Arcadia or Acadia?

We'd heard of the place, seen pictures, watched documentaries about it. But what exactly it was called - we needed to figure it out.

One of the jewels of the East Coast has always been that National Park in Maine. The one that's called, er, Arcadia? Acadia? Okay, this was embarrassing. . .

Thanks to 'The Google,' it was easy to find the answer and perhaps a reason for our confusion! While the park as been known as 'Acadia National Park,' since 1929, it started out as Sieur de Monts National Monument and was later changed to 'Lafayette National Park.' Acadia was likely derived its resemblance to a region of Greece known as 'Arcadia.' We learned about its origins and more on the extremely helpful Acadiamagic.com.

Acadia is comprised of nearly 50,000 acres around the middle Maine's coast. While it's primarily located on Mount Desert Island (MDI), it also includes surrounding towns and the Schoodic Peninsula. It's the most popular park in Maine, and the ## most popular National Park in the United States.

“My attachment to the state is that of a barnacle to a ledge, the pull of the moon to the earth. Maine, because of its singular and profound beauty, is a place of worship without walls. -- May Davidson

Turns out, the park is located about a 3-4 hour drive north of the Portland International Airport, which happens to be served directly by SouthWest flights from Baltimore. . . Given the overwhelming number of travel sites, inspired quotes, and fan reviews online, it seemed to us that #Acadia was definitely the right place for us to visit!

Digging in like clams

Nothing says East Coast like steamed littleneck clams!

So we began our deep dive into learning more about Maine and the mysteries of Acadia. The more we learned, the more the epic-ness of our journey grew in our imaginations. We requested time off from work (aka, the thing that pays for vacations), booked four relatively inexpensive airline tickets, and started gathering guide books from Amazon and the local library.

#VacationPlanning #SummerInMaine

I listed top sites, built possible itineraries, and bookmarked restaurants along the way. It seemed to us that Maine was teeming with family activities, craft beer, fresh seafood, and bracing ocean winds. From #Lighthouses to #LobsterDinners, it sounded perfect!

So we began counting down the days until our trip began. . .