loop
Difficulty/Terrain: difficult-ish with uphill climbs and rocky terrain
Estimated duration: 1-3 hours, depending on the number of people and waiting times (it took us 2 hours starting at 8:15am – 1 hour to get up and 1 hour down, including waiting in line)
Starting point: park at Sand Beach parking lot, then cross the road to the trailhead
Things to bring: water bottle, sunscreen & hat, good hiking shoes, snacks, dress in layers in case it gets cold as you wait
Driving option?: no
More Trail info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/the-beehive-loop-trail

Is it really that difficult to climb the Beehive Trail?

Not really!

I was a little nervous for the Beehive Trail because I kept reading about how hard it was and there was a lot of climbing. For a person that was not the most fit and with minimal upper body strength, I was anxious to get this hike over and done with. While doing the hike, I kept expecting it to get harder and harder, but it actually wasn’t bad at all. Yes, there are short bursts of vertical climbs and you’re exposed on the side of the cliffs, but there were enough handles to grab on to and good footing to stabilize yourself. It also helps that there was always someone to lend a hand hopping over the trickier bits or climbing up a big rock. At no point did we feel unsafe. We were also moving at a glacial pace near the top where the trickier parts are, so we barely broke a sweat getting to the summit.

If you have a mild fear of heights or if you’re generally a slow hiker, just take it slow and let people pass. The path eventually becomes single-file and the hike may naturally slow down or come to a standstill anyway if it’s busy, due to people taking their time crossing or climbing certain parts. We didn’t mind the slow ascent because the view along the way to the top is AMAZING and gave me ample time to snap (too many) photos. The view gets better the higher you go!

*If you are really terrified of heights, you can try to climb to the first view then decide if you want to turn around. The views at this spot is the same view as you would get at the top, but at a lower viewpoint (see the photos below). I’ve marked this spot on the map here –>

You can also take the Bowl Trail instead where the hike is covered amongst trees until you reach the very top (more on that below). As you can see on the map, it’s not far to backtrack if you decide to take the Bowl Trail instead.

Here’s a comparison of the view from the first view point vs the summit view:

View from the first lookout at the bottom
View from the summit

Map of the Trail/Trail Overview

A Brief Overview of the Trail:

A) The Beehive Loop trail starts just off of Park Loop Road (a 5 min walk from the parking lot).

B) The trail starts covered amongst trees and you’ll come to a fork in the road. The right is the Beehive Trail and the left is the Bowl Trail (circled in white and grey in the map above). Although technically a loop, the Beehive Trail is single-file going up the mountain due to the sheer amount of people and it also gets dangerous if you’re coming down the mountain on the side of a cliff. Therefore, if you want to take the easier Bowl Trail, you’ll have to do an out-and-back hike when you reach the summit.

⭐️ Green star on the map marks the point where you’ll see the first ocean views (more pictures below). The path gets more narrow here and will become single-file, so if you want to turn around, do it here.

C) After some vertical climbs and taking way too many photos on the way up, you’ll reach the Beehive Summit. Take a breather and soak in the views, take more photos, then start to make your way down the mountain.

D) You’ll reach another fork in the road. You can either continue on Beehive Trail to reach The Bowl, or take the shortcut and get back to the parking lot via the Bowl Trail.

Ready to hike? Let’s Go! – a more detailed guide to hiking the Beehive Trail with way too many photos

1. Park at Sands Beach – START EARLY!

If there is one crucial piece of advice I can give you to hike the beehive trail, is to start as early as possible to avoid the crowds and get a parking spot. The Beehive Trail is one of THE most popular trails in Acadia National Park due to its amazing views and adrenaline-pumping hike. As a result, it gets INCREDIBLY busy, especially in peak season (which is when we went).

The closest parking lot is at Sands Beach, which is only a short 5 minute walk to the start of the trail. There’s roughly enough spaces for about 100 cars, which sounds like a lot, but by the time we arrived at 7am, the lot was already 70% full. We started the hike at 8:15am (after visiting Thunder Hole) and by the time we finished around 10am, the parking lot was completely full and there was an incredibly long line of cars parked along Park Loop Road and many people were walking 20 mins+ from their car just to get to the start of the trail. There were also park rangers standing at the entrance to stop people from going in, so you can’t even circle the lot to wait for a spot to open up. Therefore, try to get to Sands Beach before 7am if you’re visiting in peak season like us and driving a car.

