Acadia on Father’s Day

Our house has a ton of windows so we have a great view of the lake. Unfortunately that view faces east, there are no shades or blinds on any of the windows and the sun rises really, really early in Maine. For the most part, the kids survived the sleepover except for Whitaker who slept in our bed the whole night. The bright morning meant I woke up before everyone else so I took off for a quick run before the rest of the house was awake. It was a beautiful sunny morning in Maine.

When I returned everyone was up and eating breakfast. Our goal was to leave the house by 8 am and we managed to pull out of the driveway earlier than I expected at 8:14 am - Father’s Day was off to a surprisingly good start. We had a quick pit stop at the store to get Ilah some more formula and then it was off to Acadia.

We started the day at the visitors center to get the kids some Junior Ranger books and then headed to the Park Loop drive. Just like we had in Canada, we used the GuideAlong app to narrate our drive. Keely thinks the narrator is so funny and clever. But, just like Banff and Jasper, the guide is full of tons of interesting and useful information.

One of the interesting but difficult things about Acadia is that much of the park roads are one way roads which means if you miss a stop or pullout, there’s nothing you can do. Parking is very limited in the park so finding a spot is also rather difficult.

Our first stop was at Otter Cliff. We found a few parking spaces and then headed up the easy half mile trail to the cliffs. There were some amazing views and the kids enjoyed watching the rock climbers below us climb up and repel down the side of the cliff. We then hopped back in the car to Otter Cove pull off. It was low tide so the kids went Tide Pooling looking for shells, crabs and all sorts of other tiny sea creatures. Ari could have stayed there all day! Ainsley followed Hana around but was afraid to touch most of the critters. The boys followed Ari’s lead and soon were overturning every rock looking for sea life.

By this time, most of the crew were getting hungry so we made our way (with a few detours to see some stone bridges) to the Jordon Pond area . This is one of the most popular places in the park and parking is impossible. Cole and I dropped our passengers off and searched for a parking spot. As expected, the wait for the Jordon Pond Tea House was long and the kids were having a great time playing in the lawn so we enjoyed a picnic lunch from home along with some of the famous Jordan Pond Popovers from the popover stand. The pastry was delicious.

After lunch it was time to hike to see more of the carriage roads and famous stone bridges. Miles and miles of carriage roads were built in the park and there are still horse and carriages using these roads today. Along the road are beautiful stone bridges that allow the road to cross over rivers and streams. Built in the early 1900s, the bridges are beautiful stonework. We encountered a few horse drawn carriages along our 2 mile hike as well.

We successfully made it back to the tea house and then had a little time to stop and explore as we made our way to Cadillac Mountain. Dan and Jane relaxed while the rest of us headed up the Bubbles trail. This was a much steeper climb than expected made even harder by the need to carry Whitaker for most of the hike. The payoff was worth it when we arrived at the summit and had a spectacular view of Jordon Pond. It was drizzling slightly the whole hike which made some of the rocks rather slippery on our way down. It was also quite a bit longer than we expected and we had to hustle down to make our Cadillac Mountain road reservation.

Our next activity was to drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Due to popularity, this road has a timed entry. We got to the gates right on time and made our way up the mountain. Each turn brought us better and more expansive views of the islands and sea that make up the Maine Coastline. We spent a little bit of time at the summit before stopping in the gift shop and then heading back down.

The Barnowskys opted to head back to the house for dinner but since it was Father’s Day and we were in Maine, I decided we should get some lobster from an authentic lobster pound. When I was last in Acadia 27 years ago, we ate at the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound so it was a perfect spot to go this time as well. I don’t recall much from my first time in Acadia but as soon as we walked into the tiny shack, it all came back. The girl working the register was the 5th generation to work there and showed the kids everything. They held a live lobster, learned about the whole process, and asked good questions.

For dinner, I ordered a lobster, Keely opted for chowder, Odin was adventurous and picked mussels while the others went with Mac & cheese. Everything was great! The kids all tried a tiny bit of lobster and liked it. Odin devoured his mussels! He’s definitely our most adventurous eater.

On our way back to the house we stopped one last time for some ice cream - a perfect way to end the day. The boys immediately met up with Ari to go fishing while Hana and Ainsley played with Ilah.

Spending 12+ hours in a National Park is about as good as it gets for Father’s Day. Add in lobster and ice cream and it’s a perfect day!