When I was a kid, my Dad would take me to visit Acadia National Park in the summer. I don’t remember much since it was so long ago, but I do remember the views from Cadillac Mountain and the coastline. If you’ve never been to the Maine coast, it’s a must see!

Since then, I’ve only been to Acadia twice in the past 20 something years. Once with my husband before we got married and once for an Adventure Elopement styled shoot, which you can check out HERE. (Ummmmm that was AWESOME and I’d love to photograph a REAL couple in Acadia, but I digress!)

The Birthday Backstory

If you don’t know, my mom and I have the same birthday! Yep, I was born on her 28th birthday! And this year she celebrated her 70th! One of her requests for her 70th year was to go on an epic adventure! Originally we were planning to do something BIG for our birthday weekend, but I was in the midst of planning our trip to Utah and it was too much for me to try to plan TWO epic adventures at once. So I invited her along to Utah (Check out all that amazingness HERE) and we settled on going to Acadia National Park for our birthday weekend.

Portland Headlight

My mom has never been to Acadia before and since it’s such a long drive, we decided to make a few stops along the way! In all the times I’ve driven to Maine, I’ve always wanted to go to the Portland Headlight. But to be honest, I didn’t think we’d spend any more than an hour there. We actually ended up spending almost 2! Fort Williams Park was beautiful! Not only was there the lighthouse, but also a cliff walk and paths and flower gardens. I was super jealous of the photographer taking senior photos while we were there! What a great place for photos! We had a great time walking around even though it was a dreary day.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

After picking up my mom’s friend in Portland, we stopped at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. Another beautiful spot. It started off sunny when we first arrived and then the fog rolled in in the matter of minutes! It was cool to watch!

Acadia National Park

We rented an Airbnb in Southwest Harbor, also known as the “quiet side”. During our 3 night stay we got to do a couple trails, saw the Bass Harbor Lighthouse, Cadillac Mountain, and drove the park loop road. We also enjoyed beers and food at Atlantic Brewing & Mainely Meat BBQ. And had an amazing dinner at Eat-a-Pita Cafe 2! Highly recommend!

Here’s a sampling of images from our weekend away!

Another great adventure and a great time away in Maine and in Acadia National Park! Thanks for reading!

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I love to travel and I love adventurous weddings!! If you are looking for a photographer to photograph your adventure elopement or wedding, I’d love to chat! Contact me HERE or email alison@alisonmariephotography.com to see if we are a good fit!