The parking lot by 8am with the Beehive Summit ahead
Tons of cars along the side of the road when the lot is full
Sands Beach Parking Lot

If you don’t get here early, be prepared to park far away or consider parking at a different parking lot along Park Loop Road and take the free Island Explorer Bus to Sands Beach parking lot. The bus will drop you off near the public restroom in the parking lot (see map above) and runs every 30 minutes.

Apart from trying to get a parking spot, you want to start the hike as early as possible to avoid the crowds and the line. If you do the trail clockwise via the Beehive Trail (which I recommend for the best views), it becomes single file up the rocks as you scale the mountain. Some people stop to take photos, others who aren’t as confident with climbing or have a fear of heights take it slow, and as a result, you could be looking at a long wait just to get up the mountain when it’s busy. We started the hike at 8:15am and two-thirds up the mountain, we already had to wait in line, taking a few steps at a time until we eventually reached the top (which although was annoying, wasn’t the worst in the world because you’re constantly exposed to the amazing views all the way up and gave me plenty of time to take photos). By the time we finished the hike a couple hours later, the line was much much longer and we were glad we started as early as we did. You can actually see the line from the parking lot. Therefore, I’d recommend starting the hike as soon as the sun comes up or be prepared to wait. Wear layers and pack a snack.

2. Cross the road to the start of the trail

Once you’ve parked at Sands Beach parking lot, make your way across the road to the start of the trail head (there is a public restroom at the parking lot if needed).

Start of the trail

The path starts covered amongst trees and gradually increases in elevation with a rocky terrain – make sure you wear good hiking shoes for this hike.

3. Reach a crossroad and turn right to the Beehive Trail to do the trail clockwise

As you make your way to the base of the mountain, you’ll reach an intersection. When it gets busy, there’s a park ranger there that can provide more information. This is the split between the Beehive Trail and the Bowl Trail (see the map above to see the difference). Although more difficult, I would recommend continuing the hike via the Beehive Trail and doing this loop clockwise for the best views. The Beehive Trail is steep and will lead you to vertical climbs (that aren’t bad at all in my opinion) along the side of the mountain, but you’re faced with the beautiful views the entire time, constantly getting better the higher you climb. There are also rock ledges along the way for some great photo spots.

Park ranger at the crossroads helping people decide which way to go

If you choose to do the trail counterclockwise via the Bowl Trail, the trail is not as steep (although there are still large rocks to climb), but the majority of the trail will be covered amongst trees and you will only get the iconic views of Sands Beach and the surrounding views when you reach the top. This may be a better option if you have a fear of heights. Note: You will not be able to go down the Beehive Trail due to the sheer amount of single-file hikers trying to get up the mountain so prepare for an out-and-back hike once you reach the summit.

4. Continue the climb up, cross a metal grate, and climb iron rungs while enjoying the view

As we continued on, it becomes more steep with more boulders to climb over, and we mentally prepared ourselves for vertical climbs and clinging onto the side of the mountain. This was where the line started for us. It was moving along at a decent pace at first, but it got slower closer to the top. Yes this hike is steep and yes there are vertical climbs, however because we had to wait in line and only moving a few steps at a time and taking a few thrusts up big rocks at a time, this hike actually became a breeze. We barely even broke a sweat! There was always something to hold onto and there were flat parts to stand as you wait. You’re constantly exposed to the amazing views beside you and the waiting gives you more than enough time to get some nice photos on rocky ledges. We didn’t mind waiting at all. It was actually a more enjoyable and fun hike compared to constantly walking uphill.

Here are a bunch of photos of our ascent up the mountain (the view gets a bit repetitive, but when you’re there in person, it never gets old):

Our first views of Sand Beach inlet as we emerge from the trees and up the first set of rocks:

Our first views on the Beehive Trail
As we continue to climb higher, the views open up a little more with fewer trees obstructing the view

*This is the first view of the ocean that you’ll see after emerging from the trees. If you’re scared of heights, there’s still time to turn around at this point before it becomes too difficult to turn back. The views at the top is similar but at a higher vantage point (see the photos below).

As we continue to climb higher, the views open up a little more with fewer trees obstructing the view:

Then the path gets a little more tricky with metal gates and iron rungs. The photos make it seem scarier in photos than it actually was. At no point did I feel like I was going to fall off the side of the mountain or feel like I couldn’t make the climb up. This is where the line started for us as people take they time with the obstacles, but no matter, we’re still loving the views:

Our first metal grate. It did not feel dangerous at all.
Still loving the views

Encountered the iron rungs, which were a lot easier than I expected. There’s never more than 3-4 at a time:

This is probably the most common photo I’ve seen that shows how close to the edge you are, however…

…when taken at a different angle you can see that you’ve got the tree beside you with branches so smooth where thousands have people have grabbed onto for support. It didn’t feel scary at all.

