The Connecticutian

Update 6 & 7: Updated Schedule (7/21/2006)

The following list should serve as a guide. Please plan your vacation as you wish, using the tools below. When you want to hang out, call us, call others. Let’s all meet, mingle, and have a good time! We are so excited. Don’t forget the Island Explorer Shuttle Bus, which is great free transportation around Mount Desert Island, the park, and even the Schoodic Peninsula.

Saturday: Arrive, unpack, get settled, explore the area, get groceries, call us

(Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are good days to go on Whale watches, nature cruises, trips to Nova Scotia, Baker Island, the Schoodic Peninsula, etc)

Sunday: We will be exploring the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park; if you want to join us, we will be at the Hull’s Cove Visitor Center at 10 AM.

Monday: Breakfast at Jordan’s (80 Cottage St), bride and groom have late morning meetings — so go off and explore! May we suggest bike rides, hikes, seeing the western side of the island. Check out the various websites below. We will be at the sunset viewing area of Cadillac mountain having a picnic dinner at 6:15/6:30. This is a great place to watch the sunset (at about 8PM). Poker after?

Tuesday: Kayaking in AM (8:30 or 10) — we will arrange once we are together in BH; this might be a good day to do a bike ride, too. (Or go to Nova Scotia, Schoodic Peninsula, whale watch)

Wednesday: Morning hike — Meet at Jordan Pond at 10:30AM; 1:45 — tea and popovers at the Jordan Pond House; Carriage ride — meet at Wildwood Stables (near Jordan Pond) at 3:15 — the number 5 Island Explorer bus goes to the Stables; 8PM — free concert Blackwoods campground. Feel free to take the Island Explorer shuttle bus there

Thursday: Bachelor party-type activity: guys’ hike; Chicks’ hike (info on both TBA); Bride’s side family Pot Luck dinner — 6PM, location TBA; Groom’s side family dinner at 11 Roberts Ave (6ish); Leo Hojnicki’s Birthday!! Ladies night out — location TBA

Friday: Mendhi at 10 AM — Shah House — 11 Roberts Ave; 3PM wedding rehearsal at the Bar Harbor Inn — wedding party, moms, dads, readers (Sue, Susan, Avni, and Hannah), Jenny, Joe and Lara; 6PM Friday Night Event — pizza, garba, and polkas

Saturday: Wedding at 11AM at the Bar Harbor Inn; Cocktail hour and reception immediately following; 8PM — drinks in town — place TBA

Various Helpful Links:

Acadia National Park website
Links to the Beaver Log — Acadia’s “newsletter.” P. 4-5 lists ranger-led activities. Some need reservations.
Bar Harbor events
Carriage place: scroll to bottom of page and you can download a “brochure”
Kayaking
Whale Watch and Baker Island trip
and
Leaves from Bass Harbor
Ferry to Schoodic Peninsula:
Windjammer
Schooner
Lobster boat
Bike rentals —Acadia Bike and Bar Harbor Bicycle
The CAT (ferry to Nova Scotia)
Oceanarium
Yoga

Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce site
Good overall MDI site

For the savvy traveller:

Tripadvisor.com

Hope these links are helpful.

Update 3: Wedding Schedule

The wedding is in the late morning/early afternoon. The reception will be over by 4/4:30 or so. We have a hard limit on the length of the reception as part of the deal with the place we’re having the wedding. In case that helps you plan your flights to and from, you could make it back safely for an 8PM flight out of Bangor or an earlier flight out of Bar Harbor, ME. We’re also looking into a block of rooms at the hotels by the Bar Harbor Inn and at the Inn itself. There are also great B&Bs in the area with decent weekly rates that might be flexible for the saturday night.

One of the problems that folks have been asking about is that a lot of the cottages and houses for rent state a Saturday to Saturday stay. That’s definitely a problem if you want to stay until Sunday. The best suggestion we have is to call the owners of the places you’re interested in and then see what they can do. If they can’t be flexible, then you’ll have to find a place for Saturday night. We’ll see what we can find out and make suggestions here.

Update 2: Getting to Bar Harbor

The choice on where to fly to will depend on exactly how far away you are from ME. Check prices both to Bar Harbor as well as to Bangor, ME. Bangor is about 30-45 minutes away, but there is a bus that goes between the two every day at around 5:25 PM. The exact schedule will be posted up here (click on Bar Harbor) after May. Heidi and I are also looking into chartering a bus for on Sunday to head back to the airport and we’re considering one to Bar Harbor if we can figure out a day when most people are arriving.

