Real estate broker, hospitality investor, and music producer Kim Swan has called Bar Harbor home for most of her life. The owner of the Swan Agency Sotheby’s International Realty, which has offices in Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, and Blue Hill, Swan is a devoted member of the MDI community, involved in local initiatives ranging from television and film projects to animal rescue. “Mom” to two Yorkies, Ava and Izzi, she often walks her pups on Acadia’s private carriage roads reached from Seal Harbor. “During the high season you may have to stand aside while one of the gorgeous horse-drawn carriages goes by—that’s a treat for visitors,” Swan says.

Swan also likes to take friends to the charming village of Northeast Harbor, known by sailors for its protected anchorage. “Our first stop is my friend Erika Wibby Mitchell’s shop, Main Street Mercantile,” Swan says. Across the street, Shaw Jewelry has unusual pieces and paintings by a variety of artisans, and lunch is often at the grand and historic Asticou Inn, where the menu includes the same popovers made famous at the Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park. And no visit to the area would be complete without a hike. “Our favorite is Day Mountain—you can either follow the carriage roads to the top or take the path,” says Swan. “Either way the views are fantastic, especially in the fall with all of the colors.”