The smoothest tree branch from multiple people grabbing onto it over the years

Still slowly waiting in line to make our way up, but still enjoying the views every step of the way:

As we got closer to the top it became more steep:

5. Reach the summit and take in the views

The final push to the top was just climbing over rocks but the view at the top was absolutely worth it. I can see how it is one of the most popular hikes in this park!

Take a breather and soak in the view. It’s the same view as what you see on the way up, but higher and more grand with sweeping views of the forest and ocean around you.

Plenty of space at the top for a snack or a packed lunch
Summit views

But the views don’t stop here. Continue following the blue trail markers to the other side of the mountain. Here you’ll see a sign that marks the actual summit of the mountain and you’ll get more ocean views with the small islands in the distance.

6. Make your way down the mountain

Continue following the blue markers to make your way down the mountain. You’ll get panoramic views of the beautiful trees below before you reach the trail path again.

As you make your way down, you’ll eventually be amongst trees again and climbing down big boulders, but then it gets easier as the ground plateaus and the path is much smoother.

7. Reach another crossroad: Continue on to The Bowl or take the shortcut

You’ll reach another intersection with trail signs that point to The Bowl. Continue on this path to reach views of The Bowl, or take the shortcut and continue the path back to the parking lot. We didn’t have time to make it to The Bowl so we took the shortcut back.

As you make your way back, you’ll eventually meet up with the original trail again and climb down the large rocks back to the parking lot.

By the time we met up with the starting trail, there were SO MANY more people and the line was MUCH longer. The ranger was telling people to do the loop backwards via the Bowl Trail avoid the line going up the Beehive Trail.

8. Get back to the parking lot and be glad you started early

By the time we got back to the parking lot, the lot was completely full with a very long line of cars parked along the road. You can see the top of the Beehive Trail from the parking lot with the many many single-file people slowly making their way up the mountain. Although we had to wait in line ourselves, we were SO happy that our line was no where as long as the one that was forming when we finished!

Some final thoughts

  • Get here early.
  • Get here early.
  • Get here early.
  • The views are amazing and worth the time and effort.
  • Wear good hiking shoes for good traction getting up rocks.
  • Consider skipping this hike if it’s raining.

When you get back to the parking lot, there are a few things you can do:

  • Check out Sand Beach, a short walk to this beautiful inlet beach
  • Walk Ocean Path – a flat easy path along the coast with beautiful views along the way
  • Thunder Hole – a 10-15 min walk along Ocean Path to this narrow inlet where rushing water creates loud thundering sounds and big high splashes of water into the air (come 1-2 hours prior to high tide for the experience)

Abby4 Comments

Top Things to Do in Portland, Maine: Eat, Shop, Explore


Date Published: Oct 22nd, 2024 | Last Updated: April 22nd, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Aug 5th, 2025

Portland is the largest city in Maine, full of cool shops and endless lobster rolls. Spend an afternoon here walking through the old streets, sample the abundant seafood, and take a tour around town.

Fun fact: Although Portland is the largest city in Maine, the capitol is actually Augusta!

Contents:

  1. How long do I need in Portland, Maine?
  2. Where do I park?
  3. What to do in Portland: Shop, Eat, and Explore!
    1. 1) Shop
      1. Commercial Street
      2. Exchange Street
    2. 2) Eat
      1. Portland Lobster Co.
      2. Luke’s Lobster
      3. Highroller Lobster Co.
      4. Duckfat
      5. The Holy Donut 🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️
    3. 3) Explore
  4. Some final thoughts
  5. Need more travel recommendations for Maine? Check out these other places!

We originally did this trip in August 2024 on our way up from New York to Rockland for the lobster festival (you can read about the lobster festival here). We stopped by Portland on our way home and spent the afternoon here walking through the streets and perusing through the variety shops ranging from cool hipster vibes to fancy boutiques. There’s a LOT of restaurants here, not just seafood. Sadly, due to our short time here and limited stomach capacity, we were only able to hit up a few places, but the next time we come back I’ll definitely be crossing more off my list!

