The Bar That Named the Town
Near Bar Harbor, Maine
Twice a day, at low tide, the ocean pulls back and reveals a secret path. A wide ribbon of gravel and sand emerges from the water, connecting downtown Bar Harbor to the wooded shore of Bar Island across the harbor. This natural land bridge is called a tombolo, and it is exactly what gives this town its name.
The bar of Bar Harbor. You can walk across it, out to the quiet island and back, but only during a window of a couple of hours around low tide. Linger too long exploring the far shore and you will watch your route back vanish beneath the rising sea.
For most of its history this town was not called Bar Harbor at all. It was incorporated in seventeen ninety six as Eden. Only in nineteen eighteen did the residents officially rename it after this humble strip of gravel, the sandbar that appears and disappears with the pull of the moon.
Check a tide chart before you cross, wear shoes you do not mind getting wet, and give yourself time to get back.
