717. Acadia National Park

Where: Bar Harbor, Maine

When: August 5 - 8, 2014

With: Dave

The next stop on our weeklong trip to Maine was Acadia National Park. Bringing a true feeling of wilderness to the trip, this stop would be quite different from the fancy summer homes of the Kennebunks, and yet at the same time, would still involve lobsters, lighthouses and ocean. It would also turn out to be a momentous stop, not only for the trip, but in our lives. But more on that later.

When we reached this northern part of Maine, we headed to Bar Harbor, the biggest city on Mount Desert Island, home to the national park. Bar Harbor is absolutely gorgeous, with old buildings, a bustling harbor and a cute little main street, all completely surrounded by water. 

The first thing we had scheduled upon arrival was a whale watching trip. And this isn't whale watching where maybe you see a fountain of water way in the distance from a potential blowhole. This is some of the best whale watching there is in the country, so I was super excited. 

The boat left right from the harbor, and we tried to get a good spot along the railing to take in the scenery.  The view as we left the harbor was gorgeous, with tall, pine-covered islands scattered around creating a natural harbor on the way out to sea. 

A spray of ocean.

Once out to sea, we crossed paths with the currents that bring the whales up north for feeding in the summertime before they return south. This is where we sit and wait for a sighting. 

And then, just like that, we started to see the spouts of water. 

And then we found the tails. The tail of a whale is as unique as a fingerprint and sometimes the guides could tell us a little something about the individual whale itself. 

Sometimes we'd see them rolling on their side, and one actually looked like a shark passing by our boat. The types of whales typical of this area are humpback, finback, and Minke, but I am not entirely sure which ones these were. 

It was harder to catch on camera (or even in person), but eventually, we got to see them breaching. It was amazing. 

It could not have been a more beautiful experience to introduce us to this beautiful region of Maine.  

The next day started out a bit cloudier and rainier than the previous day, but we decided to carry on with the hiking and driving and exploring around Acadia. Little did I know how that rain would end up affecting Dave's plans for the day...

We figured the best way to see the park was to drive a segment of the scenic Loop Park Drive. While the whole drive is 27 miles, we chose a shorter version of the loop and set off. 

Our first stop was at Sand Beach, noted for, you guessed it, its sandy beach. Even with all the fog, it was still beautiful.  

Our next stop was at Thunder Hole, a formation that has been carved out from the rocks by the waves. Even though we can't see it at this point, we sure can hear it. 

A long, narrow passage of water has slowly been etched deeper and deeper into the rocks over many, many years.

The result is a long, skinny pool of water that almost drains completely when the waves pull out. 

 

However, when a wave comes in, the water gets squeezed into this narrow passageway resulting in a loud booming CLAP as the wave smacks against the back of the rocks. It was hynotizing to watch. Here's the before and after. 

Next up were some nice viewing points along the way, including Otters Point and Little Hunter's Beach. Again, while it wasn't a "pretty" day, the mist and the clouds along the craggy coastline gave the view its own special magic. 

 

The only part of the day that seemed a bit off was Dave's behavior. Normally one to go with the flow (while having a very executed plan in the back of his mind), he seemed a bit all over the place. We kept starting off on a hike, and then he'd stop us, say we didn't have enough time, and march us back to the car. These are the few shots I was able to snap when I was allowed to hike (normally Dave lets me wander as long as I want).

His behavior was so odd, but I didn't mind on this cloudy day since the views from the car were just as beautiful. 

We ended up for lunch at Jordan's Pond House, a rustic-style teahouse on the edge of the Jordan Pond. It offers tea with beautiful views and it's signature "popover", a specialty bread they make. (It is meant to substitute for a scone which is impossible to do in my opinion.) Its usually super packed, but we timed it right and got in fairly quickly to enjoy our lunch. 

After lunch, we took a hike around Jordan Pond. It was so beautiful. The weather had just started to clear a touch, giving a beautiful glassy reflection in the water.

The trail itself was half dirt, half planks. The planks are to help protect the natural floor of the woods, but it definitely made for an acrobatic challenge when we were passing someone else on the way. 

 Don't let that smile fool you. This guy was marching through this hike with an agenda in mind. 

The hike was gorgeous though, nonetheless.

Here's where things got really weird though. Suddenly, Dave needed to be in Bar Harbor for a "surprise". We took off in the car for the city. I was happy with the concept of a surprise and didn't push for any details. 

