This one was different. Most of my trips start with me building the whole thing from scratch and then spending a week putting my body through the wringer. This time I met up with my family in Maine, and I was just along for the ride.

We had about a week. Portland up to Camden, then out to Acadia for four full days, a swing further east to Schoodic, a night in Bangor, and back down to Portland to fly out. Four trails, one very cold lake we jumped in twice, and enough lobster that I genuinely tapped out by the middle of the week.

I went in thinking a family trip would be the watered-down version of what I normally do. It wasn’t. It was just a different thing, and honestly it fixed some stuff about how I travel that I didn’t know was broken.

Jump to a day: Day 1 · Day 2 · Day 3 · Day 4 · Day 5 · Day 6 · Last Day · What stuck with me

Day 1: the longest travel day

This started with a genuinely brutal travel day. I’d been visiting my girlfriend in OKC for a couple of days before this, so I woke up at 5:00 AM, very hungover from the Fourth, and drove three and a half hours back to Dallas. Dropped the car and some things off at her house, got a ride back to mine, picked up my car, unpacked and repacked everything for Maine, and went straight to the airport. I made it maybe 30 minutes before my flight. Thank God nobody was there, because security and the walk to my gate took no time at all. That was just the beginning of the day.

I landed in Maine around 4pm, and my family, who’d already been there a couple of days, came to pick me up. Little did I know they’d brought their entire lives with them. Four suitcases between the three of them, and the rental car they’d gotten was way too damn small. So we swapped it for a minivan and started heading up to the Camden area.

I was dying of hunger, so we stopped in downtown Portland for a quick bite at High Roller Lobster Company. That place was amazing. I got a lobster grilled cheese and I honestly have no words. Really good, and I got a solid cider with it. Perfect after a long day.

The sun sets really late in Maine in the summer, so we kept the day going and stopped in Freeport at the L.L. Bean flagship store. This is where my dad specifically spent about two hours and dropped damn near $700. It was insane, but we all got some stuff, so I can’t complain too much.

We spent the rest of the evening just getting to our hotel, The Country Inn at Camden Rockport, which turned out to be an absolutely amazing little inn. We got in pretty late, so after check-in we hit a quick shower and crashed hard.

Day 2: up the coast to Acadia

We were up around 7:00 AM for breakfast at the inn, and it turned out to be the best surprise of the trip. We didn’t find out until we were leaving that they’re known for their breakfast, specifically their homemade waffles. Great little way to start the day.

From there we headed south into Rockland to hit a couple of places a friend had recommended, specifically Main Street Markets and the Atlantic Baking Co. bakery. We picked up a coffee and some bread that intrigued us, then stopped by the harbor to eat it all before continuing up the coast.

Then we doubled back up to Camden and went to Camden Hills State Park, where we took a short drive up to Mount Battie just to see the lookout. It was beautiful. We only spent about 30 minutes in the park before heading into the downtown area to eat at the Camden Deli. We ended up killing a couple of hours there just going shop to shop through all the tourist spots.

After that we started up the coast toward Acadia, where we were staying for the night near the Southwest Harbor. We had a cute little stay and spent a couple of hours relaxing before finding food at Beal’s Lobster Pier, which had great views of the harbor and amazing lobster dishes. Then we spent the last bit of the evening at the Bass Harbor Head Light Station for sunset, which was just awesome.

We spent the rest of the evening watching late-night World Cup games, and I went to bed after thoroughly scaring my family about what I had planned for the next day.

Day 3: Cadillac at sunrise, and the Beehive

Got up early as all hell to make our 7am entrance time on the Cadillac Summit Road. You have to reserve that in advance, and it’s worth it. It was a cloudy morning, so we got to the top and couldn’t see much at first. We just waited and rotted on some rocks until the clouds cleared, and then it was breathtaking. Being up there that early meant there were maybe four or five other people at the top with us, which made it an incredibly peaceful way to start a morning.

We headed down as the weather got better and prepared for the first hike: the Beehive Trail. If you haven’t seen anything online about it, that’s wonderful. Keep it that way. It’s a fun surprise if you’re down for some fun scrambling. It sounds way scarier than it is, and it really wasn’t all that bad. My sister spent the first half mile shitting herself because of what she’d seen online.

A quick summary of what you actually experience: you climb for a while, with some sketchy parts in the middle. That’s it. I was fully expecting my family to hate this and they absolutely loved it. Even my sister was having fun despite everything she’d talked herself into beforehand. The view from the top was once again spectacular, looking down at Sand Beach and a good portion of the eastern part of Acadia.