Below is a map of downtown Portland divided into 4 regions: the arts district, government district, old port district, and waterfront district. The majority of the shops and restaurants are in the old port district (in red).

https://www.portlandmaine.com (image edited)

How long do I need in Portland, Maine?

You really only need a few hours to explore downtown Portland. Even though it’s Maine’s largest city, it’s not actually that big. It’ll take you about 20-30 minutes to walk up and down the main street of Old Port (Commercial Street) and Exchange Street, then add in a couple extra hours for shopping and eating. There are a couple of museums and points of interest you can hit up as well to fill out the day and some microbreweries to check out in the evening. We didn’t have time to do these, but I’ll include it below.

There are also harbour cruises and island-hopping ferries you can take as well to explore more outside of Portland. Therefore, if you want to just do the city itself, an afternoon will be enough (or stay longer so you can fit in more meals in a day 😜) but you can easily stretch it out to 3-4 days if you want to take it slow. Portland is a nice place to be.

Also, Cape Elizabeth is 15 minutes south of Portland and is home to Maine’s oldest and most iconic lighthouse: Portland Head Light. I’d recommend spending a couple hours here as well to check it out, do the cliff walk, and also have a look at Bug Light (the cutest smallest lighthouse I’ve ever seen). There’s also more seafood options here in case you haven’t gotten your fill of lobster rolls yet.

Where do I park?

Your best bet is to park in a city-operated parking garage in Portland. The rates are reasonable and some of them are very central and within short walking-distance to the centre of downtown Portland.

Here is a list of city-operated parking garages with the parking rates: https://www.portlandmaine.gov/296/Parking. I’ve made a map of the most central city-run parking garages below along with the most popular eateries and walking streets to give you an idea of the best location to be.

We parked in the Elm Street garage, which was $28 max per day and $4 per hour. It was easy to get to and pretty central, only a short walk to Exchange street which leads right to the harbour. We found this rate pretty reasonable (especially coming from NYC), but there are cheaper lots further away that have $15 all day parking (check the website).

Some people also say there’s free unrestricted parking on Somerset Street by the Whole Foods but we didn’t investigate this because it was too far for us to want to walk (it was also a really hot day).

I’d avoid parking in private lots since it can get crazy expensive (some up to $40-50 per day). You can also do street parking which is about $2.50-$3.00/hour, but it fills up quick and most streets have 2 hour restrictions.

Map of downtown Portland highlighting the closest parking garages and the most popular eateries. The highlighted yellow streets are the most popular for shopping.

What to do in Portland: Shop, Eat, and Explore!

We only had an afternoon here and from my research on Portland, we’ve hit up the most popular places. We do plan to come back again in the near future and explore some more, so I’ll be updating this post when we do – keep watching this space!

Some sights around downtown Portland

1) Shop

Commercial Street

Walk along Commercial Street and you’ll find many cute boutique and souvenir/gift shops lined up one after another. This street is right by the harbour and is one of the busiest touristy streets for shopping. It’s highlighted in the map above.

Exchange Street

Exchange Street is another street full of shops. This street is more tucked away compared to Commercial Street but I found the shops here to be a lot more interesting with a cool hipster vibe. There’s restaurants along this street as well with some nice coffee shops. I found this street to have more character compared to the more tourist-y Commercial Street. This street is also highlighted in the map above.

2) Eat

When in Maine…eat Lobster Rolls! There is no doubt an abundance of seafood in Maine and we had nothing but seafood on our brains so that’s what we focused on, but there were tons of other non-seafood restaurants that looked amazing as we walked by. In my research, the consensus for the top 3 places for lobster rolls were: Luke’s Lobster, Highroller, and Portland Lobster Company.

Portland Lobster Co.

Address: 180 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

Portland Seafood Co is a small shop on the harbour with limited seating inside the restaurant, but there’s a huge open back patio by the water where you can easily grab a seat. We went right when they opened and there were already a few people there. They have a decent sized menu and the prices were fair. They’re well known for their lobster rolls, but Toby really wanted to try the Lobster BLT since we had never seen it before – it was REALLY good and they were generous with the lobster meat. I had a classic steamed lobster. Unfortunately I had a bad time with gastro from an earlier donut shop (more on that later) so I couldn’t fully enjoy the extent of the meal, but from the bites I had, it was delicious. Toby was more than happy to help me finish my lobster.

