As a bonus, the bulk of the island’s best family activities have an educational bent, as MDI’s comparatively unspoiled character fosters a local obsession with natural (and, to a lesser extent, human) history. You can even try your hand at lobster fishing. The Naturalist's Notebook “Shop + Think,” says the sign outside this Seal Harbor edutainment emporium, and that about sums it up. Abbe Museum Maine's only Smithsonian affiliate, the cozy Abbe Museum chronicles the history, art, and culture of Maine’s Wabanaki Nations, which include Maine’s major Native American tribes.

August 22, 2014 The king-daddy draw on Down East Maine’s Mount Desert Island is unquestionably Acadia National Park. Choose from more than a half-dozen outings on the waters surrounding MDI, most of them in the neighborhood of three hours long. Fill all your lobster swag needs in the gift shop. It’s not quite a museum, not quite a toy or book store, but a kind of whimsical amalgam with exhibits and electric faucet Manufacturers merchandise that tries to sum up the story of the last 13.8 billion years, from the Big Bang through yesterday. Bar Harbor Whale Watching Co. The exhibits don’t dwell exclusively in the past, though—contemporary works by First Nations artist are displayed alongside archaeological artifacts like arrowheads and pottery shards. But hey, sometimes it rains, or the kids are burned out on hiking, or you’ve just had enough grandeur for one day. These few MDI highlights will keep the kids entertained and make sure they go home having learned a little something about whales (for example). Elsewhere on the island, tiny hamlets like Seal Harbor and Southwest Harbor maintain the character of working fishing villages with a light tourism element thrown in—scenic and educational ocean cruises are big.

The Kisma Preserve in nearby Trenton isn’t a zoo, but a rescue operation for homeless wild animals, and an hour-long tour introduces visitors to the preserve’s resident wolves, tigers, and lynx. MDI, as the locals know it, has plenty to offer outside the park, much of it centered around the one-time upper-crust summer colony of Bar Harbor (still picturesque, now somewhat more egalitarian).

For mom and dad, the ship’s galley serves beer and wine. Mount Desert Oceanarium Kids can handle live starfish, urchins, and horseshoe crabs from the oceanarium’s touch tank and get up close and personal with a few lobsters from the on-site hatchery. Outside, a boardwalk stroll through a salt marsh teaches about the complexities of saltwater ecosystems. Kisma Preserve As much wildlife as you can spot in and around Acadia, there are certain animals—crocodiles, for instance—that you’re just not likely to encounter. Humpback, Finback and Minke whales are out there, as are puffins, seals, and seabirds.

It is also rigged to automatically lift the toilet seat during cleaning so that this, too, can be germ-free in instant electric heating water faucet Suppliers three seconds flat. The faucet is also hands-free, as well as outfitted with another UV light to ensure the purity of the water you might use to brush your teeth or wash your face. Boeing’s bathroom uses features like hands-free soap dispensers, trash bins, hand dryers, and that automatically lifting toilet seat and lid.99% of bacteria and pathogens on all surfaces within a mere three seconds. Boeing has built a prototype of a self-cleaning lavatory that disinfects after every use—which, paired with hands-free features, would make using the restroom in-flight will be considerably less gross.

A Boeing spokesman tells Travel + Leisure that there’s no timeline for putting this design on aircraft since the company has only just finished the prototype.” The Clean Lavatory is also one of the top three finalists for a Crystal Cabin Award, an international aircraft design innovation award whose winners will be announced on April 5. Far ultraviolet light is the key to this Clean Lavatory concept. “The UV light destroys all known microbes by literally making them explode,” Boeing Research & Technology engineer Jamie Childress said in a statement.March 04, 2016 In the future, you might not have to desperately avoid using the germ-filled airplane bathrooms on long-haul flights. Boeing explains in a press release that its UV lights are positioned throughout the restroom and will kill 99.

Boeing says its engineers are also researching a hands-free door latch and a vacuum-vent system. But, he said, “We are moving forward with the design and development of the concept. That kind of automation can be found throughout the rest of this self-cleaning bathroom prototype, too. While Boeing says this particular type of light isn’t harmful to humans, the cleaning system is designed only to turn on when the bathroom door is closed and unoccupied.

Though some of these hands-free features are already implemented on aircraft, it’s going to be a while before the self-cleaning lavatory makes it into the air.

For hiking, you really can’t go instant electric heating water faucet Manufacturers wrong anywhere in Acadia National Park.; 207/244-5222; lunch for two 50) in Southwest Harbor. My favorite trails are Penobscot, Pemetic, and the Bubbles. And—if you want to fit in with the tony summer crowd—be sure to bring your pink pants, yellow sweaters, or at least one pair of boat shoes. (At a nearby table, we noticed George Stephanopolous and his wife Alexandra Wentworth ordered the same).

Time to eat again.September 04, 2009 You’d have to be dead inside not to love Maine, with its breathtaking landscapes, fresh sea air, and honest food. Here are a few pointers for best spots to hit. While I was there last week。

I ate my weight in lobster and fried clams and tried to get in as much hiking as possible to balance that out. Clark Mitchell is an associate editor at Travel + Leisure.. Don’t miss Gilley's Head of the Harbor (433 Main St. On the drive in, stop at Lunt’s Lobster Pound (1137 Bar Harbor Rd. We had the fried clams and a lobster roll with homemade potato chips. And you have to drive (or hike) up Cadillac Mountain for the killer views., Trenton; 207/667-2620; lunch for two 40) for lobsters and a delicious, not-too-thick chowder。