After the three mile trek it was barely 11am and we still had energy left, so we spent the rest of it on one more flat hike. The poorly named Great Head Trail took us to, well, the Great Head. It looks out toward the Atlantic, and with the clouds rolling back in it was kind of majestic.

The weather only got worse from there, so we decided to head to the inland part of the park and come back another day for the rest of the Park Loop Road.

The Argentina vs Morocco game was coming up around 2pm, and as much as we loved the park, we really wanted to watch it. Conveniently we were also pretty hungry, so we stopped at the famous Jordan Pond House Restaurant. After a long wait and an insane second half, we finally got to eating, and I had lobster for what felt like the seventh time that trip. Don’t get me wrong, it was great, but I think that was one of the last times I got lobster that week. The infamous popover was great, and the blueberry soda was unique but definitely worth it.

The whole fam was tired on the way back, but I wanted to jump in the lake that was five minutes from our Airbnb: Echo Lake Beach. So I did. Forced my family to wake up from their nap and dragged them along. The lake was cold as hell but absolutely beautiful, and after about four minutes in the water we headed back.

The rest of the day was quite literally a rest day. We barely moved, ordered takeout, and watched the World Cup until we fell asleep.

Day 4: Mansell Mountain and kayaking Long Pond

We started late, around 9am, since everyone woke up a bit sore from the day before. And guess what, much to my family’s dismay, we were about to start another hike. Luckily the trailhead was maybe a three minute drive down the road from the Airbnb. It wasn’t an easy one, though. Mansell Mountain Trail is a steep three mile round trip with such unique scenery throughout. Everything from ocean views to trails lined with huge trees, this one had it all. And the best part was that I think we had exactly one encounter with another human the entire time.

We finished the trail by noon and went back to the Airbnb for a quick snack and a break. We didn’t stop too long because we were about to head to Long Pond to do some kayaking. It was a beautiful day for it, and we decided to bring some beers and snacks to keep the energy going. We spent about two and a half hours out there literally doing jack shit, just paddling toward the middle of this massive “pond.”

After an insane tan and back workout, we headed back toward the Airbnb and stopped by Echo Lake again. This time the whole fam decided to get in, and we stuck around longer because the water felt warmer than the day before and we somehow had a good amount of energy left.

The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed. We showered, got ready, and headed toward Bar Harbor. This was our first time in the area, and we stopped by a Mediterranean spot for dinner called Limon Grille. I wasn’t expecting much, especially since it was the only restaurant on the block with nobody in it, and being in the middle of a national park town didn’t help either. I was so wrong. The doner sandwich was amazing. We were pleasantly surprised, and happy we’d beaten the crowd that was standing outside the door by the time we finished eating.

After dinner we walked around the area and ended up at Agamont Park near the harbor. We laid in the grass and watched a beautiful sunset while being serenaded by squawking seagulls. Pretty awesome end to an active as hell day.

Day 5: the Park Loop Road redo

We dedicated this day to going back for the things on Park Loop Road that were hard to see on the morning of Day 3 because of the weather, which was basically the entire eastern part of the park. The drive was beautiful and I’m glad we went back, because we had no idea what any of it looked like until the sun came out. We visited Thunder Hole and stopped at random spots to sit on the rocks by the beach and just smell the ocean. It was a peaceful start to the day.

We kept the same vibes going by visiting the Northeast Harbor botanical zen gardens. Lots of Japanese inspired plants and designs, which was nice to see since I was already missing Japan. Then we stopped for a quick meal at Colonel’s Restaurant and Bakery and got a burger. It wasn’t an amazing burger, but the goal was to get off the lobster wave for a bit, and I guess we accomplished that.

At this point we’d visited most of the park and wanted to watch some of the interesting World Cup games that were going on. And yeah, yeah, I get the whole don’t-be-a-screenager-in-a-national-park thing, but hey, this only happens once every four years.

After some exhilarating games, we headed to Bar Harbor to check out a few more spots to eat. My sister and I were honestly dead set on pizza while my parents went to a Thai spot. We all met back up at the same pier from the night before and enjoyed the view one last time. This was our last night in the park, so we wanted to spend as much time there as we could before heading back. It started raining right around sunset, so we packed up our stuff and had a movie night at the Airbnb instead.

This was a different experience at a national park for me compared to most. Usually all I’m doing is putting my body through the wringer, but having my family around forced me to design the trip very differently, which I wasn’t too mad about. The four full days in the park helped a lot with the relaxed pace. I’ll definitely need to come back sometime and do the trails that were either closed or just too long. I’ve heard the fall is an amazing time to see the trees in their full autumn glory, so that’s going to be the next visit for sure.

