Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park

From the first NP (Yellowstone) to my favorite (Grand Teton) we now visit the Easternmost National Park located on the coast of Maine.  

I am a sucker for lighthouses!!  In the fall of 2013 following a wedding in Martha's Vineyard, my husband and I took a road trip from Boston to Bar Harbor along Hwy. 1.  I sought out and photographed at least 9 different lighthouses along the way, each one unique.  At the end of our trip we enjoyed two lovely days in Acadia National Park and I was looking forward to seeing the Bass Harbor Lighthouse on the southern tip of Mount Desert Island.  However,  just prior to that we stopped at Jordan Pond and I decided I wanted to take a photo of the bridge from the riverbank, so I ran... and ultimately tumbled down that rocky path and ended up flying into the rocks, smashed my camera and banged up my knee!  But that didn't stop me from getting to this "last but not least" lighthouse, perched amongst the rocky cliffs!   Unfortunately with no camera to record this image I needed to rely on google images for this painting!  

But I digress.... more about Acadia National Park:

Because of it's beauty and remoteness, Mount Desert Island began to attract the rich and famous in the 19th Century.  Wealthy families such as the Astors, Vanderbilts and Carnegies built magnificent mansions on the islands northeast coast...ultimately becoming known as "Millionaires Row."  Soon, hotels and tourists followed and the wealthy part-time residents became concerned that the island would lose the qualities that made it so attractive.  One of them, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated 11,000 acres in 1919 to what was originally named Lafayette National Park.  Now, with 50,000 acres and a new name (in 1929) Acadia National Park is one of the most popular national parks and the only one located in the North East USA.

For more information about Acadia National Park go to:

https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm