The Bar Harbor Pie Shop You CANNOT Pass Up

For many, a Christian cruise to Canada & New England is a lifelong dream come true. A big, bucket list item to cross off your travel itinerary during the season of colorful fall foliage or brilliant summer sunshine. But often, family vacations are best remembered by the quiet, unassuming moments that fill them, not the larger-than-life reasons we decided to make the journey.

A fourth-generation restaurant discovered while exploring a quaint sidestreet; a shop owner who shares stories of what it was like to grow up there. When you travel with us, you’ll receive our first hand recommendations for tiny travel gems such as these.

A Welcome to Savor

Imagine departing from Boston on a luxurious cruise ship sailing up the majesticNew England coastline. You bypass quaint fishing villages, jaw-dropping rocky cliffs and iconic lighthouses.

Your first port? Bar Harbor, Maine. This summer resort is the entry point for Acadia National Park and was once a vacation destination for families like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. With an eye on the soaring granite cliffs, you prepare for your first port adventure.

Bar Harbor has a pier that’s far too small for a cruise ship, so you step onto a smaller vessel that will tender you into the village.

As you reach the pier and step off the tender’s ramp, it hits you. The aroma. It’s delicious and enticing. It’s not the typical salty air of a fishing village you detect, but something else entirely. Finally you identify it: Pies. Fresh-baked, mouth-watering, gold-crusted pies.

Many in your group are heading into Agamont Park or down the street, but you hesitate, following your nose. It leads you to a tiny waterfront café—just steps away—where small, red-framed windows stand out from rustic wooden siding. This is definitely a classic hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

Then your eyes alight on the source of the aroma: Warm pies, cooling in the window, literal slices of Americana.

Welcome to Sunrise Café. This new(ish) eatery serves regionally sourced, fresh foods to locals as well as those just passing through. A place that proudly serves breakfast-all-day, they specialize in amazing coffee, both sweet and savory crêpes and even offer delectable lobster rolls. But most importantly, every day, they dish up the most heavenly blueberry pies you’ve ever tasted.

Do we recommend Sunrise Café? Absolutely. Do we ever walk past it without stopping? Not a chance. Do NOT miss this unexpected and delightful café. It’s the perfect welcome to Bar Harbor, to New England and to the cruise vacation of a lifetime.