In July 2022, my girlfriend (now wife) and I planned a trip for our second anniversary, centered around visiting Acadia National Park in Maine. The trip was important in a […]
In July 2022, my girlfriend (now wife) and I planned a trip for our second anniversary, centered around visiting Acadia National Park in Maine.
The trip was important in a lot of ways. While we had previously visited Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio, this was our first time camping in a National Park and planning an entire trip around our visit. National Parks aren’t common in the Northeast, with Acadia being the sole representative for hundreds of miles. But this trip was also our last major excursion in the Northeast before moving out West to Colorado. Sure, we would’ve stumbled across National Parks out West regardless, but this Acadia trip really sparked our desire to visit as many parks as possible and fill out our passport book.
What you’ll see here is a recounting of the trip: first in great detail, followed by just pictures. This article was pretty ambitious, with a couple hundred pictures taken over the course of a few days. Rather than leave these beautiful pictures in my drafts forever, I’m deciding to publish them now, even if the overall narrative is incomplete and ends abrupbtly.
Enjoy, and be sure to check out my other photo galleries and travel articles for more!
Road Trip #1: Kingston, New York to Portland/Freeport, Maine
The overall route from Kingston, NY (the closest town of note to our tiny home town) to Acadia National Park: a 473-mile route that spans roughly 8 hours. Because we left in the afternoon on Thursday, we decided to split the drive up with a stop in Portland, Maine and a hotel in Freeport, Maine as our destinations for Thursday: requiring about 5 hours of driving on paper.
Massachusetts was the first state we crossed in to on our trip. This picture was taken at the Lee Eastbound Service Plaza off I-90. I-90 is a slightly dull but effective way to cut across the state of Massachusetts. Rarely intersecting civilization, the highway (called the Massachusetts Turnpike, or simply Mass Pike) is surrounded by trees on both sides and features periodic, small (usually less than $1.00) tolls collected throughout.
After I-90, pretty much any route to Maine requires hopping on I-95, the longest north-south interstate highway in the country. The original route called to skim around Boston to the northwest via I-495, but we ended up taking an early entry in to New Hampshire to avoid traffic. I-95 spans a mere 18 miles in New Hampshire, before crossing in to Maine via the Piscataqua River Bridge, which connects Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, ME.
Entering Maine for the first time, we bee lined to the Maine State Visitor Information Center in Kittery. The air was crisp and cool following some apparent rainfall, and the rest area was populated with many tall trees.
A 2021 Maine Highway Map posted in the Visitor’s Center. I found Maine’s perfectly geometric and even townships to the North and East to be interesting.
Portland, Maine
Parking in Portland, Maine seemed pretty hectic, with many people out on the late July Thursday night patronizing the mainly seafood restaurants on every corner. Luckily, we found some refuge in Fort Allen Park. Across the water (which is the Casco Bay, a sub-section of the Gulf of Maine, all contained in the Atlantic Ocean) are some of Maine’s 4,600+ islands. Fort Gorges appears as the structure on an island, with Little Diamond Island followed by Great Diamond Island on the left-hand side of the picture.
We wrapped around the trail towards the East End Beach, exposing more stunning coastal views, accented by the lush greenery on land. The beach is located both on the East and essentially the North end of peninsula that Portland sits on. Portland is Maine’s biggest city, with a population of 68,408 as of 2020, as well as a popular tourist destination.
East End Beach was pretty and relatively quiet, save for a couple people playing with their dogs. The Casco Bay water was clear and chilly. In the distance, Mackworth Island, designated as a Maine State Park and accessible by car, can be seen. East End Beach features sand, which is something you can’t say about a lot of the state’s mostly rocky 3,500 miles of shoreline.
I’m no botanist, but I found the wall of seaweed on shore to be pretty interesting. It looked very healthy, bright, and plant-like, unlike the dark, slimy seaweed I’m used to seeing on the Jersey Shore.
As we walked back to our car, the mostly cloudy sky revealed some pink and orange as the sun set. The greenery, boats docked, and water in this picture really capture the vibe of Portland, Maine.
Dinner at Brickyard Hollow (Yarmouth, ME)
For a variety of reasons (advancing closer to our hotel, Portland’s crowdedness, many of Portland’s restaurants closing at 8:00 PM, and no particular need for a seafood-specific place) we ventured up to Brickyard Hollow in Yarmouth, Maine. The amount of puns we made concerning dinner and the towns name were too many to count.
With a decent amount of in-house selections to choose from, I went with this Trestle hazy IPA. My girlfriend got a Watermelon Sour, which had delightful taste and a gnarly bite.
