Week 17 - Acadia National Park, ME (The Island)

Hello Family and Friends,

The state slogan of Maine is "The Way Life Should Be". I must admit it feels so good to be here. There is a attitude of let's slow down and just enjoy life around us a bit. For those of you who don't know, I went to undergraduate school in Brunswick, Maine (Bowdoin College). While I was there I just complained and complained about how cold it was and I couldn't wait to get back below the Mason-Dixon Line. This is my second time back to Maine since graduating college over a decade ago, and I am struck with what a shame it is that I didn't enjoy it more while I was living here for four years. How did I miss all the beauty that Maine offers? Don't get me wrong, it is still cold. We came up to Maine through Boston where the temperature went from 73 degrees to 51 degrees. I mean, what is wrong with Maine? And our server had the nerve to tell us that this is warm weather. Meanwhile, I'm pulling my sweaters out of my storage suitcase. However, even with the cold...and rain, it's beautiful! Being in Maine feels like a breath of fresh air.

Brett preparing to eat his Maine dinner. Can't go to Maine without eating a whole lobster at least once. Atlas thinks it is funny that Brett is wearing a bib.

To get to Maine from NY we passed through Connecticut. We took the Merritt Parkway, which is the most beautiful stretch of highway I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. There were two accidents on Merritt Parkway that our GPS navigated us around. This made our trip way longer than the four hours a day we like to drive, but we were rewarded by even more beautiful landscape throughout Connecticut. I now have a dream that I will live in NYC and summer in Connecticut.

Our next pass through state was Rhode Island (RI). This is actually where my mother is from. A lot of her side of the family still lives in East Providence, RI. We stopped over quickly to give my Nana a hug and also got to see my cousin Latoya and my Aunt Joyce. It was such a quick stop, but it was like a hug for the soul to see Nana and to let Atlas visit with his great grandmother.

We were only in RI for a few hours before heading further north to Boston were we spent the night. Brett and I will definitely be returning to spend more time here. Boston feels like a place we could see ourselves living. We will have to give it the full tour one day.

We had the pleasure of exploring Acadia National Park via e-bikes on the carriage roads as our first activity in the park. The carriage roads are a mixed used, mostly gravel trail, without any motor vehicles. The first time we rode bikes with Atlas was in Central Park. Atlas really fought the whole helmet thing. This time he was ready for it. He has really taken a liking to bike riding. Also, I have decided that a mid-drive is the way to go when it comes to e-bikes. It feels more like riding a bike and less like driving a motorcycle.

Everyone having a great time biking in Acadia National Park

Experiencing the park via the carriage roads was absolutely beautiful. The views were stunning! The absolute best way to see the park.

An amazing view of Witch Hole Pond along the Carriage Road loop.

A view from the bank of Jordan Pond

A view across Eagle Lake

My husband really loves me! We woke up at 3:15AM in order to see the sunrise. Brett is not a morning lark whatsoever. However, Cadillac Mountain is the first point the sun touches in the United States. We could not miss this opportunity. All of our efforts were rewarded with a spectacular view of...fog. It was raining and the wind was fierce. Walking out to the overlook was ok as the wind was at our backs. On the return walk, the wind with the rain felt like little daggers stabbing our face. We not only didn't see the sun at sunrise, we didn't see the sun all day. Just a typical "Spring" day in Maine.

Our morning sunrise on Cadillac Mountain

After our early morning adventures everyone was tired.

Atlas taking his third nap of the day at the L.L.Bean outlet store.

We did return back to Cadillac Mountain later on in our visit so that we could enjoy the view (we didn't attempt another sunrise) and they didn't disappoint!

The view from the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

We even decided to spread some of Nathaniel's ashes on Cadillac Mountain. Not sure what Nathaniel's favorite place was while on this earth. But one time he told me that he didn't want to grow up because he wanted to stay with me forever. So just maybe his favorite place is where we are and we want him here with us!

Nathaniel Lyn McKinney April 11, 2014

In many ways this trip is because of Nathaniel. Leaving a piece of him at the place where the sun rises first seemed a good spot. We will continue to memorialize him in beautiful and magnificent places that speak to who Nathaniel was to us.

The small cluster of trees is where we took a moment to share Nathaniel with the mountain.

I would be negligent if I didn't mention the food scene here in Bar Harbour, the town at the foot of Acadia National Park. In general, Maine restaurants really respect ingredients and pride themselves on quality ingredients. While the food isn't very flavorful it is good. Mostly the goodness comes from the fresh ingredients. We could easily spend a week or two here in order to explore everything. We would have loved to have time and good weather to get out on the water. Furthermore, we might have been here just a week too early. Some of the summer activities don't start until after memorial day. However, that is also when the area gets crowded and you need reservations to do certain things on the mountain. Overall we enjoyed our short time in Maine and would definitely recommend!

A beaver dam; nature's engineers