Hey friends – I’m back with another 10 year anniversary trip recap!
I was thinking today would be my final recap, but I have so many pictures that I decided to give it two more posts. Next week on Tuesday I’ll share the finale post, which will be all about our day spent in Camden, Maine.
As for today, it’s featuring the day of the trip where we had some gross weather, which actually ended up leading to some really cool hikes because the sea was so beautiful and stormy!
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If you missed the previous Maine anniversary trip recap posts, check those out first:
- Anniversary Trip Food Highlights
- Hiking the Beehive + Gorham Mountain
- Hiking the Giant Slide in Acadia
When we woke up on Friday morning of our trip, there were stormy skies and seas. Here was the view from the hotel lawn:
We decided to spend the morning hanging out at the hotel (The Claremont in Southwest Harbor).
We went to yoga (Matt’s first yoga class since our honeymoon probably, ha), had a leisurely breakfast, did some short walks around town nearby, and then Matt got a massage while I hopped on a zoom call over lunchtime (and ate some chili we picked up in town).
By mid afternoon, we were ready to get out and about! We decided it would be a great day to check out the coastline near us and to do some short hikes/adventures.
We drove south along Seawall Road, which was aptly named, until we reached a cool area where the coast was right next to the road. We hopped out of the car to take a closer look!
These pictures really don’t do the sea or the weather justice – it was so WILD that day. The waves were crashing hard against the big rocks, causing huge sprays of water to fly up into the air, and the wind was whipping.
While I love a good sunny day, the ocean in stormy weather is one of my favorite things – it’s just so gorgeous and raw and powerful and untamed. It was really beautiful to experience.
Wild, rugged coastlines like this kind of make me feel like we’re at the end of the earth. It was cool to get to see it like this, especially compared to the clear skies and calm seas we saw the day before!
After taking it all in for awhile, we said farewell for now…
And hopped back into the car to drive to a nearby coastal trail, called The Wonderland Trail.
It’s part of Acadia National Park, but not in the main area of the park; it was between Bass Harbor and Seawall, south of Southwest Harbor where we were staying.
Apparently many people snowshoe or cross country ski on this trail in the winter – that would be so cool to experience! It’s a nice and flat 1.3 mile out and back wooded trail that leads to a dramatic, rocky shoreline.
Back at the coast, we had more gorgeous angry sea views.
The coast here was more small rocks versus huge ones like our first stop, though there were some big rocks here, too.
Found a big rock! It had started to rain on us at this point but thankfully not super hard, and we had our raincoats and waterproof hiking pants on so we didn’t mind!
I loved this shot with all the birds in the process of flying off:
After finishing up our hike, we hopped back in the car for one last adventure: a visit to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, which was a short drive from the Wonderland Trail.
I love a good lighthouse. I’m so fascinated by the history of them, and by the lives of the people who live there and caretake them.
What an interesting and unique job that would be!
There are two ways to view the lighthouse. First is a short walk from the parking area, where you can get up close and personal with the lighthouse, pictured above.
The other way is via some stairs and a little rock scrambling along the coast.
I could not get enough of the wild seas!
Matt getting a closer look at the wild waves:
There’s the lighthouse peeking out from the trees! Love that rugged coastline.
By the time we finished our lighthouse adventures, it was starting to get a little dark outside.
We headed back to the hotel for a cozy night in, which started with some drinks + games (we were playing checkers but using some chess pieces since they didn’t have a full set) in their bar:
Plus some snacks – shrimp cocktail (love a good shrimp cocktail) + some cheese, crostini (yum, so crunchy and savory), and olives.
We followed it up with a late dinner in the hotel restaurant, which you already read all about in my anniversary trip food highlights blog post!
Despite (or maybe even because of) the weather, it ended up being a great day! Check back in next Tuesday for my final anniversary trip recap – it’s a fun one. 🙂
