Editor's Note: This article contains the opinions of the writer.

Here's a tip from a former Mainer who is now "from away."

Bar Harbor is having a tourist season which is shaping up to be one of the busiest on record. That means crowds of tourists, traffic and long waits as families flock to the area to get in all of the fun they missed in 2020.

So if people want to take part in the recreational opportunities available on Mt. Desert Island, they might want to consider staying in a community that is on the mainland. There are a number of towns where visitors can find a room or even rent a house for the week.

The photo above was taken from just outside a small rental house in Marlboro. That community is pinned on this map:

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You can watch the lobstermen pulling their traps right in front of your eyes and at night, the lights of Bar Harbor and people driving their vehicles up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is memorizing.

Here is a video of the view:

According to officials at the U.S. National Park Service, Cadillac Mountain is the major destination for visitors to Acadia National Park.

Accessible by car, it is the highest point on the east coast of the United States and offers magnificent views of a glaciated coastal and island landscape, according to their website.

At 3.5 million visits a year, Acadia National Park is one of the top 10 most-visited national parks in the United States.

Visitors enjoy 27 miles of historic motor roads, 158 miles of hiking trails, and 45 miles of carriage roads, according to officials at the National Park Service.

Bar Harbor is considered to be the gateway to Acadia National Park, according to leaders at the local Chamber of Commerce.

Leaders at the Chamber have posted information about lodging, shopping and the restaurant scene on their website.

They include a video by Dobbs Productions that is titled "Bar Harbor, A Place for All Seasons" so if people are inspired to visit after the flocks of tourists leave this summer, they can learn more.

According to mapquest.com, Marlboro is 40 minutes away from Bar Harbor.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire is also having a busy summer season as tourists flock to the waterfront city.

Ben VanCamp, president of The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth, said they are seeing the same tourist boom this summer as the area quickly became busy once the weather got warm.

"I think what I'm surprised by is how quickly it happened. It felt very much overnight. All of a sudden, everyone started traveling and everyone started going right away. I thought there would be more of a ramp-up to it rather than this kind of cliff we've jumped up," VanCamp said on Tuesday afternoon.

VanCamp said they have seen visitors from all over the country and the streets have been busy with foot traffic as people shop and dine downtown.

VanCamp is meeting with restaurant owners on Aug. 19 and will have a better sense of what that means financially for those businesses as the season begins to wind down. Families typically stop traveling in the middle of August because the children have to go back to school.

Contact Managing News Editor Kimberley Haas at Kimberley.Haas@townsquaremedia.com.

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