Acadia April 2021
Had a great trip with Melissa here this last week!
This is us at the Bass Harbor Lighthouse in Maine
We started the trip with German pancake breakfast and a kayak trip on our nearby Beaver Pond.
Then, though it was raining, we took a little tour of Windham,
the town beach, Searles Castle, the Rail Trail & the Robert Frost Farm.
Here we are at the Windham Junction, an authentic, small town cafe & gift shop
One benefit of visiting in April is getting to see all the Forsythia,
Azalea, ornamental pear, and other blooming trees around the area.
Also....no bugs. Downside, maybe a little chilly and rainy....therefore muddy!
We walked the Robert Frost Farm loop and read the poetry.
Afterwards we played Sushi Go with all the family together, a gift from Aunt Melissa, and finished the day with a Pilates/Yoga Fusion class at Windham Pilates.
Friday, after sending the kids to school, we took off to Acadia.
Thanks to Scott for Supervising kids for 3 days solo! We had a great time recharging our batteries with beautiful scenery and hiking.
Along the way, we stopped at the Portland Head Lighthouse
This is a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" entitled "The Lighthouse"
Maine Whoppie Pies for sale? We'll stop there!
Once in Acadia, we checked our the visitor information booth in town and got recommendations from the park rangers. Due to the rain, we did some easy coastal hikes that evening. First, the Compass Harbor Trail.
This trail has the remains of the house that Dorr lovingly build in the early 1900's. It was unfortunately too expensive to upkeep after his passing, and was raised. You can still see the charm in the flooring that remains. And it's incredible to see how the forest reclaims things quickly after only 65 years.
An app tells the story of the home here: https://friendsofacadia.org/old-farm-app/
The house in it's prime....no woods in front! Now it's a huge forest!
After the Compass Harbor hike, we had dinner at Geddes.
Mmmmmm - their fish tacos were sooo delicious. We determined that we needed to go back there the next night as well.
We then hiked to Bar Island.
You can walk across a rocky trail to the island on dry ground at low tide.
The little summit on the island had a nice view of Bar Harbor.
Saturday morning the weather was perfect!
We hiked the Beehive Trail first. If you look closely, you can see the trail of people climbing the route.
In high season, they say the line is so long to hike it that the mountain looks like a beehive with all the people climbing it like the bees.
These rungs were easy to use to climb the few hundred feet of initial elevation.
View of Sand Beach from the Beehive Trail
Follow the blue stripes to the basin!
The Basin had a really cool boardwalk around it.
Sand Beach is gorgeous. Thankfully we are off season.
This was crawling with people in October a few years ago and we had to drive right on by for lack of parking. We certainly missed the beautiful Fall leaves, but April is a nice time to visit for less crowds and nearly no bugs.
Thunder Hole is a big attraction. Luckily we caught the booming sound at 11, but returned at 1 pm to hear the full effect. Sadly, the waves were not volatile enough to create the big boom for us that it's famous for.
We finished the park loop and also viewed Cadillac Mountain.
Then, we hit the carriage trails.
We did an 10.5 mile carriage road mountain loop on our bikes, which went over several of the famous stone bridges built in the 30's and 40's.
Gatehouse at Jordan Pond
Built in a French style.
After another delicious dinner at Geddes, we headed to Bass Harbor Lighthouse to see the sunset, which the rangers said was a highlight at the park.
It was indeed a beautiful view from the shore of the lighthouse and sunset.
After taking this beautiful picture and hanging out for 20 minutes, I was thinking we should go, but luckily Melissa said we might want to stay a little longer.
The sunset got even more amazing as the night came on!
I share these details to remind me, in case I go back, or any friends visit,
so they know to stay until the sun is really setting.
This was our most iconic picture of the sunset and Barr Harbor Lighthouse
It was breathtaking
Last Day in Acadia:
On Sunday, we tried to listen to church, but due to technical difficulties, ended up listening to BYU Women's Conference instead.
Our hotel, the Atlantic Oceanside Hotel, was affordable off season ($105 a night including tax!), had ocean views, an indoor pool, and (we were very grateful) an excellent breakfast.
First, we hit the Jordan Pond loop. Gorgeous little hike mostly on boardwalks with water views the whole time as you hug the lake. Loved it!
After breakfast, we went to Schoodic Point which, was really quite amazing! The rock formations were fantastic to run around on. Though quite a drive to get to, we were really glad we came!
On the way home, we were curious to get a quick view of Old Orchard Beach.
It has a beautiful Pier. The rest of the town is very kid/teenage-dream with amusement park and bumper cars. Fun to see a new beach I had never been to.
For our last stop, but before dark, we stopped by Kennebunkport.
This is Walker's Point, the Bush Family vacation home.
I had to stop and get out of the car to take this photo, haha.....
it just looked so peaceful, the grasses and the sunset.
Kennebunkport was charming at night.
Things for me to remember if I go back to Acadia.
1. Hike the Precipice Trail. It was closed due to endangered bird nesting this week. Bummer!
2. Also, Isle de Haut was only open in season and is challenging to get to. Most locals said they had never even been there because it's so difficult to drive to and catch the mail ferry.
If you can get there, a bike ride around the island looks super fun!
3. Remember to check your gas as you drive the 4.5 hours to Acadia, especially if you are having fun talking to Melissa. You might forget to check your gauge, and you might have to hitch a ride in the rain to a nearby gas station to continue your journey. And you might have to donate the $33 gas can you just bought to someone who has a truck so that you don't fume up your van.
Just speaking ...... hypothetically. 😁😉
