After our drive through White Mountains National Forest in New Hampshire and a short jaunt into Vermont, we drove over to Maine to visit Acadia National Park for two days.

We arrived in Acadia after dark so our first exploration was Cadillac Mountain in the morning for sunrise. We selected Cadillac Mountain because its the highest point in the park and supposedly had a good view; however, it was so foggy that when we drove to the top of the mountain we could see absolutely nothing but grey. We drove back down halfway to a more promising lookout, and waited around for the sun to peek through (and it did!).

After our sunrise on the mountain we drove over to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse on the south side of the park, hoping for some early morning light. Unfortunately, as we drove over there the grey fog from the mountain followed us so it was just very overcast. I wanted to wait around for a little bit to see if the sky would clear, but we were so exhausted from the late night and early wake-up that we fell asleep in the car in the lighthouse parking lot for several hours. After our refreshing power nap, we woke up and it was still overcast. We decided to head back to the main park loop and try the lighthouse again later.

We debated whether we should go to the hotel and take a real nap, but we decided our car power nap was refreshing enough so we took the coastal loop around the park.

And then we checked out some of the lakes, where we found more lovely fall foliage.

After our drive (and another nap, and some lobster rolls), we drove over to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse for sunset. There were a surprising number of photographers lined up on the rocks waiting for sunset. We staked out our little spot and enjoyed listening to the crashing waves as we watched the sunset and dreamed about dinner lobster. (We actually did eat clam chowder and/or lobster for pretty much every meal in New England).

The following morning we decided to revisit Cadillac Mountain and check out the clear sky sunrise, which looked entirely different from the foggy sunrise the previous morning.

For starters, we could actually see Bar Harbor and all the islands. The morning sunrise glow lit up the autumn foliage on the hills and the light was quite beautiful as it gradually lit the peak of Cadillac Mountain.

After our lovely sunrise on the mountain, we decided to do another loop of the park, revisiting the coastal areas and lakes.

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And a final shot from Jordan Pond.

Overall we had an excellent trip to Acadia National Park — although the weather was uncooperative our first day, the second day was bright and clear so we got to see everything in different lights. I have my favorites from each day, and we were excited to check another one of our America the Beautiful coins off the list.