We’re open to other ideas, too, so please feel free to suggest one for us. I’d remind everyone that cars, while handy, aren’t really necessary on Mount Desert Island. There is a decent, free bus system that gets people around the island, including Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. If you want to know if anyone else is arriving at the same time as you, please drop us an email and we can check with our other guests.

Update — I’ve updated the links below for availability.

FINALLY, we’ve picked a date and a place!

We’d like to announce that we, Sujal Shah and Heidi Hojnicki, are tying the knot on July 29, 2006 atThe Bar Harbor Inn in Bar Harbor, Maine.

We’d like to invite everyone to celebrate with us and spend as much or as little time with us as you’d like. We will be arriving Saturday the 22nd and departing Sunday the 30th. (tentatively — we may stay a bit later)

Here is the accommodation information. There are many places that rent for the week and certainly many places that rent for the night. If you are planning on joining us, you may want to make your plans soon, as accommodations fill up fairly fast, and it will be a busy time in beautiful Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

Here are some accommodation options, though this is merely scratching the surface.

Wedding Places to Stay

Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce site
Good overall MDI site

For the savvy traveller:

Tripadvisor.com

For the night:

The Bar Harbor Inn’s affiliate properties:
Acadia Inn (furthest from BH Inn)
Bar Harbor Grand (10 min walking distance to BHI)
Main Street Motel (no pool — the others have them) (10 min walking distance to BHI) $139 (-10% with AAA)

In town:
The Quimby House — looks good, great location, inexpensive
Acadia Hotel — like a motel/B&B — $120-140
The Villager $138
Quality Inn $152.10 and up
Cadillac Motor Inn $99-119
Cromwell Harbor Motel $150
Harborside Hotel — Looks nice, has been highly recommended, and WE are staying there the night before and after the wedding, as well as some of our other guests.

High Seas Motel — we have some guests staying here — $75-95
Atlantic Oaks — We stayed here when we were meeting with vendors — it is a fine place.  Our Friday night dinner/event will be here.
Atlantic Eyrie
Sunnyside
Miramonte

Cottages:

Cooper Smith
Sunnyside
Bar Harbor Cottages

B&B’s:

Next door to the Bar Harbor Inn:
Ullikana and The Yellow House
Bass Cottage

In Bar Harbor town center
Ridgeway Inn
Seacroft Inn — also has kitchenettes
Shore Path Cottage
Primrose Inn — also has attached apt’s
Stone Throw Cottage
Anne’s White Columns
Atlantean Inn
Aysgarth
Central House
Black Friar
Hearthside Inn
Maples Inn
Bar Harbor Manor House
Morgan House — reasonable rates

Near Bar Harbor:
Bayview Estate
Holbrook House
Graycote Inn
Heathwood Inn
Holland House
Ivy Manor
Ledge Lawn Inn
Chiltern Inn
Bar Harbor Manor House

Camping:

Hadley’s Point: I’ve stayed here – it’s nice, nothing too special.
Acadia National Park: In acadia
Smuggler’s Den: This is a good place, but it’s not in Bar Harbor – about a 20 min. drive. They also have cabins. Very RV friendly.

In Bangor by airport (but an hour from BH):

(These would be good options for those flying out Saturday Night.)
Fairfield Inn Marriott — This is a good place. We stayed here when meeting with photographers — $129
Howard Johnson — $81
Super 8 — $66
Ramada — $107

For the week:

In BH — looks nice, $1200, sleeps 6
By golf course
Here’s Sunday to Sunday place!!
Snell House

Rental Agencies
Cyber Rentals — lots more homes and condos for rent here. Several pages worth. Check out this site — easy to use and check availability.
There are lots of other rental agencies, too.
Vamoose
Davis Agency
Maine Island PropertiesThis looks like a great site — has lots of great places IN TOWN — just scroll down.

Registry:

For those who have been asking, we are registered at Filene’s (which is also Kaufmann’s, Strawbridge’s, soon Macy’s, anything owned by the May Co.), Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Williams-Sonoma, and Campmor. But all that is required is your love!!

The place on Roberts Ave