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

It was so, so, so good to be back at the Island this summer. It always is, but after missing a visit in 2021 (my first ever, due to Annie’s summer birthday), our time up north was even sweeter than usual. Just like a childhood best friend, we picked up right where we left off. Even better? We followed our week in Maine with a week in Connecticut, staying with John’s parents! Readers who have been around for awhile know that the pattern of these visits doesn’t change much from year to year — we take lots of walks, play lots of games, read lots of books, spend time with some of our favorite people — but the beauty and goodness of our surroundings is fresh every year. Here are a few snaps from this trip, if you’d like to see! That first lungful of salty breeze and that first morning wake up on-island… nothing like it. One of my favorite moments of the trip came early on: I delivered my Sunday service the day after we arrived. A little background: each week during the summer season, a volunteer Islander leads the Sunday evening service. Though rooted in Christianity and still with many of the trappings of the faith (church bell, hymnals, etc.), each leader chooses the content of their service, and right now, most choose a secular message. While I love every iteration of these services (they are one of my favorite parts of Island life!) I knew I wanted to deliver a Gospel message that served as the aroma of Christ to those I got to address, and I spent much time preparing my service in the month leading up to our trip. Surprising absolutely no one who reads this blog, my message was about the power of

In a year when so much has changed, when we find ourselves doing things, thinking things, and acting in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few months ago — what a gift to return to familiar ground. The Island has always been my “still point in a turning world,” but I was perhaps never so grateful to alight to it than I was this year – beautiful, peaceful, set-apart. Of course, not even a little remote island in Maine, reached only by boat, is immune to the coronavirus. As of this writing, it actually is free of the virus itself, but has been affected as everywhere else by stringent new rules, familiar faces missing, and the low-grade worry that attends any mixing of non-family members. Within our own cottage and family, we took a number of precautions before coming together – something we’d never given any thought to in the past. So yes, things were different this year – but most of the things we love and treasure were the same: the beautiful forests and fields and views, the slow pace, the time to be together, the time to deepen relationships with the ones we love, the time to read :) Longtime readers will be familiar with many of these views and faces, but it’s important to me to record them for my own memories. I hope they whisk you away for a bit of refreshment like they do for me! :) Hard to believe these photos were taken 10 minutes apart! Missing the napping member of the family! Sweet Shep took a digger on the sidewalk early in the week… as my Dad says, “that’s the price you pay for an active childhood.” :) Not every day you see a complete rainbow! So beautiful! Those views never get old

Here’s the thing: it is as idyllic as it looks. It’s blue ocean as far as the eye can see, and blue sky as far as the eye can see, and salty-seaweedy air, and cool evenings, and eating blueberries off the bush, and cousins who love each other, and reading all afternoon, and charming shingled cottages with actual lobster buoys hanging on the side. And here’s something else, something I am becoming increasingly aware of with each passing year: these things don’t just happen, they are made to happen. This place, it takes people making budgets and writing by-laws and picking up brush in the sun and asking after each other’s children to keep humming along so beautifully. These family cottages, they take people agreeing on common rules and doing the dishes even though they’re on vacation and abiding alongside each other even when they couldn’t be more different. It’s easier to go it alone, but it’s not more beautiful. That kind of beauty is hard to show in photos, but somehow, it seems to be reflected in the scenery of our beloved island in Maine, and that I can show you… For those who are new: “the island” is a small community off the coast of Maine with 36 cottages and one truck. Two of those cottages belong to my Dad’s side of the family and my Mom’s side of the family (that’s how they met – both have been in their families for generations, and they grew up going to this place each summer, just like I have!). The one truck can be used to help move the big suitcases (and VERY excited kiddos), but everything else gets pushed and pulled in Gardenway carts. Good thing Pop Pop has lots of help :) Shep had to wait almost