I’m in Maine at the moment and have been trying to explore as much as I can while I’m here! I grew up in Maine a few hours away from the coast, but I think I’ve only been to Acadia twice in my life and that was at least 15 years ago! This ended up being a solo trip, which was kind of fun, honestly.

Acadia is among the top ten visited National Parks in the US. Once I got inside, I took the Park Loop road and made a short stop at Sand Beach to layout on the sand and enjoy listening to the ocean waves. I’ve been so spoiled by southern beaches, I’d forgotten how cold the northern water can be!

I wanted to do a little bit of hiking and friends recommended checking out the BeeHive trail. I started the climb thinking I really didn’t have time for the full hike, but I wanted to check it out since I’d heard that most of it consisted of iron rungs bolted onto the side of a cliff. So I decided I was at least going to hike to the base where I could see the iron rungs. I kept going and didn’t see the rungs until I was about halfway up. The views were beautiful and I had the urge to press on, not knowing how much further it was to the top. Very exhausted and sweaty from taking the hike fairly quickly on a very hot day, I finally made it up to the top!

After hiking back down, I made several other stops including Thunderhole. It’s named as such because when water rushes into the cavern below, it quickly forces out the trapped air, mimicking the sound of distant thunder. Besides calmer days, the best time to hear it and feel the ocean’s spray is about two hours before high-tide.

You can either hike or drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain which has gorgeous views of the ocean and the surrounding islands! From mid-March to mid-October, this is also the first place in the US where you can see the sunrise.

Bar Harbor, which if you ask a true Mainer is pronounced “Bah Hahbah,” is a quaint, touristy town just outside of the park. It’s full of local restaurants, souvenir shops, and adventure tours. I was starving and decided to get a whole lobster! Which is perhaps one of the most awkward delicacies to eat lol. Bar Harbor may be bustling during the day, but it turned very quiet and peaceful in the evening.

Between doing the day alone, climbing to the top of BeeHive, and recording everything to potentially be a part of a YouTube Original documentary, the day felt very…empowering. I’m excited to see what comes of my submission and will let you know if anything comes of it!