We pulled up to a spa in the city and my "surprise" was a two hour massage. It was amazing. It started to rain outside the open window, adding to the beautiful serenity of the moment, and I was totally zen. When Dave came to pick me up a couple hours later, I was so out of it, I didn't even notice how frazzled he looked. 

The car smelled of lobster, and when I asked him what for, he said it was dinner. Then he took me to a bar for a drink, but halfway through the drink, he said we had to go to dinner. Again, I was so zenned out, I didn't even notice how odd this all seemed. We drove to a hotel (not the hotel we were currently staying at) and much to my surprise, he took me up to a room with a balcony overlooking the bay. He had flowers laid out and this beautiful spread on the table. It was so nice, and I was confused, but still super out of it.

We sat in bathrobes, drank champagne and ate lobster, mussels and corn that he picked up from a local fisherman while watching the harbor in the setting sunlight. It was beautiful, but at this point, I was coming to from my trance and wondering what was going on.

 Then there was a rain shower followed by a rainbow. And still I wondered exactly what we were doing.

Then a seagull crashed our party. Maybe he knows what's up?

Then there was a stunning sunset that we watched. At this point, I am positive I have no idea why we're here.

And then, sparing the personal details, Dave proposed. And it couldn't have been more perfect or amazing or fitting. It turned out the rain had spoiled his initial plans, so he'd spent the time during my massage re-orchestrating the entire thing into what it was. I'd say it worked out well. 

We woke up super early the next day before the sun was up (not hard given the events of the night before as I was too wired to sleep!) so that we could partake in another Acadia National Park to-do: watching the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain. As the highest mountain on the eastern seaboard, it is the first place to see the sun rise in the US. Therefore, seeing a sunrise here is extra special, and what better day to do it than on the first day as an engaged couple?

The views from pre-sunrise, including the speckling of boats in the harbor.

The first peek through.

Burned out my retinas for this, but it was worth it.

From there, completely awake and energized at that early point in the day, we decided to redo the Park Loop drive, with far less traffic and way better weather. 

So back to Sandy Beach...

And to Thunder Rock...

Way fewer people this time around.

Nevermind...I guess this getting up early thing isn't as novel as I thought.

The rocks bathed in the early morning orange light were stunning. 

And the driving doesn't get much better than this. 

And we finally got to take those hikes. 

One of the hikes we took was to Eagle Lake. There was absolutely nobody there, and the lake was still as glass.

As we sat there in the silence of the morning, a mist started to rise off the lake. It was so still and quiet, I was almost afraid to breathe too loud and disturb the silence. 

After driving the loop, we headed back to our hotel to start making some calls and telling people the good news. The service in and around the park was pretty terrible, but it was nice to call a few people, and then disappear off the grid again to enjoy alone time. 

In the afternoon, we decided to take a hike up Acadia Mountain. It felt like the Shire under all of the tree cover and definitely required a couple scrambles up some boulders. A really good hike!  

As we got higher, we caught some views between the trees.

Finally at the top!

However, from here, we also had a fabulous view of the incoming thunderstorm heading our way. We scrambled down the mountain with the intent of not being a fantastic headline: "Recently Engaged Couple Struck By Lightning in Acadia". We made it to the car just in time!

From inland we headed back out to the coast for some more hiking and exploring. 

From here, we stopped at a remote lobster shack for some dinner. This place was unbelievable. The lobsters were going live into the pot and from the pot into our container, along with some corn and of course, butter (not that it was needed).

We ate dinner right on the rocks. It was the best meal ever. 

And thankfully this guy stayed away.

The sun starting to fade over dinner.

After dinner, we headed to a famous spot in the park to watch the sunset. As Dave shows,  we headed down this boardwalk into the pine tree towards the water. 

At the bottom of the boardwalk were tons of rocks and boulders. 

For the adventurous few willing to climb the rocks, a gorgeous view of Acadia's most famous lighthouse, Bass Harbor Head, can't be beat. 

Close up of the lighthouse.

While we didn't see the sun actually set, we did enjoy some beautiful colors over the ocean.

Even some sea life came out to catch the view. 

Full moon out and about. 

Acadia was an absolutely gorgeous and magical place, and will always hold an extra special meaning in the hearts of these two recently engaged kids. This definitely has inspired us to get our butts to some more national parks!