Luke’s Lobster

Address: 60 Portland Pier, Portland, ME 04101

Everyone was going to Luke’s or talking about Luke’s. It’s probably the most popular lobster roll spot in Portland and it’s also situated right on the water. We didn’t end up coming here because we’ve had Luke’s in NYC (it is indeed damn good) and wanted to try something new. If you’ve never had Luke’s before, I’d highly recommend coming here.

Highroller Lobster Co.

Address: 104 Exchange St, Portland, ME 04101

Highroller Lobster Co. had really cool vibes and it was super busy. We needed to get on the road and we were still full from Portland Lobster Co. so we decided to grab takeout instead of sitting down in the restaurant. The takeout menu was much smaller, but we were mainly here to try out their lobster roll anyway so we didn’t mind (although there were some amazing looking dishes on the full menu – I’ve included photos of both the dine-in and the takeaway menu). We ordered two 2oz lobster rolls that was $17 each. Super pricy and it was also SUPER TINY 💔. The bread was good and it was a decent lobster roll, but for the long time we had to wait and the small portion, it wasn’t THAT good. Next time maybe we’ll go for dine-in and get more variety.

Duckfat

Address: 43 Middle St, Portland, ME 04101

Not seafood, but I thought I’d include it due to the sheer popularity of this place and how every single travel blog mentions it. This place was even featured on an episode of ‘Somebody Feed Phil’. Duckfat is known for their Belgian-style french fries that are cooked in, you guessed it, duck fat! Their poutine is the go-to most popular item. Unfortunately we did not get to try this place because when we arrived, the line was super long and it would’ve been at least an hour wait. We were still full from all the lobster rolls anyway and we also still had a 7 hour drive ahead of us, so we didn’t wait. They don’t take reservations, it’s walk-in only, but you can pre-order and have it as takeaway – something we didn’t realize until we got there.

They do have a second location that only does takeaway called Duckfat Frites Shack (43 Washington Ave, Portland, ME 04101) that may have faster service. It’s another 10 min walk that we didn’t take because by then we would’ve been too far from our car. Womp womp.

Duckfat
The Holy Donut 🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️

Address: 177 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101 (there are 3 locations in Portland, but this is the most central)

I don’t get it. I honestly don’t.

The Holy Donut is a donut shop that specializes in potato-based doughnuts. Their google reviews are off the charts. Every single travel blog says to come here and they say to come here first thing in the morning before they run out and have these doughnuts for breakfast. So we did. They open at 7am and we arrived just after 9am and there was a line of about 10 people in front of us, but the line went quick. We ordered 3 donuts (at $4.50 – $5 each): the blueberry glaze (most highly recommended), the blueberry lemon, and maple bacon. There was nowhere to sit so we ate it outside.

I was so excited to try these. After having a bite of each one… I was disappointed. I don’t get the hype. The potato-based doughnut made it really dense like a heavy cake and I felt like there was too much cake to the topping ratio so you get a small amount of flavour, then the rest of the time you have a mouthful of dry dense cake. Toby liked it, but he likes dense cake.

The aftermath was what made me curse this place. We hadn’t eaten anything apart from these donuts that morning (and I only ate a total of 2/3 of a donut to save room for lunch) but I started to have the worst acid reflux I’ve ever had (and I’m not a person that gets reflux issues!). Maybe it’s the empty stomach or the dense carbs in the donut, but after 40 mins of walking, I was sweating up a storm and vomited up acidic fluid multiple times (so glad I was able to find a restroom in time). Not appetizing, I know, but this messed up my stomach for the rest of the day which was quite upsetting because I was ramped up for more lobster meals in Portland. Never again shall I come here.

But, as much as I dislike this place, there are many more that love this place so I’ve included it in this post so you can make the judgement yourself. If you do go, I’d recommend not being on an empty stomach and bring some Tums or Pepto just in case. We struggled to find a pharmacy within walking distance.

3) Explore

We pretty much just ate and walked around town looking into the shops during our afternoon in Portland. Due to the donut incident, my stomach bothered me for the rest of the day so we didn’t do much else, but here’s a list of things I found that seemed cool for our trip next time:

Some final thoughts

  • I don’t get the hype with Holy Donuts.
  • Portland is a cute town with tons of boutiques and cool shops.
  • You only need a day to explore the city, but if you want to add on island-hopping, boat cruises, and museums, you can easily spend at least 2-3 days here.
  • Try all the lobster rolls!

If you’ve been to Portland before, I’d love to hear about your favourite places or other places you’d recommend!

Abby2 Comments