acadia 2020
This is the third Summer in a row that Acadia has made an impact on me. Zach & I went three years ago and discovered the best campground in the area, and fell in love with Maine all over again. Last year, we returned to our same spot, same campground, and took some friends with us. It was so fun to experience it with other people and add onto our fun memories. And now, three years strong, this has become one of my favorite Summer traditions. I love coming to the campground and roughing it out for a few days. Memories can be so easily made when you’re with people you love in a special place.
day one
Our first day is always about arriving and settling in. We started our drive around 9:30 am and headed towards our favorite pit stop - Belfast, Maine. This is home of the ever so wonderful restaurant, Bay Wrap that we discovered on our first Acadia trip. We got to take our wraps and continued our drive to MDI. Our second pit stop was at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. Last year we went to the observatory on the top of the bridge, but this year we just stopped to take photos and view from below. However, across the parking lot is a large rock wall that has been covered in graffiti, so we stopped and took some cool photos there as well, making it a very fun excursion.
Once we arrived at our campground, we safely checked in and began to settle in our usual spot. My entire day was made when one of the workers remembered me and welcomed me back to the area. It made me feel like I truly belonged there. As per tradition, after we set up camp we headed down to the dock to plan our grocery list and daily agenda. Next was the grocery run, and then veggie stir fry for dinner topped off with s’mores of course.
day two
When we woke up, we were all a bit sluggish and lazy and Zach wasn’t feeling too great, so we decided to hang out and have a chill day at the campground. We had a leisurely breakfast where we learned that cooking eggs over the campfire isn’t as easy as it looks, and realized just how many squirrels and chipmunks were in the campground. The girls & I headed out to drive around, pick up a few more things, and get popovers from Jordan Pond for the first time!
I enjoyed learning about the history and significance of the popover, but of course, it was love at first bite. The pastry was so soft and puffy and combined with the butter and jam it was like a dream.
We sat and relaxed for a bit afterward and played some games in the tent before making campfire hot dogs for dinner.
Day Three
We woke up, had a nice and slow breakfast, and got ready to go into the town for the day. We safely walked around the small town of Bar Harbor and popped into a few shops to support small business and check it out. We went to our favorites like Into The Woods and the Acadia Park Store and saw some of our favorite local vendors. It was reassuring to see places are still open and practicing safety measures during COVID-19 that makes it possible to travel safely.
Next on the agenda was watching the sunset on the top of Cadillac, which in my opinion is always the highlight of the trip. There’s something so magical about seeing the sunset from such a high altitude, and though you are surrounded by other friendly faces, it feels as though the sun is setting just for you to watch. We gathered with blankets and snacks to have a little picnic and enjoyed ourselves until it got too dark to stay safe. We then returned back to camp, had a little fire, and went to bed.
Day four
Today was our big hiking day. We had originally planned to do more, but we realized that spending time together and relaxing was more important to us right now, especially since social distance and socialization has been put on the back burner for a bit. But once we had relaxed for a few days in each other’s company, we were ready to test our strength.
First on the list was Beehive, all of our favorite trail. I love it for the rigor and the adventurous qualities it has such as rungs, wooden planks, and bars leading you quite literally up the side of the mountain. It was a foggy morning, so the views were minimal, but I absolutely loved it. It felt so mysterious and eerie to be climbing higher and higher but have no view of below. It was as if we were climbing into the endless sky. We lounged for a bit on the summit of the mountain, eating snacks and exploring the views, then we headed down again. On our way down we bumped into these two small children who were lost and helped them reunite with their parents, which made us all feel proud.
We then headed to cross Sand Beach and proceeded to the Great Head Trail. Zach and I thought we hiked the entirety of this one our first year coming to Acadia but were mistaken when we realized it was a much larger loop trail! We completed the whole loop and played fun games while walking by the ocean views and woodsy trails.
Next, we headed back to camp to change, grabbed some food, and headed to the top of Cadillac for a farewell sunset. It was very cloudy so the actual sun setting wasn’t the best, but it always makes for a good time. Our last night was spent playing card games and laughing, as always.
Day Five
We were abruptly awoken at around five in the morning to extreme rain on the tent. I personally loved it and found it to be very relaxing, but the thought of packing up camp in the rain made everyone, and Zach especially, very anxious. We began devising a plan and looking at when there would be a break in rainfall for the perfect time to strike. We started packing up around eight-thirty and I am proud to say we were finished by nine forty-five. We then got cleaned up, checked out, and headed to grab some breakfast.
We stopped and got popovers to go on the way home, and it was a perfect way to say “see you next year” to our little home in Acadia.