Day 6: Schoodic, blueberries, and Bangor

Today was mainly a driving day. We headed out pretty early to explore more than just Acadia. We wanted to see a little further out east, so we went to Schoodic Head, which was maybe an hour’s drive from Acadia. We kind of just rotted on the beach over there, doing what we’d done the day prior: sitting up on the rocks, listening to the waves. A super peaceful start to the day.

From there we headed further east to the Maine Coastal National Wildlife Refuge, which was super cool. We did a small hike, about a mile and a half round trip. It was a bit warm, but overall a nice one. There weren’t too many people there, and there was a lot of different wildlife and cool birds. One notable thing about that hike is that there are a lot of blueberries along the path, which was really cool to see. We didn’t get to eat any because it was still pretty early in the season and they hadn’t fully bloomed yet, but still.

We decided to head to Bangor afterward, which was about an hour and a half from where we were. Along the way my sister and I were craving fast food while my parents were craving Indian food, so we split up and satisfied our own cravings. After a quick meal we made a pit stop at the L.L. Bean outlet store and decided to spend some more money.

It was almost 5pm by this point, so we checked in at our hotel for the night, the Courtyard Marriott in Bangor, which was a good location for dinner spots close by. After a quick shower and some rest we went to Mason’s Brewing Company, where I was determined to get a better burger than the last one. It didn’t disappoint. Couldn’t tell you the name of my burger, but it was unique, with apple slices in it. Sounded weird before I got it, but trust me, it hit the spot. After a little family walk by the river we called it for the night, since we were headed home the next day and needed to be up early.

Last Day: Portland

After an early wakeup and a quick breakfast, we were on the road back to Portland. I didn’t get to explore much of Portland at the beginning of the trip, so we got there a little early to see what downtown had.

Got to see the Portland Head Light, which is what you probably picture when you think of Maine. We did a little walk around the lighthouse but didn’t stay too long because it was surprisingly hot.

We had to head to the airport soon and we were all starving, and my parents were eager to go to Flatbread Company in downtown Portland. After 30 minutes of searching for parking we were finally seated and got an incredibly satisfying meal. My sister and I shared a seasonal Mexican style flatbread pizza while my parents had a simple vegetarian one. Honestly an amazing way to end the trip.

What stuck with me

I’m not going to act like this trip was life-changing when it comes to lessons I learned. Mainly because I was along for the ride. And honestly, that’s probably the biggest thing.

Family trips aren’t the lesser version. Going into this, I always viewed family trips as pretty… I don’t want to say lame, but simple. Mundane. If you’ve read some of my other blogs or seen my videos, the things I’ve done in the past don’t really come close to a simple trip like this. But I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t high-stress, it was easygoing, and I didn’t have to think too much about what I was doing next. I wasn’t worried. It genuinely changed my viewpoint on traveling with my family. They still had a great time even with some challenging hikes, and there was nothing negative on this trip whatsoever.

Not planning it was the whole point. Normally I’m the one building the itinerary, and that means I’m always half a step ahead of wherever I actually am, thinking about the next reservation or the next drive. Handing that off meant I was just present for a week. Four full days in one park instead of sprinting between five of them did more for me than any single thing we actually did.

Don’t look up the trail. The Beehive is the best example of this I’ve got. My sister spent the first half mile terrified because of what she’d read online, and then loved every second of it once she was actually on the rock. The internet had already decided how she was going to feel about that trail before she ever set foot on it. Go in blind. It’s a better experience almost every time.

The empty restaurant was the best meal. Limon Grille in Bar Harbor was the only spot on the block with nobody in it, in a national park town, which are two things that usually scream “skip it.” That doner sandwich ended up being one of the best things I ate all week, and by the time we walked out there was a crowd at the door. Meanwhile I had lobster roughly seven times and I’d trade most of those for one more sandwich. Same lesson as Japan, different coast: the place everybody’s already lined up for is rarely the one you remember.

Book the thing, then show up early anyway. Cadillac Summit Road needs a vehicle reservation booked in advance, and even with the reservation the 7am slot is what got us a nearly empty summit. Same idea at Bass Harbor Head Light, where the parking lot is small enough that showing up late means watching the sunset from the road. Reserving gets you in. Being early gets you the version worth photographing.

Splitting up is allowed. Twice we just went our separate ways, my sister and I after pizza and fast food while my parents chased Indian and Thai, and then met back up after. Traveling with family doesn’t mean every single meal has to be a negotiation. It made the whole week smoother.

Leave something for next time. There were trails that were closed and trails that were just too long for the pace we were keeping, and I’m fine with that. I’ve heard fall in Acadia is unreal, with all the trees in full autumn color. So that’s the next visit. You don’t have to finish a place on the first try.

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