I was in the mood for pizza, and Brickyard Hollow’s menu had some interesting options, including pizza’s that included blueberries (Maine’s signature fruit,) peaches, goat cheese, and mashed potatoes. The one I went with had goat cheese, red peppers, broccoli, spinach, and mashed potatoes. It was very good.
My girlfriend got a lobster roll, something she wanted to check off her Maine to-do list early. The roll was sold for market price, as lobster often is but we were a bit shocked to learn this plate came out to $36, with everything else on the menu being pretty affordable. Nevertheless, she enjoyed the roll, and the French fries were surprisingly noteworthy, with a crisp outside, but a soft, fluffy inside. Overall, we enjoyed our dinner selection of Brickyard Hollow and would recommend it.
Hotel in Freeport
For our lone night in a hotel on our four-night trip, we stayed at an Econo Lodge in Freeport, Maine off I-295. The motel/lodge was clean and had everything we needed for the night. We must’ve been spoiled by cheap hotel prices during heavier COVID-times (plus, Maine in the middle of the summer is a hot ticket) because the $137 we paid to stay here was nearly double the rate we were getting hotels for in 2020 and 2021.
We spent about 10 total hours in the hotel, taking advantage of the light but free continental breakfast and coffee, before hitting the road on Friday morning for the last 2.5 hours of driving to Acadia National Park.
Acadia National Park: Hull’s Cove Visitor Center
2.5 hours Northeast of Freeport sits the main Visitor’s Center, Hull’s Cove, for Acadia National Park. Most of Acadia National Park sits on Mount Desert Island, with the majority of tourism from as many as 4 million annual visitors taking place on this island. This is one picture I failed to snap myself, and it appears courtesy of Shoreline Connecticut.
Some tips, rules, and regulations for the National Park. We purchased a vehicle pass for $30.00, which is good for park entry and parking for seven days.
Some rock steps cutting through thick forest set an early vibe for Acadia National Park.
The Hull’s Cove Visitor Center featured an expansive parking lot, which is the center for the park’s free Island Explorer shuttle service. The free shuttle features stops at multiple points of interest around Mount Desert Island, and even travels as far as the Schoodic Peninsula, the only mainland portion of Acadia National Park. The shuttle service aims to decrease congestion and vehicle traffic. Admittedly, we should have utilized this service once or twice and while we intended to, we never got around to it. Other visitors with similar thought patterns are probably the only thing holding this back from being a highly utilized service.
At the Hull’s Cove Visitor Center, after acquiring our Park Pass, we purchased our first National Park Passport and our first stamp inside. While this isn’t our first National Park (we previously visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and I visited Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado,) it marks the beginning of a more involved National Parks journey. While we don’t want to add too many things to National Park check-in routine, we couldn’t resist a sticker in addition to the free dated stamp. Acadia National Park in Maine is the only National Park in the North Atlantic region, though New York and Massachusetts are littered with National Historic Parks and National Historic Sites.
Seal Harbor Beach
Our first stop after the Visitor’s Center was Seal Harbor Beach: on Mount Desert Island but not technically in Acadia National Park. The beach is one of the island’s two sand beaches, and is far less crowded than the popular Sand Beach, but understandably this beach is also smaller in scale.
The beach set an early tone for the atmosphere of Mount Desert Island: crystal-clear waters with lush, green foliage in the background.
We had to dip our feet in the *chilly* water. Even in the summer, the water in the Gulf of Maine rarely rises above 55 degrees.
From the parking lot, the other side of the harbor, as well as some single-standing islands, can be seen in the distance.
Boat Cruise and Little Cranberry Island Stop
Eagle Lake
Scenic Views
Sand Beach
Other Categories I Didn’t Upload Pictures For
Camping at Schoodic Beach
Cadillac Mountain… or not
Thunder Hole
Gorham Mountain Hike
Sand Beach Pt. 2, Great Head, and Ocean Path
Popovers at Jordan Pond House
Jordan Pond Loop
Dinner in Ellsworth, Maine
Camping at Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia National Park
Schoodic Peninsula
Schoodic Institute and Welcome Center, Sundew Trail
Schoodic Point
Last Views of Acadia on Schoodic Peninsula
Desert of Maine
L.L. Bean Flagship Store in Freeport, Maine
Freeport, Maine
Road Trip #2: Freeport, Maine to Boston, Massachusetts
Road Trip #3: Boston, Massachusetts to Bloomington, New York
I may get to upload these pictures one day, but again, I figured it was time to get an incomplete account of my travels up rather than no account.
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