Though I have been to Maine almost every year of my life, I had never been to Acadia National Park until summer 2025. This often surprised people, and felt like a gap that needed be filled in my Maine resume. Last year, we decided to rectify the situation, and in August, we made it happen. I’d love to share some photos and a few details on what we did, if you’d like to see! Like many national parks, Acadia takes a bit of work to reach. We flew into Portland (Breeze has a direct flight from Raleigh!), rented an SUV, and drove an hour and a half north to spend a few days with my family on our island in the Midcoast region. And we weren’t alone! It was a delight to travel with family friends and get to introduce them to our beloved place.  Day One After a few days in the Midcoast, we drove 2.5 hours further north to reach Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia. We arrived in time for a late lunch at the appropriately-named Lunch Bar Harbor. It’s on the Village Green (one of two central hubs in Bar Harbor — the other is the waterfront) and it was tough to find parking even on a Tuesday afternoon. This made us thankful we’d rented bikes for the week, meaning this was one of the only times we’d need to find parking downtown. We ate our paninis and grilled cheeses on the green, picked up a few cookies from The Sweet Bite to bring on our hike, and hopped back in the cars to head to the park. John had mapped out our hikes in advance, and Tuesday afternoon’s was the Gorham Mountain/Cadillac Cliffs loop. As usual, he did a fantastic job, selecting a hike that